Dendritic inhibition terminates plateau potentials in CA1 pyramidal neurons

In CA1 pyramidal neurons (CA1-PYRs), plateau potentials control synaptic plasticity and the emergence of place cell identity. Here, we show that dendritic inhibition terminates plateaus in an all-or-none manner. Plateaus were initially resistant to inhibition but became increasingly susceptible to termination as they progressed. Between two distinct subtypes of dendrite-targeting interneurons, OLM^Ndnf generated slower postsynaptic currents that terminated plateaus more effectively than OLM^α2. Voltage-gated CA²⁺ channels (VGCCs) were necessary for plateaus, which were prolonged by blocking small-conductance CA²⁺-activated K⁺ channels (SK). A single-compartment model with these two conductances recapitulated core experimental findings and provided a mechanistic explanation for terminations. Plateaus arose from VGCCs maintained in the active state by sustained CA²⁺ influx, a positive feedback loop that was quasi-balanced by $I_{SK}$ . Inhibition terminated plateaus by driving the membrane potential below a dynamic threshold to deactivate VGCCs and end the positive feedback loop. Lastly, two-photon CA²⁺ imaging showed that plateaus evoke large dendritic CA²⁺ transients that were graded by terminations. Overall, our results demonstrate how the feedback inhibitory circuit interacts with intrinsic cellular mechanisms to regulate plateau potentials and shape dendritic CA²⁺ signals in CA1-PYRs.

dendrites; hippocampus; inhibition; interneurons; plateau potentials.