"... cumulative experimental and theoretical data have demonstrated that long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) can promote compensatory alterations in non-stimulated synapses. In this work, we have developed a (MCELL) computational model of a (3D) spiny dendritic segment to investigate the role of AMPA receptor (AMPAR) trafficking during synaptic plasticity at specific synapses and its consequences for the populations of AMPAR at nearby synapses. Our results demonstrated that the mechanisms of AMPAR trafficking involved with LTP and LTD can promote heterosynaptic plasticity at non-stimulated synapses. These alterations are compensatory and arise from molecular competition. Moreover, the heterosynaptic changes observed in our model can modulate further activity-driven inductions of synaptic plasticity." The model requires an installed version of MCell and CellBlender.
Model Type: Synapse
Receptors: AMPA
Model Concept(s): Synaptic Plasticity; Depression; Long-term Synaptic Plasticity; Detailed Neuronal Models
Simulation Environment: MCell
Implementer(s): Antunes, Gabriela [gabri_antunes at hotmail.com]
References:
Antunes G, Simoes-de-Souza FM. (2018). AMPA receptor trafficking and its role in heterosynaptic plasticity. Scientific reports. 8 [PubMed]