[The effect of amiloride and furosemide on synaptic potentials in spinal motor neurons and difference in potentials in frog dermal epithelium].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · Search PubMed
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Anticholinesterases proserine (2-10(-7)-2-10(-6) M) and eserine (2-10(-6)-2-10(-5) M) prolonged end-plate poteutials (e. p. p. s.) and miniature end-plate potentials (m. e. p. p. s.) and increased their amplitude; higher concentrations of these drugs first increased and then decreased the amplitude and duration. Thus, higher concentrations, in addition to anticholinesterase effect, exert also the inhibiting influence on postjunction membrane. These two effects are reversible when washing out the drugs. Neither proserine nor eserine affect the frequency of m. e. p. p. and the quantum content of e. p. p. No cholinssensitive effect of these drugs was observed.
SV2Proteoglycan (SV2pg) is a specific component of small clear synaptic vesicles. It is a keratan sulfate proteoglycan with oligosaccharide side chains N-linked to a core protein of 80 kDa. Two glycosylated forms, H and L, are present in synaptic vesicles. The amino acid sequence suggests that SV2pg contains 12 transmembrane domains and is homologous to bacterial and eukaryotic sugar transporters. Although its structure suggests that SV2pg is a vesicular transporter, what it transports is unknown. SV2pg is probably not a neurotransmitter transporter, since that function resides in an unrelated family of synaptic vesicle proteins. In addition to its vesicular function, SV2pg may have a secondary function as an extracellular matrix (ECM) receptor on the nerve terminal surface. At the electric organ synapse, which is closely related to the neuromuscular junction. SV2pg is bound to laminin, a component of the synaptic ECM. SV2pg is only associated with laminin on the nerve terminal surface, not in the synaptic vesicle. Studies on synaptogenesis during motor nerve regeneration have suggested that nerve terminal ECM receptors play an important role in synaptic recognition.
BACKGROUND: Multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) have become popular tools for recording spontaneous and evoked electrical activity of excitable tissues. The majority of previous studies of synaptic transmission in brain slices employed MEAs with planar electrodes that had limited ability to detect signals coming from deeper, healthier layers of the slice. To overcome this limitation, we used three-dimensional (3D) MEAs with tip-shaped electrodes to probe plasticity of field excitatory synaptic potentials (fEPSPs) in the CA1 area of hippocampal slices of 129S5/SvEvBrd and C57BL/6J-TyrC-Brd mice. RESULTS: Using 3D MEAs, we were able to record larger fEPSPs compared to signals measured by planar MEAs. Several stimulation protocols were used to induce long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic responses in the CA1 area recorded following excitation of Schäffer collateral/commissural fibres. Either two trains of high frequency tetanic stimulation or three trains of theta-burst stimulation caused a persistent, pathway specific enhancement of fEPSPs that remained significantly elevated for at least 60 min. A third LTP induction protocol that comprised 150 pulses delivered at 5 Hz, evoked moderate LTP if excitation strength was increased to 1.5x of the baseline stimulus. In all cases, we observed a clear spatial plasticity gradient with maximum LTP levels detected in proximal apical dendrites of pyramidal neurones. No significant differences in the manifestation of LTP were observed between 129S5/SvEvBrd and C57BL/6J-TyrC-Brd mice with the three protocols used. All forms of plasticity were sensitive to inhibition of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. CONCLUSION: Principal features of LTP (magnitude, pathway specificity, NMDA receptor dependence) recorded in the hippocampal slices using MEAs were very similar to those seen in conventional glass electrode experiments. Advantages of using MEAs are the ability to record from different regions of the slice and the ease of conducting several experiments on a multiplexed platform which could be useful for efficient screening of novel transgenic mice.
