A requirement for astrocyte IP(3)R2 signaling for whisker experience-dependent depression and homeostatic upregulation in the mouse barrel cortex

Changes to sensory experience result in plasticity of synapses in the cortex. This experience-dependent plasticity (EDP) is a fundamental property of the brain. Yet, while much is known about neuronal roles in EDP, very little is known about the role of astrocytes. To address this issue, we used the well-described mouse whiskers-to-barrel cortex system, which expresses a number of forms of EDP. We found that all-whisker deprivation induced characteristic experience-dependent Hebbian depression (EDHD) followed by homeostatic upregulation in L2/3 barrel cortex of wild type mice. However, these changes were not seen in mutant animals (IP(3)R2(–/–)) that lack the astrocyte-expressed IP(3) receptor subtype. A separate paradigm, the single-whisker experience, induced potentiation of whisker-induced response in both wild-type (WT) mice and IP(3)R2(–/–) mice. Recordings in ex vivo barrel cortex slices reflected the in vivo results so that long-term depression (LTD) could not be elicited in slices from IP(3)R2(–/–) mice, but long-term potentiation (LTP) could. Interestingly, 1 Hz stimulation inducing LTD in WT paradoxically resulted in NMDAR-dependent LTP in slices from IP(3)R2(–/–) animals. The LTD to LTP switch was mimicked by acute buffering astrocytic [Ca(2+)](i) in WT slices. Both WT LTD and IP(3)R2(–/–) 1 Hz LTP were mediated by non-ionotropic NMDAR signaling, but only WT LTD was P38 MAPK dependent, indicating an underlying mechanistic switch. These results demonstrate a critical role for astrocytic [Ca(2+)](i) in several EDP mechanisms in neocortex.