1) A combination of both drugs is recently launched in market L

1). A combination of both drugs is recently launched in market. Literature survey

revealed spectrophotometric6 and chromatographic7, 8, 9 and 10 methods for estimation of TDF in pharmaceutical formulation and biological Modulators fluids. Few chromatographic11, 12 and 13 methods has been reported for estimations of ETB from biological fluids. TDF and ETB are not official in IP, BP and USP. However, to our knowledge, no information related to the stability-indicating SRT1720 cost high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) determination of TDF and ETB in pharmaceutical dosage forms has ever been mentioned in literature. The parent drug stability test guidelines (Q1A) issued by International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) requires that analytical test procedures for stability samples should be fully validated and the assays should be stability-indicating.13, 14, 15 and 16 Adriamycin solubility dmso The present paper describes a reliable, rapid and accurate stability – indicating HPTLC method for determination of TDF and ETB using HPTLC densitometry. TDF

and ETB were kindly supplied as a gift sample by Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Pune India. All the reagents used were of analytical reagent grade (S.D. Fine Chemicals, Mumbai, India) and used without further purification. The samples were spotted in the form of bands of width 6 mm with 100 μL sample syringe on precoated silica gel aluminium plate 60 F254 (20 cm × 10 cm) with 250 μm thickness; (E MERCK, Darmstadt, Germany) using a Camag Linomat V (Switzerland). The plates were prewashed with methanol and activated at 110 °C for 5 min, prior to chromatography. A constant application rate of 150 nl/sec was employed and space between two bands was 15.4 mm. The slit dimension was kept at 6 mm × 0.45 mm. The mobile phase consists of toluene: ethyl acetate: methanol: acetic acid (6: 4: 3:0.4, v/v/v). Linear ascending development was carried out in 20 cm × 10 cm twin trough glass chamber (Camag, Muttenz, Switzerland). The optimised

chamber saturation time for mobile phase was 20 min, at temperature (25 °C ± 2); through the relative humidity (60% ± 5%); the length of chromatogram run was 8 cm and TLC plates were air dried. Densitometric scanning was performed on Camag TLC Scanner 3 equipped with winCATS software version 1.3.0 at 276 nm. The source of radiation utilised was deuterium lamp. Evaluation was performed using peak area with linear regression. Combined standard stock solution containing 1500 μg/ml of TDF and 1000 μg/ml of ETB was prepared in methanol. Calibration was done by Hamilton syringe with the help of automatic sample applicator Linomat V on TLC plate that gave concentration 150–1500 ng/spot of TDF and 100–1000 ng/spot of ETB, respectively. Each concentration was spotted six times on the TLC plates. The plates were developed using previously described mobile phase. The calibration graph was plotted as peak areas versus corresponding concentrations.

Our assay is able to detect the dengue NS1 antigen

Our assay is able to detect the dengue NS1 antigen http://www.selleckchem.com/products/Bortezomib.html suggesting that this assay could be useful in detecting dengue virus infection as soon as it sets in, rather than later, when the antigen gets secreted in body fluids. We have developed a sensitive dengue virus NS1 diagnostic tool by optimizing a sandwich ELISA immunoassay for the detection of the NS1 antigen. We evaluated the efficacy of a panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with high affinity and specificity for the NS1 dengue 1 antigen along with a combination of different bi-specific monoclonal antibodies (bsmAb) for antigen detection. By using recombinant NS1 protein from dengue virus, we established a detection sensitivity of 31.25 pg/ml. For the future, the sandwich

ELISA developed could be translated to other infectious diseases and perhaps be viewed as a possible replacement for other diagnostic techniques that are more expensive, time consuming and labor intensive. Implementation selleck screening library of this “time saving” diagnostic tool could assist in preventing serious viral outbreaks by allowing earlier therapeutic interventions. All authors have none to declare. This work was Modulators supported by a research grant from The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC-Strategic). AG is a Ph.D graduate student and RBM was a Research

