Characterisation of LTP induced by the activation of glutamate metabotropic receptors in area CA1 of the hippocampus

The transient activation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor system by high frequency (tetanic) stimulation results in a rapidly developing and long-lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. This potentiation can be divided into an early decremental component, known as short-term potentiation (STP), and a more slowly developing persistent phase, termed long-term potentiation (LTP). Here we describe how activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), by aminocyclopentane-1S,3R-dicarboxylic acid (1S,3R-ACPD), can induce the same stable form of LTP, but without the STP component. 1S,3R-ACPD-induced LTP does not require electrical stimulation during its induction, but is dependent on an intact connection between the CA3 and CA1 regions of the hippocampus. 1S,3R-ACPD-induced LTP circumvents the need for the activation of NMDA receptors and is likely to involve both the stimulation of protein kinase C (PKC) and the release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores.