We studied the mechanisms by which GABA release is reduced in the retrograde signaling process called depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition (DSI). DSI is mediated by endocannabinoids in acute and cultured organotypic hippocampal slices. We examined a variety of K(+) channel antagonists to determine the nature of the K(+) channel that, when blocked, reduces DSI. Among 4-AP, TEA, dendrotoxin, Cs, margatoxin, and charybdotoxin, only 4-AP was highly effective in blocking DSI, suggesting that a K(+) channel composed in part of K(V1.4,) K(V1.5) or K(V1.7) subunits can readily regulate DSI. The inhibition of DSI by 4-AP is largely overcome by reducing [Ca(2+)](o), however, suggesting that DSI expression can be prevented by saturation of the release process when a K(V1.X) channel is inhibited. DSI of agatoxin- and TTX-insensitive mIPSCs was unaffected by 4-AP, but was largely occluded by omega-conotoxin GVIA, indicating that block of presynaptic N-type Ca(2+) channels is probably a major mechanism of DSI expression. Significant DSI of mIPSCs remained in omega-conotoxin, hence we infer that block of N-channels does not fully explain hippocampal DSI expression.

Phorbol esters are hypothesised to produce a protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent increase in the probability of transmitter release via two mechanisms: facilitation of vesicle fusion or increases in synaptic vesicle number and replenishment. We used a combination of electrophysiology and computer simulation to distinguish these possibilities. We constructed a stochastic model of the presynaptic contacts between a pair of hippocampal pyramidal cells that used biologically realistic processes and was constrained by electrophysiological data. The model reproduced faithfully several forms of short-term synaptic plasticity, including short-term synaptic depression (STD), and allowed us to manipulate several experimentally inaccessible processes. Simulation of an increase in the size of the readily releasable vesicle pool and the time of vesicle replenishment decreased STD, whereas simulation of a facilitation of vesicle fusion downstream of Ca(2+) influx enhanced STD. Because activation of protein kinase C with phorbol ester enhanced STD of EPSCs in rat hippocampal slice cultures, we conclude that an increase in the sensitivity of the release process for Ca(2+) underlies the potentiation of neurotransmitter release by PKC.