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Transient Enhancement of Spike-Evoked Calcium Signaling by a Serotonergic Interneuron

¹Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia; and ²Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois

Submitted 1 September 2008; accepted in final form 19 September 2008

Enhancement of presynaptic Ca²⁺ signals is widely recognized as a potential mechanism for heterosynaptic potentiation of neurotransmitter release. Here we show that stimulation of a serotonergic interneuron increased spike-evoked Ca²⁺ in a manner consistent with its neuromodulatory effect on synaptic transmission. In the gastropod mollusk, Tritonia diomedea, stimulation of a serotonergic dorsal swim interneuron (DSI) at physiological rates heterosynaptically enhances the strength of output synapses made by another swim interneuron, C2, onto neurons in the pedal ganglion. Using intracellular electrophysiological recording combined with real-time confocal imaging of C2 (loaded with Oregon Green Bapta 1), it was determined that DSI stimulation increases the amplitude of spike-evoked Ca²⁺ signals in C2 without altering basal Ca²⁺ signals. This neuromodulatory action was restricted to distal neurites of C2 where synapses with pedal neurons are located. The effect of DSI stimulation on C2 spike-evoked Ca²⁺ signals resembled DSI heterosynaptic enhancement of C2 synapses in several measures: both decayed within 15 s, both were abolished by the serotonin receptor antagonist, methysergide, and both were independent of DSI's depolarizing actions on C2. A brief puff of serotonin could mimic the enhancement of spike-evoked Ca²⁺ signals in the distal neurites of C2, but larger puffs or bath-applied serotonin elicited nonphysiological effects. These results suggest that DSI heterosynaptic enhancement of C2 synaptic strength may be mediated by a local enhancement of spike-evoked Ca²⁺ signals in the distal neurites of C2.