Effect of vinconate on long-term potentiation in a mossy fiber-CA3 system of guinea pig hippocampal slices.

We investigated the effect of vinconate on the long-term potentiation of population spikes following the stimulation of mossy fibers in the CA3 pyramidal layer of hippocampal slices from guinea pig brain. Vinconate (10(-7) and 10(-6) M) dose-dependently augmented the long-term potentiation in the mossy fiber-CA3 system. This effect was reduced by treatment with scopolamine at a concentration of 10(-6) M, which showed no significant change in the long-term potentiation in a mossy fiber-CA3 system. These results suggest that vinconate may augment long-term potentiation in the mossy fiber-CA3 system partly via activation of the cholinergic system.