Presynaptic R-Type Calcium Channels Contribute to Fast Excitatory Synaptic Transmission in the Rat Hippocampus

The possibility that R-type calcium channels contribute to fast glutamatergic transmission in the hippocampus has been assessed using low concentrations of NiCl(2) and the peptide toxin SNX 482, a selective antagonist of the pore-forming alpha(1E) subunit of R-type calcium channel. EPSPs or EPSCs were recorded in the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique mainly from CA3 hippocampal neurons. Effects of both NiCl(2) and SNX 482 were tested on large (composite) EPSCs evoked by mossy and associative-commissural fiber stimulation. NiCl(2) effects were also tested on minimal EPSPs-EPSCs. Both substances reduced the amplitude of EPSPs-EPSCs. This effect was associated with an increase in the number of response failures of minimal EPSPs-EPSCs, an enhancement of the paired-pulse facilitation ratios of both minimal and composite EPSCs, and a reduction of the inverse squared coefficient of variation (CV(-2)). The reduction of CV(-2) was positively correlated with the decrease in EPSC amplitude. The inhibitory effect of NiCl(2) was occluded by SNX 482 but not by omega-conotoxin-MVIIC, a broad-spectrum antagonist thought to interact with N- and P/Q-type calcium channels, supporting a specific action of low concentrations of NiCl(2) on R-type calcium channels. Together, these observations indicate that both NiCl(2) and SNX 482 act at presynaptic sites and block R-type calcium channels with pharmacological properties similar to those encoded by the alpha(1E) gene. These channels are involved in fast glutamatergic transmission at hippocampal synapses.