GABA promotes the competitive selection of dendritic spines by controlling local Ca 2+ signaling

Tatsuya Hayama, Jun Noguchi, Satoshi Watanabe, Noriko Takahashi, Akiko Hayashi-Takagi, Graham C.R. Ellis-Davies, Masanori Matsuzaki, Haruo Kasai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

156 Scopus citations

Abstract

Activity-dependent competition of synapses plays a key role in neural organization and is often promoted by GABA; however, its cellular bases are poorly understood. Excitatory synapses of cortical pyramidal neurons are formed on small protrusions known as dendritic spines, which exhibit structural plasticity. We used two-color uncaging of glutamate and GABA in rat hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons and found that spine shrinkage and elimination were markedly promoted by the activation of GABA A receptors shortly before action potentials. GABAergic inhibition suppressed bulk increases in cytosolic Ca 2+ concentrations, whereas it preserved the Ca 2+ nanodomains generated by NMDA-type receptors, both of which were necessary for spine shrinkage. Unlike spine enlargement, spine shrinkage spread to neighboring spines (<15 μm) and competed with their enlargement, and this process involved the actin-depolymerizing factor ADF/cofilin. Thus, GABAergic inhibition directly suppresses local dendritic Ca 2+ transients and strongly promotes the competitive selection of dendritic spines.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1409-1416
Number of pages8
JournalNature Neuroscience
Volume16
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2013

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