Peripheral administration of a serine protease inhibitor blocks kindling

An inhibitor of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) was tested for its effec ts on the rapid kindling induced by a series of afterdischarges (ADs) trigg ered in hippocampus over a 3-h period. Rats injected with vehicle prior to the session had prolonged ADs in tests carried out 10 days later. This was not the case for animals treated with the inhibitor. These findings support the hypothesis that activity-driven proteolysis contributes importantly to the production of long-lasting physiological changes. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved.