This potentiation was independent of NMDA receptors and thus, in these aspiny neurons, calcium-permeable AMPA receptors probably selleck kinase inhibitor mediate a major component of calcium signaling during LTP induction. In another type of aspiny neurons, namely, neocortical GABAergic cells, Goldberg et al. (2003) used two-photon calcium imaging to demonstrate that activation of single synapses creates highly localized dendritic calcium signals.

The characteristics of this calcium signal are determined by the fast kinetics of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors, the fast local extrusion through the sodium-calcium-exchanger, and the buffering by calcium-binding proteins, such as parvalbumin (Goldberg et al., 2003). Thus, the authors concluded that the expression of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in spine-lacking neurons might enable calcium signal compartmentalization in response to single synapse activation, somewhat similarly to synapses located on dendritic spines in excitatory neurons, a feature that may have important consequences for neuronal processing in aspiny neurons. In pyramidal neurons, calcium-permeable AMPA receptors have also been

shown to be involved in some forms of synaptic Selleckchem STI571 calcium signaling. For example, sensory activation can promote an increase in calcium that is mediated by GluR2-lacking AMPA receptors at neocortical layer 4-layer 2/3 excitatory synapses. This calcium signal may represent an alternate source for activity-dependent calcium entry, facilitating the initiation of synaptic plasticity (Clem and Barth, 2006). mGluRs are 7-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptors that are broadly distributed within the nervous system (Ferraguti and Shigemoto, 2006). They are classified in group I, II, and III mGluRs, are expressed in a cell-type-specific fashion, and exert diverse physiological roles (Lüscher PAK6 and Huber, 2010). The receptor classes differ in their downstream signaling

mechanisms; for example, group I mGluRs are coupled to the Gq protein (Wettschureck and Offermanns, 2005). In cerebellar Purkinje neurons, the mGluR1 subtype of this group mediates both an increase in intracellular calcium as well as a TRPC3-dependent inward current (Hartmann et al., 2008). Upon activation of mGluR1, phospholipase C mediates the generation of IP3, which binds to receptors in the ER and induces calcium release (Niswender and Conn, 2010). Calcium release from internal stores is best known to occur from the ER through inositol trisphosphate receptors (IP3Rs) and ryanodine receptors (RyRs) but may involve also other intracellular organelles (Rizzuto and Pozzan, 2006). Calcium signals resulting from calcium release from internal stores have been found in various types of neurons at different developmental stages (e.g., Llano et al., 2000, Lohmann et al., 2005 and Manita and Ross, 2009).