Associate. Conceived and designed the experiments: AG, RBM, MRS. Performed the experiments: AG, RBM. Analyzed the data: AG, RBM, HHS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RL, HHS, MRS. Wrote the paper: AG and RBM. ”
“The

low solubility of many active pharmaceutical ingredients is one of the technical challenges in formulating as suitable dosage form for its best use. Recently more than 40% of new chemical entities developed in pharmaceutical industry are practically insoluble in water.1 When combined with the in vitro dissolution characteristics of the drug product, the Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) takes into account three major factors: solubility, intestinal permeability, and dissolution rate, all of which govern the rate and extent of oral drug absorption all from immediate release solid oral-dosage forms.2 For BCS class II drugs, the dissolution process is the rate-controlling step, which determines the rate and degree of its absorption.3 “Liquisolid compact technique” is successful tool to improve the solubility and dissolution of poorly water soluble drugs and consequently bioavailability.4 Liquisolid system refers to the formulations formed by conversion of liquid drugs, drug suspensions or drug solution in non-volatile solvents, into dry, non-adherent, free-flowing and compressible powder mixtures by blending the suspension or solution with selected carriers and coating materials.5 In this study, candesartan cilexetil was selected as a model drug, since it is a sparingly soluble in water thus, it is an ideal candidate for testing the potential of rapid-release liquisolid compacts.

) [52] Other suspected causative factors for BV include smoking,

) [52]. Other suspected causative factors for BV include smoking, vaginal lubricants, and the presence of bacteriophages that destroy Lactobacillus spp. [76] and [77]. Evaluations of the longitudinal dynamics of bacterial communities has revealed that some communities change markedly over short time periods, whereas others are relatively stable [54] and [78] (Fig. 4 and Fig. 5). The menstrual cycle is associated with a significant (negative) effect on the stability of the microbiota, but these effects are influenced by bacterial communities [54]. Sexual

activity is also associated with lack of stability. Profiles of CSTs can be derived from time series DNA Synthesis inhibitor of community samples and clustered into five cohorts, which Gajer et al. referred to as community classes [54]. These classes reflect similarities in changes in community composition over time. Some classes were highly dynamic and reflected frequent switches between different CSTs. Classes dominated by L. crispatus and L. gasseri

Fulvestrant chemical structure experienced the fewest fluctuations at the level of community composition, however, some communities that lacked significant number of Lactobacillus spp. also demonstrated stability ( Fig. 5). These communities were stable over time and were observed to have consistently high or intermediate Nugent scores. Vaginal communities dominated by L. iners demonstrated either a lack of constancy or notable stability. L. iners-dominated communities were often seen transitioning to CST Adenylyl cyclase IV, a low-Lactobacillus state. These findings are critical, as they highlight a novel concept – there may be intervals of susceptibility to STIs and risk could be established by the frequency and duration of these increased susceptibility events. The microbiome is thought to impact the Libraries cervicovaginal mucosal immune responses. Certain bacterial products,

particularly from anaerobes, have been shown to result in induction of proinflammatory cytokine production through TLR stimulation [79], dendritic cell activation and maturation [80], and immune cell migration, apoptosis, and phagocytosis through the production of specific short-chain fatty acids [81]. G. vaginalis, a facultative anaerobe, has been shown to produce sialidases, which are capable of inactivating local IgA [82]. The vaginal microbiome plays a major role in women’s reproductive health. We are just beginning to understand the temporal dynamics of vaginal bacterial communities, how they shift from a healthy state to a BV-like state, and how the bacterial communities differ in terms of resistance and resilience to internally or externally imposed disturbances. Surprisingly little is known about the composition of vaginal bacteria across the lifespan, how the interactions of the microbiota with vaccines may vary by age, how they differ between individuals, or how we can harness the vaginal microbiome to protect against STIs.

Our finding that NMDAR-LTD is independent of transcription differ

Our finding that NMDAR-LTD is independent of transcription differs from a previous report (Kauderer and Kandel, 2000) for reasons that are unclear. Of course, we cannot

discount a role of transcription at times beyond the 3 hr that we have investigated here. CHIR-99021 research buy Indeed, a plausible role for the increase in nuclear STAT3 activity that we have observed may be in the regulation of proteins that are required for later phases of the NMDAR-LTD process. Our findings strongly suggest that STAT3 has nonnuclear actions that are required for NMDAR-LTD. Unfortunately, little is known concerning the role of STATs on targets other than DNA. Recent evidence has implicated the regulation of microtubules in NMDAR-LTD (Kapitein et al., 2011). Interestingly, it has been shown that STAT3 can directly interact with proteins associated with microtubules, such as stathmin and SCG10-like protein (SCLIP), and regulate their polymerization (Gao and Bromberg, 2006, Ng et al., 2006 and Ng et al., 2010). One possibility then is that STAT3 could regulate the stabilization of microtubules, a mechanism that is believed to be rapid, dynamic and reversible (Gao and Bromberg, 2006). The role of JAKs in oncogenesis

