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Free keywords:
Action Potentials/genetics
Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases/*deficiency/genetics
Animals
Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases/*deficiency/genetics
Biological Clocks/*genetics
Biophysics
Dentate Gyrus/*cytology
Electric Stimulation
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials/genetics
Male
Mice
Mice, Knockout
Neuronal Plasticity/*genetics
Neurons
Perforant Pathway/*cytology
Reaction Time/genetics
Time Factors
Alzheimer's disease
Electrophysiology
Ltp
Local field potentials (LFPs)
Population spike
Abstract:
BACE1 is a beta-secretase involved in the cleavage of amyloid precursor protein and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The entorhinal cortex and the dentate gyrus are important for learning and memory, which are affected in the early stages of AD. Since BACE1 is a potential target for AD therapy, it is crucial to understand its physiological role in these brain regions. Here, we examined the function of BACE1 in the dentate gyrus. We show that loss of BACE1 in the dentate gyrus leads to increased granule cell excitability, indicated by enhanced efficiency of synaptic potentials to generate granule cell spikes. The increase in granule cell excitability was accompanied by prolonged paired-pulse inhibition, altered network gamma oscillations, and impaired synaptic plasticity at entorhinal-dentate synapses of the perforant path. In summary, this is the first detailed electrophysiological study of BACE1 deletion at the network level in vivo. The results suggest that BACE1 is important for normal dentate gyrus network function. This has implications for the use of BACE1 inhibitors as therapeutics for AD therapy, since BACE1 inhibition could similarly disrupt synaptic plasticity and excitability in the entorhinal-dentate circuitry.
