Turning off of GluN2B subunits and turning on of CICR in hippocampal LTD induction after developmental GluN2 subunit switch.

NMDA receptors (NMDARs) are essential for the induction of synaptic plasticity that mediates activity-dependent refinement of neural circuits during development. GluN2B subunits of NMDARs are abundant at synapses in the immature hippocampus and begin to be replaced by GluN2A subunits with the help of casein kinase 2 activity in the second postnatal week, the critical period for the GluN2 subunit switch (Sanz-Clemente et al. (2000) Neuron 67:984-996). However, the physiological role of GluN2B subunits in the hippocampus during this critical period has not been elucidated. Here, we report that GluN2B subunits mediate the induction of long-term depression (LTD) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus only until this period. Ifenprodil and Ro25-6981, selective inhibitors of NMDARs containing GluN2B subunits, blocked LTD in postnatal Day 11-14 (P11-14) rat hippocampal slices but not in P18-22 hippocampus. Just a few days after P14, synaptic NMDAR currents became narrower than those at P11-14, and calcium influx through NMDARs must be reduced. We found that calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) through ryanodine receptors starts to support the induction of NMDAR-dependent LTD at P18-22. Intracellular application of thapsigargin and ryanodine, inhibitors of Ca2+ -ATP pumps on internal stores and ryanodine receptors, respectively, did not at all affect LTD in the hippocampus at P11-14 but completely blocked LTD in the P18-22 hippocampus. Therefore, calcium influx through NMDAR with GluN2B subunits is sufficient to induce LTD at P11-14, after which CICR compensates for the decrease in calcium influx during LTD induction.