and pathologies of the immune system make these kinases attractive potential therapeutic targets. In particular, JAK2 mutations underlie the myeloproliferative Alectinib solubility dmso disorders: polycythemia vera, essential thrombocytosis, and primary

myelofibrosis (Delhommeau et al., 2010). Since JAK2 is overactivated in these pathologies, a specific JAK inhibitor has potential utility in the treatment of these diseases and several clinical trials for JAK2 inhibitors are underway (Quintás-Cardama et al., 2011). However, the effect of available JAK2 inhibitors on the other JAK isoforms and the inhibition of the central role JAKs play Thiamine-diphosphate kinase as downstream effectors of cytokine receptors have been major issues so far (Pesu et al., 2008 and Wilks, 2008). The JAK2 inhibitor AG490 has also been shown to affect spatial learning and memory (Chiba et al., 2009b). It was suggested that this impairment was due to the downregulation of the enzyme choline acetyltransferase and to the desensitization of the M1-type muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (Chiba et al., 2009b). We now show that inhibiting JAK2 results in blockade of a specific form of synaptic plasticity, NMDAR-LTD. A complete description of experimental procedures is available online in the supplemental information. A complete list of the inhibitors used is available in the supplemental information. Organotypic slices were transfected using biolistic transfection with HuSH shRNA constructs in pGFP-V-RS vector (Origene Technologies, Rockville, MD, USA).

The stimulus changes were small changes in the grating pattern, w

The stimulus changes were small changes in the grating pattern, with the stripes

undergoing a gentle bend (Figure 1E). During the bend, the outer ends of the grating stripes lagged increasingly behind the center of the stripes, until the lag reached 0.1° at 75 ms after the start of the bend. Over the course of another 75 ms, the stripes straightened again. We used this shape-change detection task, because previous studies on gamma-band activity in monkey area V4 had found larger attention effects for a shape-tracking task (Taylor et al., 2005) than a color-change detection task (Fries et al., 2001, 2008). On 10% of the trials, only one of the two stimuli was presented, randomly at one or the other position and tinted yellow or blue. In these trials, the fixation point always assumed the color of this one grating, the change time was determined according to the same hazard rate, VX-770 chemical structure and if the monkey released within 0.15–0.5 s thereafter, a reward was given. Several sessions (either Cabozantinib purchase separate or after attention-task sessions) were devoted to the mapping of receptive fields, using 60 patches of moving grating, as illustrated in Figure S1C. Receptive field positions

were stable across recording sessions (Figure S1D). Neuronal recordings were made from two left hemispheres in two monkeys through a micromachined 252-channel electrocorticogram-electrode array implanted subdurally (Rubehn et al., 2009). Briefly, a 6.5 × 4 cm craniotomy over the left hemisphere in each monkey was performed under aseptic conditions with isoflurane anesthesia. The dura was opened and the ECoG was placed directly Astemizole onto the brain under visual control. Several high-resolution photos were taken before and after placement of the ECoG for later coregistration of ECoG signals with brain regions. After ECoG implantation, both the bone and the dural flap were placed back and secured in place. After a recovery period of approximately 3 weeks, we started with neuronal recordings. Signals obtained

from the 252 electrode grid were amplified 20 times by eight Plexon headstage amplifiers, then low-pass filtered at 8 kHz and digitized at 32 kHz by a Neuralynx Digital Lynx system. LFP signals were obtained by low-pass filtering at 200 Hz and downsampling to 1 kHz. Powerline artifacts were removed by digital notch filtering. The actual spectral data analysis included spectral smoothing that rendered the original notch invisible. All analyses were done in MATLAB (MathWorks) and using FieldTrip (Oostenveld et al., 2011) (http://fieldtrip.fcdonders.nl). For the analysis of the data recorded during the attention task, we used the time period from 0.3 s after cue onset (the change in the fixation point color) until the first change in one of the stimuli. For each trial, this period was cut into nonoverlapping 0.5 s data epochs, discarding remaining time at the end of the period that was less than 0.5 s long.

