Postsynaptic GABABRs inhibit L-type calcium channels and abolish long-term potentiation in hippocampal somatostatin interneurons

Inhibition provided by local GABAergic interneurons (INs) activates ionotropic GABAA and metabotropic GABAB receptors (GABABRs). Despite GABABRs representing a major source of inhibition, little is known of their function in distinct IN subtypes. Here, we show that, while the archetypal dendritic-inhibitory somatostatin-expressing INs (SOM-INs) possess high levels of GABABR on their somato-dendritic surface, they fail to produce significant postsynaptic inhibitory currents. Instead, GABABRs selectively inhibit dendritic CaV1.2 (L-type) Ca2+ channels on SOM-IN dendrites, leading to reduced calcium influx and loss of long-term potentiation at excitatory input synapses onto these INs. These data provide a mechanism by which GABABRs can contribute to disinhibition and control the efficacy of extrinsic inputs to hippocampal networks