Neuron
Volume 24, Issue 4, December 1999, Pages 979-988
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Article
Dendritic GABA Release Depresses Excitatory Transmission between Layer 2/3 Pyramidal and Bitufted Neurons in Rat Neocortex

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Abstract

GABAergic, somatostatin-containing bitufted interneurons in layer 2/3 of rat neocortex are excited via glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) by pyramidal neurons located in the same cortical layer. Pair recordings showed that short bursts of backpropagating dendritic action potentials (APs) reduced the amplitude of unitary EPSPs. EPSP depression was dependent on a rise in dendritic [Ca2+]. The effect was blocked by the GABAB receptor (GABAB-R) antagonist CGP55845A and was mimicked by the GABAB-R agonist baclofen. As presynaptic GABAB-Rs were activated neither by somatostatin nor by GABA released from axon collaterals of the bitufted cell, we conclude that GABAB-Rs were activated by a retrograde messenger, most likely GABA, released from the dendrite. Because synaptic depression was prevented by loading bitufted neurons with GDP-β-S, it is likely to be caused by exocytotic GABA release from dendrites.

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