Elucidation of molecular mechanisms for the regulation of metaplasticity of synaptic transmission

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In this project, we have elucidated the mechanisms of the regulation of long-term potentiation (LTP) by muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in the hippocampus as well as the regulation of morphological and functional plasticity by intracellular protein kinases. We have also discovered the novel type of LTP in the hippocampal CA1 region that is non-Hebbian and dependent on postsynaptic Ca^<2+> channels. In the hippocampal CA3 region, we have elucidated the mechanisms for the proper trajectory of mossy fibers and for the regulation of mossy fiber excitability in new-born mice. In the lateral nucleus of the amygdala, we have found that the NMDA receptor GluN2B subunit is involved in excitatory synaptic transmission and its plasticity and that tyrosine phosphorylation of this subunit is associated with LTP induction and expression as well as the formation of fear memory at the whole-animal level.