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Stimulus-dependent, reciprocal up- and downregulation of glutamic acid decarboxylase and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II gene expression in rat cerebral cortex

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Abstract

Long-train tetanic stimulation of the cerebral cortex induces long-term changes in the excitability of cortical neurons, while short-train electrical stimulation does not. In the present study, we show that both forms of stimulation when applied to rat motor cortex for 4 h enhance c-fos expression, but only tetanic stimulation, when imposed upon short-train stimulation, modulates gene expression for 67-kDa glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and alpha Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKIIα). Gene expression for beta Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II is not affected by either stimulation mode. GAD messenger RNA (mRNA) is increased from 1 h after the end of tetanization to the longest poststimulus survival time investigated (14 h). CaMKIIα mRNA is decreased 1–3 h after the end of tetanization but thereafter returns to prestimulus levels. These results imply not only that mechanisms underlying neocortical plasticity are stimulus-dependent but also that they involve reciprocal changes in molecules regulating the balance of excitation and inhibition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California, 92717-1280, Irvine, CA, USA

    F. Liang & E. G. Jones

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, 32224, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    P. J. Isackson

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  1. F. Liang
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  2. P. J. Isackson
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  3. E. G. Jones
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Liang, F., Isackson, P.J. & Jones, E.G. Stimulus-dependent, reciprocal up- and downregulation of glutamic acid decarboxylase and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II gene expression in rat cerebral cortex. Exp Brain Res 110, 163–174 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00228548

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