Control of spike transfer at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses in vivo by GABAA and GABAB receptor-mediated inhibition

Despite extensive studies in hippocampal slices and incentive from computational theories, the synaptic mechanisms underlying information transfer at mossy fiber (mf) connections between the dentate gyrus (DG) and CA3 neurons in vivo are still elusive. Here we used an optogenetic approach in mice to selectively target and control the activity of DG granule cells (GCs) while performing whole-cell and juxtacellular recordings of CA3 neurons in vivo. In CA3 pyramidal cells (PCs), mf–CA3 synaptic responses consisted predominantly of an IPSP at low stimulation frequency (0.05 Hz). Upon increasing the frequency of stimulation, a biphasic response was observed consisting of a brief mf EPSP followed by an inhibitory response lasting on the order of 100 ms. Spike transfer at DG–CA3 interneurons recorded in the juxtacellular mode was efficient at low presynaptic stimulation frequency and appeared insensitive to an increased frequency of GC activity. Overall, this resulted in a robust and slow feedforward inhibition of spike transfer at mf–CA3 pyramidal cell synapses. Shortterm plasticity of EPSPs with increasing frequency of presynaptic activity allowed inhibition to be overcome to reach spike discharge in CA3 PCs. Whereas the activation of GABAA receptors was responsible for the direct inhibition of light-evoked spike responses, the slow inhibition of spiking activity required the activation of GABAB receptors in CA3 PCs. The slow inhibitory response defined an optimum frequency of presynaptic activity for spike transfer at ~10 Hz. Altogether these properties define the temporal rules for efficient information transfer at DG–CA3 synaptic connections in the intact circuit.