Abstract
Analysis of synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity, axonal processing, synaptic timing or electrical coupling requires the simultaneous recording of both the pre- and postsynaptic compartments. Paired-recording technique of monosynaptically connected neurons is also an appropriate technique to probe the function of small molecules (calcium buffers, peptides or small proteins) at presynaptic terminals that are too small to allow direct whole-cell patch-clamp recording. We describe here a protocol for obtaining, in acute and cultured slices, synaptically connected pairs of cortical and hippocampal neurons, with a reasonably high probability. The protocol includes four main stages (acute/cultured slice preparation, visualization, recording and analysis) and can be completed in ∼4 h.
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Acknowledgements
We thank M. Seagar, O. El Far, J.M. Goaillard, Y. Frégnac and G. Alcaraz for stimulating discussions and F. Dubruc for help with video recordings. This work was supported by the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Neuroscience, Neurologie and Psychiatrie, 06-Neuro-014-01 to D.D.), the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (to E.C.), the Fondation Française pour la Recherche sur l'Epilepsie (to O.C.), the Ministry of Research (doctoral grant to S.B. & E.C. and ACI Jeunes Chercheurs to D.D.), AFM (to R.C.) and the European Community (LSHM-CT-2004-511995, synaptic scaffolding proteins orchestrating cortical synapse organization during development to D.D.).
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Debanne, D., Boudkkazi, S., Campanac, E. et al. Paired-recordings from synaptically coupled cortical and hippocampal neurons in acute and cultured brain slices. Nat Protoc 3, 1559–1568 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2008.147
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2008.147
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