Depolarization-induced suppression of excitation in murine autaptic hippocampal neurones

Depolarization-induced suppression of excitation and inhibition (DSE and DSI) appear to be important forms of short-term retrograde neuronal plasticity involving endocannabinoids (eCB) and the activation of presynaptic cannabinoid CB1 receptors. We report here that CB1-dependent DSE can be elicited from autaptic cultures of excitatory mouse hippocampal neurones. DSE in autaptic cultures is both more robust and elicited with a more physiologically relevant stimulus than has been thus far reported for conventional hippocampal cultures. An additional requirement for autaptic DSE is filled internal calcium stores. Pharmacological experiments favour a role for 2-arachidonyl glycerol (2-AG) rather than arachidonyl ethanolamide (AEA) or noladin ether as the relevant endocannabinoid to elicit DSE. In particular, the latter two compounds fail to reversibly inhibit EPSCs, a quality inconsistent with the role of bona fide eCB mediating DSE. Δ⁹-Tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC) fails to inhibit EPSCs, yet readily occludes both DSE and EPSC inhibition by a synthetic CB1 agonist, WIN 55212-2. With long-term exposure (∼18 h), Δ⁹-THC also desensitizes CB1 receptors. Lastly, a functional endocannabinoid transporter is necessary for the expression of DSE.