A requirement for astrocyte IP₃R2 signaling for whisker experience-dependent depression and homeostatic upregulation in the mouse barrel cortex.

ABSTRACT: Changes to sensory experience result in plasticity of synapses in the cortex. This experience-dependent plasticity (EDP) is a fundamental property of the brain. Yet, while much is known about neuronal roles in EDP, very little is known about the role of astrocytes. To address this issue, we used the well-described mouse whiskers-to-barrel cortex system, which expresses a number of forms of EDP. We found that all-whisker deprivation induced characteristic experience-dependent Hebbian depression (EDHD) followed by homeostatic upregulation in L2/3 barrel cortex of wild type mice. However, these changes were not seen in mutant animals (IP₃R2^-/-) that lack the astrocyte-expressed IP₃ receptor subtype. A separate paradigm, the single-whisker experience, induced p

SUBMITTER: Butcher JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9452848 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature