Acute exposure to CXC chemokine ligand 10, but not its chronic astroglial production, alters synaptic plasticity in mouse hippocampal slices

Brain levels of CXC chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) are elevated in a number of neuropathological conditions. To determine its impact on neuronal function, we measured synaptic transmission and plasticity in hippocampal slices prepared from transgenic (TG) mice with chronic astroglial production of CXCL10. We also tested the acute effect of recombinant CXCL10 applied to slices from normal C57Bl/6J mice, CXCL10 TG mice and CXCR3 knock out (KO) mice. Chronic production of CXCL10 did not alter synaptic plasticity. By contrast, exogenous CXCL10 (10 ng/ml) significantly inhibited long-term potentiation (LTP) in slices from normal C57Bl/6J mice and CXCL10 TG. The effect was probably receptor-mediated because CXCL10-induced inhibition of LTP was not observed in CXCR3 KO mice. Our findings suggest that acute exposure to CXCL10 alters synaptic plasticity via CXCR3 in mouse hippocampus.