LONG-TERM POTENTIATION IN THE HIPPOCAMPUS IS BLOCKED BY TYROSINE KINASE INHIBITORS

LONG-TERM potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus is thought to contribute to memory formation. In the Ca1 region, LTP requires the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor-dependent influx of Ca2+ and activation of serine and threonine protein kinases. Because of the high amount of protein tyrosine kinases in hippocampus and cerebellum 1,2, two regions implicated in learning and memory, we examined the possible additional requirement of tyrosine kinase activity in LTP. We first examined the specificity in brain of five inhibitors of tyrosine kinase 3-5 (Table 1) and found that two of them, lavendustin A and genistein, showed substantially greater specificity for tyrosine kinase from hippocampus 6 than for three serine-threonine kinases: protein kinase A, protein kinase C, and Ca2+/calmodulin kinase II. Lavendustin A and genistein selectively blocked the induction of LTP when applied in the bath or injected into the postsynaptic cell. By contrast, the inhibitors had no effect on the established LTP, on normal synaptic transmission, or on the neurotransmitter actions attributable to the actions of protein kinase A or protein kinase C. These data suggest that tyrosine kinase activity could be required postsynaptically for long-term synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. As Ca2+ calmodulin kinase II or protein kinase C seem also to be required 7,8, the tyrosine kinases could participate postsynaptically in a kinase network together with serine and threonine kinases.