, 1994; Denk et al, 2005; Pardo

et al, 2012; Mai et al

, 1994; Denk et al., 2005; Pardo

et al., 2012; Mai et al., 2012). When there was no barrier in the maze, rodents preferred the high reinforcement density arm, and neither DA receptor antagonism nor accumbens DA depletion altered their choice (Salamone et al., 1994). When the arm with the barrier contained 4 pellets, but the other arm contained no pellets, rats with accumbens DA depletions still chose the high density arm, climbed the barrier, and consumed the pellets. In a recent T-maze study with mice, while haloperidol reduced choice of the arm with the barrier, this drug had no effect on choice when both arms had a barrier in place (Pardo et al., 2012). Thus, dopaminergic BAY 73-4506 cell line manipulations did not alter the preference based upon reinforcement magnitude, and did not affect discrimination, memory or instrumental learning processes related to arm preference. Bardgett et al. (2009) developed a T-maze effort discounting task, in which

the amount of food in the high density arm of the maze was diminished each trial on which the rats selected that arm. Effort discounting was altered by administration of VE-821 purchase D1 and D2 family antagonists, which made it more likely that rats would choose the low reinforcement/low cost arm. Increasing DA transmission by administration of amphetamine blocked the effects of SCH23390 and haloperidol and also biased rats toward choosing the high reinforcement/high cost arm, which is consistent with operant choice studies using DA transporter knockdown mice (Cagniard et al., 2006). One of the important issues in this area is the

extent to which animals with impaired DA transmission are sensitive to the work Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase requirements in effort-related tasks, or to other factors such as time delays (e.g., Denk et al., 2005; Wanat et al., 2010). Overall, the effects of DA antagonism on delay discounting have proven to be rather mixed (Wade et al., 2000; Koffarnus et al., 2011), and Winstanley et al. (2005) reported that accumbens DA depletions did not affect delay discounting. Floresco et al. (2008) demonstrated that the DA antagonist haloperidol altered effort discounting even when they controlled for the effects of the drug on response to delays. Wakabayashi et al. (2004) found that blockade of nucleus accumbens D1 or D2 receptors did not impair performance on a progressive interval schedule, which involves waiting for longer and longer time intervals in order to receive reinforcement. Furthermore, studies with tandem schedules of reinforcement that have ratio requirements attached to time interval requirements indicate that accumbens DA depletions make animals more sensitive to added ratio requirements but do not make animals sensitive to time interval requirements from 30–120 s (Correa et al., 2002; Mingote et al., 2005).

To identify the effects of activation of striatal ChIs on DA tran

To identify the effects of activation of striatal ChIs on DA transmission, we incorporated the Autophagy inhibitor light-activated ion channel channelrhodopsin2 (ChR2) into striatal ChIs of mice. ChR2 expression was restricted to ChIs by injecting an adeno-associated virus (AAV) carrying a Cre-inducible ChR2 gene (fused inframe with the coding sequence for enhanced yellow fluorescent protein [eYFP]) into the striatum of transgenic mice expressing Cre-recombinase under the control of the promoter for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) (Figure 1A)

(also see Supplemental Information available online). In coronal slices that contain DA axons without DA soma, single blue laser flashes (1–2 ms; 473 nm) of ChR2-expressing terminals (15- to 60-μm-diameter spot) in dorsal or ventral NSC 683864 solubility dmso striatum evoked the transient release and reuptake of DA, detected using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FCV) at carbon-fiber microelectrodes (see Supplemental Information) (n = 29 animals) (Figure 1B). Extracellular DA concentrations

reached values similar to those evoked by local electrical stimuli (Figure 1B), indicating DA release from a population of axons. Light-evoked DA release was reproducible for several hours (sampling interval ∼2.5 min) and required ACh activation of nAChRs. The β2-nAChR antagonist DHβE abolished DA release (Figure 1C; n = 10, p < 0.001) but not spiking in ChIs (Figure S1E, n = 3) indicating nAChRs postsynaptic to ChIs. ChI-driven DA release did not require muscarinic AChRs (mAChRs, Figure 1D, n = 11), glutamate receptors, or GABA receptors (Figure 1E, n = 9) but was modulated by mechanisms that