We have investigated the effects of administration of exogenous glutamate receptor agonists on the amplitude of field excitatory post-synaptic potentials (fEPSPs) evoked in the CA1 region of the rat hippocampal slice by stimulation of the Schaffer collateral-commissural fibres. L-Glutamate applied by iontophoresis or by bath perfusion (50 microM for 5 min) evoked a slowly rising increase in the amplitude of the fESPS which persisted for over 90 min. L-Glutamate induced potentiation was blocked by either D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (40 microM) or by (RS)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (500 microM). In slices in which synaptic long-term potentiation had been saturated, iontophoretically applied L-glutamate did not induce further potentiation, but reset the fEPSP amplitude back to control levels. Iontophoretic administration of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) evoked a transient potentiation which decayed back to control levels within 90 min whereas bath perfusion of NMDA (50 microM) evoked a persistent depression. Bath perfusion of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA, 50 microM) evoked no persistent effects. Bath administration of (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (ACPD, 50 or 100 microM) caused a short term depression of the fEPSP and no significant persistent effects. Perfusion of 100 microM ACPD in medium containing 1 microM picrotoxin caused a much smaller short term depression of the fEPSP and this was followed by a gradually developing and persistent potentiation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Synaptic plasticity in the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system is thought to contribute to the neural adaptations that mediate behavioral sensitization, a model for core aspects of addiction. Recently, it has been demonstrated that multiple classes of drugs of abuse, as well as acute stress, enhance strength at excitatory synapses on midbrain DA neurons. Here, we show that both the cocaine- and stress-induced synaptic enhancement involves an up-regulation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors. This enhancement requires the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor subunit GluRA as evidenced by its absence in mice lacking this subunit. The cocaine-elicited, but not the stress-elicited, synaptic potentiation in DA neurons was blocked by a D1-like receptor antagonist, indicating that the in vivo triggering mechanisms differ for these forms of experience-dependent synaptic modification. Surprisingly, behavioral sensitization to cocaine was elicited in GluRA(-/-) mice, indicating that potentiation of excitatory synaptic transmission in DA neurons is not necessary for this form of behavioral plasticity. However, GluRA(-/-) mice did not exhibit a conditioned locomotor response when placed in a context previously paired with cocaine, nor did they exhibit conditioned place preference in response to cocaine. We suggest that the drug-induced enhancement of excitatory synaptic transmission in midbrain DA neurons, although not required for behavioral sensitization per se, may contribute to the attribution of incentive value to drug-associated cues.
Extracellular application of tetraethylammonium (TEA) has been shown to elicit a prolonged synaptic potentiation in the CA1 region of the hippocampus that is unaffected by NMDA receptor antagonists, but is blocked by antagonists to voltage-dependent calcium channels (Aniksztejn and Ben-Ari, 1991; Huang and Malenka, 1993). In the present study the relation between TEA-induced potentiation and NMDA receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) was investigated in the CA1 region of the hippocampal slice using extracellular recordings and picrotoxin to block GABAA-mediated inhibition. Consistent with the finding of Huang and Malenka (1993), NMDA receptor-dependent LTP partially occluded the TEA-induced potentiation. However, this occlusion was abolished when the NMDA receptor antagonist D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (D-AP5) was present during the application of TEA, indicating one component of TEA-induced potentiation that is induced via NMDA receptor channels and another component that is distinct from NMDA receptor-dependent LTP. In the presence of antagonists to voltage-dependent calcium channels (nifedipine or nifedipine/flunarazine) application of TEA induced a potentiation that was largely occluded by NMDA receptor-dependent LTP. In common with NMDA receptor-dependent LTP, the TEA-induced potentiation, elicited in the presence of antagonists to voltage-dependent calcium channels, was associated with a symmetrical increase of the field EPSP. On the other hand, the TEA-induced potentiation elicited in the presence of D-AP5 produced an increase of the field EPSP that did not include the early part of the initial slope.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Fetal neostriatal tissue was transplanted into either the neostriatum or substantia nigra of adult rats. One to 6 months after transplantation, coronal brain slices were taken through the rostrocaudal extent of the transplants and neurons were characterized electrophysiologically using an in vitro slice preparation. When compared to control neurons taken from intact adult neostriata, transplanted neostriatal neurons (TSNs) had higher input resistances and longer time constants. All other passive and active membrane properties assessed were comparable between transplanted and control neostriatal neurons. Regardless of the transplantation site, local extracellular stimulation outside the graft elicited high-amplitude, long-duration depolarizing synaptic potentials that typically triggered bursts of action potentials. These synaptic potentials contrast with lower amplitude, shorter duration synaptic potentials consistently elicited in control neostriatal neurons. The depolarizing synaptic potentials evoked in the TSNs appeared to be mediated by a combined activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA excitatory amino acid receptors. Both the broad-spectrum excitatory amino acid antagonist kynurenic acid and the specific non-NMDA receptor antagonist, 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione significantly reduced postsynaptic potentials elicited in TSNs. The specific NMDA antagonist 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate had less effect on the amplitude but markedly reduced the duration of the synaptic potentials. The duration and amplitude of the bursts were augmented by the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor antagonist bicuculline methiodide, indicating that inhibition occurred in TSNs. TSNs were also more sensitive than control neurons to direct application of glutamate or NMDA. These findings demonstrate that TSNs express altered electrophysiological properties. The pharmacological analysis indicates that depolarizing postsynaptic potentials were mediated by activation of excitatory amino acid receptors, suggesting either innervation of the graft by host fibers which contain excitatory amino acids or development of novel local excitatory interactions intrinsic to the graft. Furthermore, the occurrence of high-amplitude, long-duration depolarizing synaptic potentials in TSNs, regardless of the site of transplantation, suggests that grafted neostriatal neurons become hyperexcitable to synaptic input.
