Increase in proportion of hippocampal spine synapses expressing neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM180 following long-term potentiation.

Neural recognition molecules such as the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) have been implicated in synaptic plasticity, including long-term potentiation (LTP), sensitization, and learning and memory. The major isoform of NCAM carrying the longest cytoplasmic domain of all NCAM isoforms (NCAM180) is predominantly localized in postsynaptic membranes and postsynaptic densities of hippocampal neurons, with only a proportion of synapses carrying detectable levels of NCAM180. To investigate whether this differential expression of NCAM180 may correlate with distinct states of synaptic activity, LTP was induced by high-frequency stimulation of the perforant path and the percentage of NCAM180 immunopositive spine synapses determined in the outer third of the dentate molecular layer of the dentate gyrus by immunoelectron microscopy. Twenty-four hours following induction of LTP by high-frequency stimulation, the percentage of spine synapses expressing NCAM180 increases from 37% (passive control) to 70%. This increase was inhibited by the noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist MK801. Following repeated LTP induction at 10 consecutive days with one tetanization each day, 60% of all spine synapses were NCAM180 immunoreactive. Compared to passive control animals, the percentage of NCAM180 expressing synapses in low-frequency stimulated animals decreased from 37% to 28%. Spine synapses in the inner part of the dentate molecular layer not contacted by the afferents of the perforant path did not change the percentage of NCAM180-expressing synapses. The results obtained by the postembedding immunogold staining technique confirmed the difference in NCAM180 expression of spine synapses between passive control and potentiated animals. These observations suggest a role for NCAM180 in synaptic remodeling accompanying LTP.