Browsing by Author "Lanz, Aaron Justin"

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    Chloride Dynamics and the Control of CRH Activity
    (2019-07-05) Lanz, Aaron Justin; Bains, Jaideep; Gordon, Grant Robert J.; Thompson, Roger J.; Epp, Jonathan Richard
    CRH neurons of the PVN release the neuropeptide CRH to initiate the endocrine stress response and to modulate local glutamatergic synapses. The cellular mechanisms that promote CRH release during an acute stress are unknown. Here we show that CRH neurons begin to burst following an acute stress in vitro. Using cell-attached recordings and a novel optogenetic strategy, we demonstrate that KCC2 is suppressed following an acute stress and that this functional downregulation is sufficient to promote bursting in CRH neurons. Further, we show that KCC2 suppression leads to local CRH release in the PVN to promote short-term plasticity at glutamate synapses. This study offers a new tool to study chloride homeostasis in brain slices and provides evidence that KCC2 activity dynamics can alter cell spiking and synaptic plasticity in the healthy brain.