Role of NMDA receptors in the establishment of cell-lineage specific cortical connections

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14325
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: National Institute for Physiological Sciences
• Principal Investigator: Yoshimura Yumiko 生理学研究所, 基盤神経科学研究領域, 教授 (10291907)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 大脳皮質 / 細胞系譜 / 経験依存的発達 / 局所神経回路 / シナプス結合特異性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the neocortex, the specificity of synaptic connections is fundamental for neural circuits to function properly. In this study, we show that cortical excitatory neurons that arise from the same neural stem cell and reside within layer 4 in mouse barrel cortex preferentially establish reciprocal synaptic connections during postnatal development. We observed a transient increase in synaptic connections between clonal but not nonclonal neuron pairs postnatally, followed by selective stabilization of the reciprocal connections between clonal neurons. The transient increase in synaptic connections and establishment of cell-lineage dependent reciprocal connections were impaired in clonal cells, when sensory inputs were deprived during postnatal development. Our findings suggest that the postnatal sensory inputs enables clonal neurons to establish cell-lineage-specific reciprocal connections.

Free Research Field

神経生理学