Research article summary (published 14 Apr 2008):

Oxytocin facilitates the induction of long-term potentiation in the accessory olfactory bulb.

Full Abstract

When female mice are mated, they form a memory to the pheromonal signal of their male partner. Several lines of evidence indicate that the neural changes underlying this memory occur in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) at the first stage of the vomeronasal system. The formation of this memory depends on the mating-induced release of noradrenaline in the AOB. In addition to noradrenaline, the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is also released within the central nervous system during mating. Because OT has been implicated in social memory and its receptors are expressed in the AOB, we hypothesized that OT might promote the strength of synaptic transmission from mitral to granule cells in the AOB. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the lateral olfactory tract-evoked field potential that represents the granule cell response to mitral cell activation and its plasticity in parasagittal slices of the AOB. Of the 10-, 20-, 50-, and 100-Hz stimulations tested, the 100-Hz stimulation was optimal for inducing long-term potentiation (LTP). OT paired with 100-Hz stimulation that only produced short-term potentiation enhanced LTP induction in a dose-dependent manner. OT-paired LTP was blocked by both the selective OT antagonist desGly-NH(2),d(CH(2))(5)[Tyr(Me)(2),Thr(4)]-ornithine vasotocin and the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist dl-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid. These results indicate that OT can function as a gate to modulate the establishment of NMDA receptor-dependent LTP at the mitral-to-granule cell synapse in the AOB.

Author information

Author/s: Fang, Long-Yun (LY); Quan, Rong-Dan (RD); Kaba, Hideto (H);

Affiliation: Department of Physiology, Kochi Medical School, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8505, Japan.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Neuroscience letters (Neurosci Lett), published in Ireland. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 438 (issue 2) : pp 133-7

Dates: Created 2008/05/26; Completed 2008/09/19;

PMID: 18468792, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals Electric Stimulation Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists - pharmacology Female Long-Term Potentiation - drug effects; physiology Male Memory - drug effects; physiology Mice Mice, Inbred BALB C Neurons - drug effects; metabolism Olfactory Bulb - cytology; drug effects; metabolism

Olfactory Pathways - drug effects; metabolism Organ Culture Techniques Oxytocin - analogs & derivatives; metabolism; pharmacology Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate - drug effects; metabolism Sex Attractants - physiology Sexual Behavior, Animal - physiology Signal Transduction - drug effects; physiology Synapses - drug effects; metabolism Synaptic Transmission - drug effects; physiology Vasotocin - analogs & derivatives; pharmacology Vomeronasal Organ - physiology

Associated Chemicals: Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists (0) ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (0) ; Sex Attractants (0) ; Oxytocin (50-56-6) ; Vasotocin (9034-50-8)

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