Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (Mar 2015)

Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) is indispensable for long term potentiation in the central and basal but not in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala

  • Tomasz eGorkiewicz,
  • Tomasz eGorkiewicz,
  • Marcin eBalcerzyk,
  • Marcin eBalcerzyk,
  • Leszek eKaczmarek,
  • Ewelina Anna Knapska

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2015.00073
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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It has been shown that matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) is required for synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. In particular, MMP-9 involvement in long-term potentiation (LTP, the model of synaptic plasticity) in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex has previously been demonstrated. Recent data suggest the role of MMP-9 in amygdala-dependent learning and memory. Nothing is known, however, about its physiological correlates in the specific pathways in the amygdala. In the present study we show that LTP in the basal and central but not lateral amygdala is affected by MMP-9 knock-out. The MMP-9 dependency of LTP was confirmed in brain slices treated with a specific MMP-9 inhibitor. The results suggest that MMP-9 plays different roles in synaptic plasticity in different nuclei of the amygdala.

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