JEAN-MARIE C. BOUTEILLER
BME Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Rhenovia Pharma, Mulhouse, France
MICHEL BAUDRY
BME Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Rhenovia Pharma, Mulhouse, France
SUSHMITA L. ALLAM
BME Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Rhenovia Pharma, Mulhouse, France
RENAUD J. GREGET
BME Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Rhenovia Pharma, Mulhouse, France
SERGE BISCHOFF
BME Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Rhenovia Pharma, Mulhouse, France
THEODORE W. BERGER
BME Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Rhenovia Pharma, Mulhouse, France

This paper is dedicated to Gilbert Chauvet. Gilbert was a friend, a collaborator, and an inspiration for much of this effort. He is being dearly missed and we hope that this article will contribute to maintain the fire that he ignited.

Received 15 April 2008
Accepted 25 April 2008

The hippocampal formation is critically involved for the long-term storage of various forms of information, and it is widely believed that the phenomenon of long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic transmission is a molecular/cellular mechanism participating in memory formation. Although several high level models of hippocampal function have been developed, they do not incorporate detailed molecular information of the type necessary to understand the contribution of individual molecular events to the mechanisms underlying LTP and learning and memory. We are therefore developing new technological tools based on mathematical modeling and computer simulation of the molecular processes taking place in realistic biological networks to reach such an understanding. This article briefly summarizes the approach we are using and illustrates it by presenting data regarding the effects of changing the number of AMPA receptors on various features of glutamatergic transmission, including NMDA receptor-mediated responses and paired-pulse facilitation. We conclude by discussing the significance of these results and providing some ideas for future directions with this approach.

Modeling; simulation; glutamate; hippocampus; synaptic; receptor; plasticity