AUTHOR=Vedunova Maria , Sakharnova Tatiana , Mitroshina Elena , Perminova Maya , Zakharov Yuri , Pimashkin Alexey , Dityatev Alexander , Mukhina Irina TITLE=Seizure-like activity in hyaluronidase-treated dissociated hippocampal cultures JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience VOLUME=7 YEAR=2013 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fncel.2013.00149 DOI=10.3389/fncel.2013.00149 ISSN=1662-5102 ABSTRACT=

The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in use-dependent synaptic plasticity. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is the backbone of the neural ECM, which has been shown to modulate α-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA) receptor mobility, paired-pulse depression, L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel (L-VDCC) activity, long-term potentiation and contextual fear conditioning. To investigate the role of HA in the development of spontaneous neuronal network activity, we used microelectrode array recording and Ca2+ imaging in hippocampal cultures enzymatically treated with hyaluronidase. Our findings revealed an appearance of epileptiform activity 9 days after hyaluronidase treatment. The treatment transformed the normal network firing bursts and Ca2+ oscillations into long-lasting “superbursts” and “superoscillations” with durations of 11–100 s. The changes in Ca2+ transients in hyaluronidase-treated neurons were more prominent then in astrocytes and preceded changes in electrical activity. The Ca2+ superoscillations could be suppressed by applying the L-VDCC blocker diltiazem, whereas the neuronal firing superbursts could be additionally suppressed by 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione as an antagonist of AMPA/kainate receptors. These results suggest that changes in the expression of HA can be epileptogenic and that hyaluronidase treatment in vitro provides a robust model for the dissection of the underlying mechanisms.