normally gate ACh and/or DA exocytosis; it was abolished by Nav+-block by tetrodotoxin (TTX) (n = 10, p < 0.001), zero extracellular Ca2+ (n = 10, p < 0.001), D2 receptor activation with quinpirole, (n = 8, p < 0.001), or mAChR activation with oxotremorine (n = 10, p < 0.001), which limits ACh release from ChIs (Threlfell et al., 2010) (Figure 1E). These observations indicate that endogenous ACh released from ChIs triggers DA SPTLC1 release by activating axonal nAChRs, bypassing action potentials in DA soma. To understand the neuronal events required for ChI-driven DA release, we paired recording of laser-evoked DA using FCV with whole-cell patch-clamp recording of ChR2-expressing, eYFP-tagged ChIs (see Supplemental Information) (Figure 2A). ChR2-expressing ChIs had normal resting membrane potential and TTX-sensitive action potentials (Figure S1; Table S1, n = 11). Laser-evoked DA release was seen after action potentials were evoked in local ChIs (latency 2.0 ± 0.5 ms, Figure 2B, n = 11).

Using this SCN coupling assay, we found that SCN neurons are coup

Using this SCN coupling assay, we found that SCN neurons are coupled by both VIP and GABAA signaling, and that these SCN factors operate in a cooperative or antagonistic manner depending on the state of the network. Male PER2::LUC mice (Yoo et al., 2004) were bred and raised under a 24 hr light:dark cycle with 12 hr light and 12 hr darkness (LD12:12). At 7–9 weeks of age, the mice either remained under LD12:12 or were transferred to a long-day-length condition

with 20 hr of light (LD20:4). As expected, LD20:4 produced a rapid decrease in the duration of the nocturnal active phase (Figure 1A; Figures S1A and S1B available online). In addition, LD20:4 mice displayed a stable phase angle of entrainment and free-running rhythms that derived from the predicted phase (Figures

selleck chemical 1C and S1A), both of which are measures of true entrainment. Lastly, LD20:4 decreased the free-running period by ∼30 min (Figure S1D), similar to previous Ku-0059436 chemical structure results obtained in this species (Pittendrigh and Daan, 1976a). Collectively, these results indicate that PER2::LUC mice entrain to this long-day-length condition. To investigate photoperiodic changes in pacemaker organization, coronal SCN slices were collected from PER2::LUC mice held under LD12:12 or LD20:4 (Figure 1B). Real-time bioluminescence imaging of PER2::LUC expression was conducted

in vitro and SCN spatiotemporal organization was mapped (see Experimental Procedures). Consistent with previous work (Evans et al., 2011), SCN slices from LD12:12 mice showed regional PER2::LUC peak time differences ranging from 2 to 4 hr on the first L-NAME HCl cycle in vitro (Figures 1C and S1E; Movie S1). In contrast, LD20:4 slices displayed a much larger range of PER2::LUC peak times, with reorganization of two spatially distinct subpopulations (Figures 1C and S1E; Movie S2). In particular, LD20:4 slices were characterized by a central region that phase-led a surrounding semiconcentric region by ∼6 hr on the first cycle in vitro (Figures 1C–1E, p < 0.0001). This organizational pattern resembles the functionally distinct SCN compartments that are often referred to as the “core” and “shell” (Abrahamson and Moore, 2001 and Antle et al., 2003). Indeed, the dense population of arginine vasopressin neurons that demarcates the SCN shell compartment was in spatial registry with the late-peaking shell-like region, but not the early-peaking core-like region (Figure 2). In addition to changing the spatiotemporal organization of the SCN network, LD20:4 increased the level of PER2::LUC expression within the central SCN on the first cycle in vitro (Figure 1F, p < 0.0001).

, 2000; see cross-hairs marking this location in the slice views

, 2000; see cross-hairs marking this location in the slice views in Figure 2), well within the small spatial variability reported for the VWFA (SD of ∼5 mm; Cohen et al., 2000). Importantly, a similar pattern of letter selectivity was observed in the blind group, which showed a left-lateralized selective focus in the occipito-temporal cortex (Figure 2E) greatly overlapping that of the sighted and encompassing the canonical location of the VWFA (see cross-hairs marking this location; note that this contrast shows no activation in the auditory cortex, which was equally activated by all categories). In order to assess the intersubject consistency of this finding in the blind group, we computed these contrasts (letters

