Maintained memory and long-term potentiation in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease with both amyloid pathology and human tau.

One of the key knowledge gaps in the field of Alzheimer's disease research is the lack of understanding of how amyloid beta and tau cooperate to cause neurodegeneration. We recently generated a mouse model (APP/PS1 + Tau) that develops amyloid plaque pathology and expresses human tau in the absence of endogenous murine tau. These mice exhibit an age-related behavioural hyperactivity phenotype and transcriptional deficits which are ameliorated by tau transgene suppression. We hypothesized that these mice would also display memory and hippocampal synaptic plasticity deficits as has been reported for many plaque bearing mouse models which express endogenous mouse tau. We observed that our APP/PS1 + Tau model does not exhibit novel object memory or robust long-term potentiation deficits with age, whereas the parent APP/PS1 line with mouse tau did develop the expected deficits. These data are important as they highlight potential functional differences between mouse and human tau and the need to use multiple models to fully understand Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis and develop effective therapeutic strategies.

Amyloid Beta and Tau Cooperate to Cause Reversible Behavioral and Transcriptional Deficits in a Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

A key knowledge gap blocking development of effective therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the lack of understanding of how amyloid beta (Aß) peptide and pathological forms of the tau protein cooperate in causing disease phenotypes. Within a mouse tau-deficient background, we probed the molecular, cellular, and behavioral disruption triggered by the influence of wild-type human tau on human Aß-induced pathology. We find that Aß and tau work cooperatively to cause a hyperactivity behavioral phenotype and to cause downregulation of transcription of genes involved in synaptic function. In both our mouse model and human postmortem tissue, we observe accumulation of pathological tau in synapses, supporting the potential importance of synaptic tau. Importantly, tau reduction in the mice initiated after behavioral deficits emerge corrects behavioral deficits, reduces synaptic tau levels, and substantially reverses transcriptional perturbations, suggesting that lowering synaptic tau levels may be beneficial in AD.

Circadian and Brain State Modulation of Network Hyperexcitability in Alzheimer's Disease.

Network hyperexcitability is a feature of Alzheimer' disease (AD) as well as numerous transgenic mouse models of AD. While hyperexcitability in AD patients and AD animal models share certain features, the mechanistic overlap remains to be established. We aimed to identify features of network hyperexcitability in AD models that can be related to epileptiform activity signatures in AD patients. We studied network hyperexcitability in mice expressing amyloid precursor protein (APP) with mutations that cause familial AD, and compared a transgenic model that overexpresses human APP (hAPP) (J20), to a knock-in model expressing APP at physiological levels (APPNL/F). We recorded continuous long-term electrocorticogram (ECoG) activity from mice, and studied modulation by circadian cycle, behavioral, and brain state. We report that while J20s exhibit frequent interictal spikes (IISs), APPNL/F mice do not. In J20 mice, IISs were most prevalent during daylight hours and the circadian modulation was associated with sleep. Further analysis of brain state revealed that IIS in J20s are associated with features of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. We found no evidence of cholinergic changes that may contribute to IIS-circadian coupling in J20s. In contrast to J20s, intracranial recordings capturing IIS in AD patients demonstrated frequent IIS in non-REM (NREM) sleep. The salient differences in sleep-stage coupling of IIS in APP overexpressing mice and AD patients suggests that different mechanisms may underlie network hyperexcitability in mice and humans. We posit that sleep-stage coupling of IIS should be an important consideration in identifying mouse AD models that most closely recapitulate network hyperexcitability in human AD.

Feedforward inhibition underlies the propagation of cholinergically induced gamma oscillations from hippocampal CA3 to CA1.

Gamma frequency (30-80 Hz) oscillations are implicated in memory processing. Such rhythmic activity can be generated intrinsically in the CA3 region of the hippocampus from where it can propagate to the CA1 area. To uncover the synaptic mechanisms underlying the intrahippocampal spread of gamma oscillations, we recorded local field potentials, as well as action potentials and synaptic currents in anatomically identified CA1 and CA3 neurons during carbachol-induced gamma oscillations in mouse hippocampal slices. The firing of the vast majority of CA1 neurons and all CA3 neurons was phase-coupled to the oscillations recorded in the stratum pyramidale of the CA1 region. The predominant synaptic input to CA1 interneurons was excitatory, and their discharge followed the firing of CA3 pyramidal cells at a latency indicative of monosynaptic connections. Correlation analysis of the input-output characteristics of the neurons and local pharmacological block of inhibition both agree with a model in which glutamatergic CA3 input controls the firing of CA1 interneurons, with local pyramidal cell activity having a minimal role. The firing of phase-coupled CA1 pyramidal cells was controlled principally by their inhibitory inputs, which dominated over excitation. Our results indicate that the synchronous firing of CA3 pyramidal cells rhythmically recruits CA1 interneurons and that this feedforward inhibition generates the oscillatory activity in CA1. These findings identify distinct synaptic mechanisms underlying the generation of gamma frequency oscillations in neighboring hippocampal subregions.

Oscillatory dynamics in the hippocampus support dentate gyrus­CA3 coupling.

