Forebrain NR2B overexpression enhancing fear acquisition and long‐term potentiation in the lateral amygdala |
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| Authors: | Yanhong Duan Siqi Zhou Jing Ma Pengcheng Yin Xiaohua Cao |
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| Affiliation: | Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China |
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| Abstract: | N‐methyl‐d ‐aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor‐dependent long‐term potentiation (LTP) at the thalamus–lateral amygdala (T‐LA) synapses is the basis for acquisition of auditory fear memory. However, the role of the NMDA receptor NR2B subunit in synaptic plasticity at T‐LA synapses remains speculative. In the present study, using transgenic mice with forebrain‐specific overexpression of the NR2B subunit, we have observed that forebrain NR2B overexpression results in enhanced LTP but does not alter long‐term depression (LTD) at the T‐LA synapses in transgenic mice. To elucidate the cellular mechanisms underlying enhanced LTP at T‐LA synapses in these transgenic mice, AMPA and NMDA receptor‐mediated postsynaptic currents have been measured. The data show a marked increasing in the amplitude and decay time of NMDA receptor‐mediated currents in these transgenic mice. Consistent with enhanced LTP at T‐LA synapses, NR2B‐transgenic mice exhibit better performance in the acquisition of auditory fear memory than wild‐type littermates. Our results demonstrate that up‐regulation of NR2B expression facilitates acquisition of auditory cued fear memory and enhances LTP at T‐LA synapses. |
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| Keywords: | Fear acquisition long‐term potentiation NMDA receptor NR2B T‐LA synapses |
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