Three different regions of the vertebrate central nervous system maintained in vitro (frog spinal cord, guinea pig olfactory cortex and hippocampus) have been used to investigate how Li+ influences membrane potential, membrane resistance, action potentials, synaptic potentials and the transmembrane K+-distribution of neurons and glial cells. In view of the therapeutic action of Li+ in manic-depressive disease, a special effort was made to determine the threshold concentration for the actions of Li+ on the parameters described above. It was observed that Li+ induced a membrane depolarization of both neurons and glial cells, a decrease of action potential amplitudes, a facilitation of monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potentials and a depression of polysynaptic reflexes. The membrane resistance of neurons was not altered. Li+ also induced an elevation of the free extracellular potassium concentration and a decrease of the free intracellular potassium concentration. Furthermore, in the presence of Li+ a slowing of the recovery of the membrane potential of neurons and glial cells, and of the extracellular potassium concentration after repetitive synaptic stimulation was observed. The threshold concentrations for the effects of Li+ were below 5 mmol/l in the frog spinal cord and below 2 mmol/l in the guinea pig olfactory cortex and hippocampus. The basic mechanism underlying the action of Li+ may be an interaction with the transport-function of the Na+/K+ pump.
Embryos of Xenopus laevis were selected prior to the onset of innervation and were raised for 2 days in the anaesthetic tricaine methanesulphonate (200 micrograms/ml). The gross development of these tricaine-reared animals appeared normal despite the absence of spontaneous motor activity and the lack of motor responses to prodding with a pin. Motor activity quickly appeared when the anaesthetic was withdrawn. Intracellular recording from the myotomes of intact, tricaine-maintained animals failed to reveal any spontaneous muscle action potentials. Synaptic potentials increased in frequency and amplitude upon withdrawing tricaine, but resting potentials remained unchanged. Cholinesterase activity, detected histochemically, was observed at the ends of the myotomes, the main site of innervation. The intensity of the histochemical reaction product at these sites appeared to be about as great in the myotomes of tricaine-reared animals as in control myotomes. Miniature end-plate currents (m.e.p.c.s), examined by focal external recording, declined with a time constant of 2.9 +/- 0.2 ms (mean +/- S.E. of mean) in the myotomes of tricaine-reared animals (stages 40-41). The time constants in the myotomes of control animals were 1.8 +/- 0.1 ms at stages 40-41 and 8.7 +/- 0.7 ms at stages 24-26 (shortly after the onset of innervation). The anticholinesterase neostigmine doubled m.e.p.c. time constants in the myotomes of tricaine-reared animals as well as in control myotomes at stages 40-41. It is concluded that motor activity is not required for the in vivo development of physiological levels of synaptic cholinesterase in Xenopus myotomal muscle.
