Advantages of Acute Brain Slices Prepared at Physiological Temperature in the Characterization of Synaptic Functions

Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience

Makoto Itakura¹  Yugo Fukazawa²  Kohgaku Eguchi³  Philipp Velicky³  Ryuichi Shigemoto³  Elena Hollergschwandtner³  Johann Georg Danzl³ 

[1] Department of Biochemistry, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara-shi, Japan;Department of Brain Structure and Function, Research Center for Child Mental Development, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan;Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Klosterneuburg, Austria;

关键词: acute brain slices;    synaptic transmission;    synaptic plasticity;    cerebellum;    super-resolution microscopy;    electron microscopy;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fncel.2020.00063

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Acute brain slice preparation is a powerful experimental model for investigating the characteristics of synaptic function in the brain. Although brain tissue is usually cut at ice-cold temperature (CT) to facilitate slicing and avoid neuronal damage, exposure to CT causes molecular and architectural changes of synapses. To address these issues, we investigated ultrastructural and electrophysiological features of synapses in mouse acute cerebellar slices prepared at ice-cold and physiological temperature (PT). In the slices prepared at CT, we found significant spine loss and reconstruction, synaptic vesicle rearrangement and decrease in synaptic proteins, all of which were not detected in slices prepared at PT. Consistent with these structural findings, slices prepared at PT showed higher release probability. Furthermore, preparation at PT allows electrophysiological recording immediately after slicing resulting in higher detectability of long-term depression (LTD) after motor learning compared with that at CT. These results indicate substantial advantages of the slice preparation at PT for investigating synaptic functions in different physiological conditions.

【 授权许可】

Unknown