Synaptic receptors and plasticity

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We investigated the relationship of synaptic plasticity to neural development, learning and memory by generating mutant mice lacking glutamate receptors (GluRs). The GluRε1 subunit mutant mice showed the decreased hippocampal LTP and impaired spatial learning in the Morris water maze. The GluRε2 subunit mutation hindered the formation of the whisker-related neuronal barrelette structure in the brainstem trigeminal nucleus and synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. The GluRδ2 subunit selectively localized in cerebellar Purkinje cells was essential for cerebellarLTD, motor coordination, motor learning, stability of parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synapses and elimination of multiple climbing fibers (CF) during development. Metabotropic GluR1 mutant mice were defective in cerebellar LTD, associative eyeblink conditioning and CF elimination. Eyeblink conditioning was normal in PKCγ mutant mice with multiple CFs. These results suggest that synaptic plasticity is the cellular basis of a certain form of learning and memory. They also suggest that GluRs play important roles in neural network formation during brain development and in higher brain function, implying that these processes share common molecular mechanisms.