versus baseline and letters versus all categories) BAY 73-4506 in each of the single subjects and plotted the cross-subject overlap probability maps for each contrast. All the subjects (overlap probability of 100%) showed not only activation of the VWFA location for vOICe SSD letters (Figure 2C), but also selectivity for letters in this area (Figure 2F). Thus, the high anatomical consistency across subjects reported in the VWFA of the sighted (Cohen et al., 2000) can be extended to reading without visual experience using a novel sense learned in adulthood. We next directly compared the activation Sirolimus molecular weight generated by soundscape letters with those of each one of the other visual categories separately across the entire brain. All contrasts

identified significant left ventral visual stream activations, whose intersection was restricted to the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex (peaking at Talairach coordinates −51, −58, −9; see Figure 3A) in a location close to the sighted canonical VWFA (extending also laterally, to

the lateral whatever inferotemporal multimodal area; Cohen et al., 2004). This area was the only one across the entire brain to show full overlap of selectivity for letters versus each of the other visual categories at the group level (for a list of other areas showing weaker selectivity overlap, see Table S2). These results show that the left ventral occipito-temporal cortex, alone across the entire brain, develops full functional specialization for letters over all other tested categories, despite an exclusively auditory input and the lack of visual experience, suggesting that there is a full sensory modality tolerance. In order to verify our results in another independent manner, we also conducted an ROI analysis of the selectivity for letters of the blind in the canonical VWFA as identified in the sighted literature (Cohen et al., 2000; Talairach coordinates −42, −57, −6). The standard left-hemispheric VWFA showed highly significant activation for SSD letters in the blind as compared not only to the vOICe SSD transformation of visual textures, i.e., simple low-level visual stimuli (p < 0.000001, t = 6.1; Figure 3B), but also to each of the (visually) more complex categories separately (t > 4.

, 2009a and de Almeida et al, 2009b) This mechanism would be ex

, 2009a and de Almeida et al., 2009b). This mechanism would be expected

to amplify subtle differences between input patterns, which would generate, for example, pattern separation. Furthermore, this mechanism would amplify small differences in peaks of grid cell firing, resulting in a conversion from grid-to-place codes. Thus, the oscillatory structure of EPSCs and IPSCs may represent a framework for both pattern separation and grid-to-place code conversion in the dentate gyrus. The firing of hippocampal GCs in vivo previously was controversial. Early studies indicated high-frequency activity CH5424802 ic50 of GCs in the center of place fields (Jung and McNaughton, 1993, Skaggs et al., 1996 and Leutgeb et al., 2007) and during working memory tasks (Wiebe and Stäubli, 1999). In contrast, more recent work indicated that GCs in vivo are largely silent (Alme et al.,

2010). Our results demonstrate that morphologically identified GCs in awake rats fire at low frequency. However, when GCs generate spikes, they preferentially fire in bursts. Both the negative resting potential and the coexistence of firing and silent GCs are consistent with the idea that bursting does not represent an artifact of WC recording or a pathophysiological event. Thus, mature GCs in awake animals may primarily use a sparse burst coding mechanism for 3-Methyladenine cost representation of information (reviewed by Lisman, 1997). Low-frequency bursting activity has major implications for GC output via the mossy fiber Rebamipide system. In combination, the low frequency of spiking and the high proportion of bursts will maximize facilitation at hippocampal

mossy fiber synapses, the sole output synapses from dentate gyrus GCs (Salin et al., 1996, Toth et al., 2000 and Henze et al., 2002). Together with previous results, our findings suggest that two highly nonlinear steps in series govern signal flow from the dentate gyrus to the CA3 region. In the first step, pattern separation promoted by gamma oscillations (de Almeida et al., 2009a and de Almeida et al., 2009b) extracts the differences between input patterns. In the second step, burst amplification of mossy fiber transmission generates a highly efficient output onto CA3 pyramidal neurons. This enchainment of two highly nonlinear processes ensures that novel information is selectively relayed to the CA3 region, where it can be used to initiate the efficient storage in CA3–CA3 pyramidal neuron synapses via heterosynaptic potentiation (Kobayashi and Poo, 2004 and Bischofberger et al., 2006). Patch-clamp recordings were made from morphologically identified mature dentate gyrus GCs of the dorsal hippocampus in vivo, using 28- ± 1-day-old Wistar rats of either sex. Experiments followed previous protocols (Margrie et al., 2002, Lee et al., 2006 and Lee et al.