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Cited by 45Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchMemory and Neural MechanismsNeural dynamics and brain function

Advantages of Acute Brain Slices Prepared at Physiological Temperature in the Characterization of Synaptic Functions

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Eguchi, Kohgaku, Velicky, Philipp, Hollergschwandtner, Elena, Itakura, Makoto, Fukazawa, Yugo, Danzl, Johann Georg, Shigemoto, Ryuichi·2020·Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
DOI 10.3389/fncel.2020.00063PMC PMC7096554

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Abstract

Acute brain slice preparation is a powerful experimental model for investigating the characteristics of synaptic function in the brain. Although brain tissue is usually cut at ice-cold temperature (CT) to facilitate slicing and avoid neuronal damage, exposure to CT causes molecular and architectural changes of synapses. To address these issues, we investigated ultrastructural and electrophysiological features of synapses in mouse acute cerebellar slices prepared at ice-cold and physiological temperature (PT). In the slices prepared at CT, we found significant spine loss and reconstruction, synaptic vesicle rearrangement and decrease in synaptic proteins, all of which were not detected in slices prepared at PT. Consistent with these structural findings, slices prepared at PT showed higher release probability. Furthermore, preparation at PT allows electrophysiological recording immediately after slicing resulting in higher detectability of long-term depression (LTD) after motor learning compared with that at CT. These results indicate substantial advantages of the slice preparation at PT for investigating synaptic functions in different physiological conditions.

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  • Acute brain slices (ABSs) have been developed and used for investigating the structural and functional characteristics of the adult brain.

    “The acute brain slices (ABSs) have been developed and used for investigating the structural and functional characteristics of the adult brain (Eguchi et al., 2020).”

    From Toxic Concentrations of Glutamate Induce Ferroptosis without Affecting Mitochondrial Respiration in Rodent Brain Slice Cultures (2026) · cites this paper as Eguchi et al., 2020

    The Introduction says acute brain slices have been developed and extensively used to investigate the structural and functional characteristics of neuronal circuits. It does not specify the adult brain; the Animals section says this study generally used mice aged 4–6 weeks, so the adult-brain qualifier is not established by our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
Eguchi, K., Velicky, P., Hollergschwandtner, E., Itakura, M., Fukazawa, Y., Danzl, J. G., & Shigemoto, R.
Affiliations
  • Institute of Science and Technology Austria (AT)
  • Kitasato University (JP)
  • University of Fukui (JP)
Corresponding author
  • Eguchi, Kohgaku
  • Shigemoto, Ryuichi
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2020-03-19
Volume
14
Pages
63-63
ISSN
1662-5102 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fncel.2020.00063
PMC
PMC7096554
OpenAlex
W3010976816
Cited by
45
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 4
FWCI
2.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • European Research Council (694539)
  • H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (793482)
  • Austrian Science Fund (I 3600-B27)
  • Institute of Science and Technology Austria
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
Keywords
acute brain slices, physiological temperature, synaptic ultrastructure, dendritic spines, synaptic vesicles, synaptic proteins, release probability, long-term depression, motor learning, cerebellum

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