Gamma oscillations in the dentate gyrus and hippocampal CA3 show variable coherence in vivo, but the mechanisms and relevance for information flow are unknown. We found that carbachol-induced oscillations in rat CA3 have biphasic phase-response curves, consistent with the ability to couple with oscillations in afferent projections. Differences in response to stimulation of either the intrinsic feedback circuit or the dentate gyrus were well described by varying an impulse vector in a two-dimensional dynamical system, representing the relative input to excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Responses to sinusoidally modulated optogenetic stimulation confirmed that the CA3 network oscillation can entrain to periodic inputs, with a steep dependence of entrainment phase on input frequency. CA3 oscillations are therefore suited to coupling with oscillations in the dentate gyrus over a broad range of frequencies.

Mapping out hippocampal inhibition.

A synthesis of opto- and pharmacogenetics is beginning to reveal how various interneuron types direct incoming traffic in the hippocampus to help create a map of the environment.

Identification of the current generator underlying cholinergically induced gamma frequency field potential oscillations in the hippocampal CA3 region.

Gamma frequency oscillations (30-100 Hz) are prominent in the hippocampal EEG signal during active network states. An intrahippocampal gamma generator has been identified in the CA3 region. To understand the mechanism of oscillation generation, both the rhythm and the current generators must be identified. While earlier work has elucidated mechanisms of rhythm generation, little attention has been given to identifying the CA3 gamma current generator. Here, we aimed to identify a current generator underlying cholinergically induced gamma frequency oscillations in vitro. To this end, we analysed the instantaneous fluctuations in the wavelet amplitude of the field potential oscillation recorded in the stratum pyramidale, and concomitantly recorded action potentials and synaptic input in individual, anatomically identified neurons. The data revealed that perisomatic inhibitory currents in pyramidal cells generated the majority of the field potential. Pyramidal cell action currents also contributed to the field. In contrast, we found no evidence that excitatory currents contribute significantly to the field oscillations in this model. The moment-by-moment analysis of the dynamics of the field potential presented here provides insight into the distinct contributions of synaptic and action currents to the EEG signal and sheds light on the changing balance of excitation and inhibition during cholinergically induced gamma frequency oscillations.

Role of ionotropic glutamate receptors in long-term potentiation in rat hippocampal CA1 oriens-lacunosum moleculare interneurons.

Some interneurons of the hippocampus exhibit NMDA receptor-independent long-term potentiation (LTP) that is induced by presynaptic glutamate release when the postsynaptic membrane potential is hyperpolarized. This "anti-Hebbian" form of LTP is prevented by postsynaptic depolarization or by blocking AMPA and kainate receptors. Although both AMPA and kainate receptors are expressed in hippocampal interneurons, their relative roles in anti-Hebbian LTP are not known. Because interneuron diversity potentially conceals simple rules underlying different forms of plasticity, we focus on glutamatergic synapses onto a subset of interneurons with dendrites in stratum oriens and a main ascending axon that projects to stratum lacunosum moleculare, the oriens-lacunosum moleculare (O-LM) cells. We show that anti-Hebbian LTP in O-LM interneurons has consistent induction and expression properties, and is prevented by selective inhibition of AMPA receptors. The majority of the ionotropic glutamatergic synaptic current in these cells is mediated by inwardly rectifying Ca(2+)-permeable AMPA receptors. Although GluR5-containing kainate receptors contribute to synaptic currents at high stimulus frequency, they are not required for LTP induction. Glutamatergic synapses on O-LM cells thus behave in a homogeneous manner and exhibit LTP dependent on Ca(2+)-permeable AMPA receptors.

Synaptic currents in anatomically identified CA3 neurons during hippocampal gamma oscillations in vitro.

Gamma-frequency oscillations are prominent during active network states in the hippocampus. An intrahippocampal gamma generator has been identified in the CA3 region. To better understand the synaptic mechanisms involved in gamma oscillogenesis, we recorded action potentials and synaptic currents in distinct types of anatomically identified CA3 neurons during carbachol-induced (20-25 microM) gamma oscillations in rat hippocampal slices. We wanted to compare and contrast the relationship between excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents in pyramidal cells and perisomatic-targeting interneurons, cell types implicated in gamma oscillogenesis, as well as in other interneuron subtypes, and to relate synaptic currents to the firing properties of the cells. We found that phasic synaptic input differed between cell classes. Most strikingly, the dominant phasic input to pyramidal neurons was inhibitory, whereas phase-coupled perisomatic-targeting interneurons often received a strong phasic excitatory input. Differences in synaptic input could account for some of the differences in firing rate, action potential phase precision, and mean action potential phase angle, both between individual cells and between cell types. There was a strong positive correlation between the ratio of phasic synaptic excitation to inhibition and firing rate over all neurons and between the phase precision of excitation and action potentials in interneurons. Moreover, mean action potential phase angle correlated with the phase of the peak of the net-estimated synaptic reversal potential in all phase-coupled neurons. The data support a recurrent mechanism of gamma oscillations, whereby spike timing is controlled primarily by inhibition in pyramidal cells and by excitation in interneurons.