CA1 Neurons Acquire Rett Syndrome Phenotype After Brief Activation of Glutamatergic Receptors: Specific Role of mGluR1/5

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a neurological disorder caused by the mutation of the X-linked MECP2 gene. The neurophysiological hallmark of the RTT phenotype is the hyperexcitability of neurons made responsible for frequent epileptic attacks in the patients. Increased excitability in RTT might stem from impaired glutamate handling in RTT and its long-term consequences that has not been examined quantitatively. We recently reported (Balakrishnan and Mironov, 2018a,b) that the RTT hippocampus consistently demonstrates repetitive glutamate transients that parallel the burst firing in the CA1 neurons. We aimed to examine how brief stimulation of specific types of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors (GluR) can modulate the neuronal phenotype. We imaged glutamate with a fluorescence sensor (iGluSnFr) expressed in CA1 neurons in hippocampal organotypic slices from wild-type (WT) and Mecp2-/y mice (RTT). The neuronal and synaptic activities were assessed by patch-clamp and calcium imaging. In both WT and RTT slices, activation of AMPA, kainate, and NMDA receptors for 30 s first enhanced neuronal activity that induced a global release of glutamate. After transient augmentation of excitability and ambient glutamate, they subsided. After wash out of the agonists for 10 min, WT slices recovered and demonstrated repetitive glutamate transients, whose pattern resembled those observed in naïve RTT slices. Hyperpolarization-activated (HCN) decreased and voltage-sensitive calcium channel (VSCC) currents increased. The effects were long-lasting and bigger in WT. We examined the role of mGluR1/5 in more detail. The effects of the agonist (S)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG) were the same as AMPA and NMDA and occluded by mGluR1/5 antagonists. Further modifications were examined using a non-stationary noise analysis of postsynaptic currents. The mean single channel current and their number at postsynapse increased after DHPG. We identified new channels as calcium-permeable AMPARs (CP-AMPAR). We then examined back-propagating potentials (bAPs) as a measure of postsynaptic integration. After bAPs, spontaneous afterdischarges were observed that lasted for ∼2 min and were potentiated by DHPG. The effects were occluded by intracellular CP-AMPAR blocker and did not change after NMDAR blockade. We propose that brief elevations in ambient glutamate (through brief excitation with GluR agonists) specifically activate mGluR1/5. This modifies CP-AMPAR, HCN, and calcium conductances and makes neurons hyperexcitable. Induced changes can be further supported by repetitive glutamate transients established and serve to persistently maintain the aberrant neuronal RTT phenotype in the hippocampus.