The electrophysiological properties of guinea-pig dorsal vagal motoneurons were studied in an in vitro slice preparation. Antidromic, orthodromic and direct stimulation of the neurons demonstrated that the action potential is comprised of several distinct components: a fast initial spike followed by afterdepolarization and an early and a late afterhyperpolarizations. The fast initial spike and the early afterhyperpolarization were blocked by tetrodotoxin and tetraethylammonium ions, respectively. The afterdepolarization (present on the falling phase of the spike) and the late afterhyperpolarization were blocked by the addition of ions known to block calcium conductance (CdCl2, CoCl2 or MnCl2), indicating close association between these two potentials. Prolonged outward current injection through the recording electrode produced two different firing patterns, depending on the initial level of the membrane potential. From resting potential (usually -60 mV) the firing pattern was characterized by a short train of action potentials appearing shortly after the onset of the depolarization step. By contrast, when the depolarization was delivered from a hyperpolarized membrane potential level, a short train of repetitive firing appeared after an initial delay of 300-400 ms. The membrane current responsible for this initial reduction in excitability was studied by means of a single-electrode voltage-clamp technique. The magnitude, direction and kinetics of such current flow are consistent with the presence of early potassium current (IA), partly inactive at the resting potential. Synaptic activation of vagal motoneurons could be obtained by electrical stimulation of the tissue surrounding the vagal nucleus or by direct activation of the vagal nerve. Perivagal stimulation generated excitatory and inhibitory synaptic potentials which could be reversed by shifting the membrane potential. Vagal nerve stimulation, in addition to the antidromic activation of the cells, generated depolarizing responses which were unitary in nature and did not show much sensitivity to shifts in membrane potential. Perivagal and vagal nerve-evoked depolarizations could generate action potentials as well as partial dendritic spikes. We conclude that spike electroresponsiveness in vagal motoneurons is generated by voltage-dependent Na+ and Ca2+ conductances. In addition, the Ca2+-dependent current triggers a K+ conductance which is responsible for modulating the firing frequency obtained from the normal resting level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
New-onset seizures and epilepsy have a relatively high incidence in infants and children. A leading hypothesis to explain an increased seizure susceptibility of the immature nervous system involves ontogenetic changes in different neurotransmitter systems, such as specific glutamate and GABA receptors. However, few studies have directly tested this hypothesis in a systematic fashion, especially in neocortical structures, where seizures in pediatric patients frequently arise. The present study investigated developmental changes in epileptiform activity in rat neocortical slices from four age groups (postnatal days P4--7, P13--16, P23--26, P41--47) due to four pharmacological conditions (4-aminopyridine, low magnesium, picrotoxin, CGP-35348) that differentially modulate glutamate and GABA systems. A characteristic age-dependence of the incidence of epileptiform activity was observed. In all pharmacological conditions, no epileptiform activity occurred in neocortical slices from P4--7 rats. Interictal discharges, ictal events, and spreading depression had a maximal incidence at P13--16 and decreased progressively in later age groups. 4-Aminopyridine, low magnesium, and picrotoxin induced all types of epileptiform activity with a similar age-dependent pattern, despite minor differences in quantitative characteristics of epileptiform activity between these three conditions. The GABA(B) antagonist, CGP-35348, did not elicit epileptiform activity in any age group, but could potentiate synaptic potentials. These findings establish that isolated neocortical tissue intrinsically displays ontogenetic changes in seizure susceptibility independent of systemic factors. The similar age-dependent patterns of epileptiform activity with multiple drugs support a concept of global developmental changes in excitability not specifically linked to any particular neurotransmitter system.
The magnocellular neuropeptidergic cells (MNCs) of the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei have been a model for biochemical and physiological studies of peptidergic neurons in the mammalian brain, but nearly all the electrophysiological studies of these vasopressinergic and oxytocinergic neuroendocrine cells are based on extracellular recordings. This paper reviews recent literature on electrophysiological properties of neurons in the magnocellular nuclei in which the rat in vitro slice preparation and intracellular recording were used. Spontaneously occurring action potentials and synaptic potentials (excitatory and inhibitory) have been observed in hypothalamic slices. The spike patterns have included slow and irregular firing, short rapid bursts of inactivating spikes, and slow phasic discharge with prolonged active and silent periods. Some studies have shown that increased osmolality causes neuronal firing, but this area is controversial. Intracellular injections of lucifer yellow have shown that some MNCs are dye-coupled and electron microscopic observations with the freeze-fracture technique have revealed occasional gap junctions, thus suggesting that some MNCs are electrotonically coupled. Both excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials have been evoked with extracellular stimulation. Therefore, action potentials, synaptic potentials, burst discharges, and probably electrotonic coupling have been found with intracellular recording in mammalian neuroendocrine cells. Future studies with intracellular recording and staining followed by immunohistochemical identification of cells should provide significant new information on the membrane physiology and synaptic pharmacology of vasopressinergic and oxytocinergic cells.
INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Since the classical works carried out on the squid giant axon far less attention has been directed towards the study of the resting membrane potential than to the study of changes in potential (action potential, synaptic potentials, and so forth). It is often assumed that the resting potential depends on an independent current of the voltage called the leakage current, although, except on rare occasions, it has not been possible to characterise such a current either pharmacologically or molecularly. In this work our aim is to review and update the concept of resting potential. DEVELOPMENT: The outlook at present offers a complex situation in which several factors, in addition to leakage currents, play a role in maintaining resting potentials. These factors include ionic currents across non-inactivating voltage-dependent channels, the sodium/potassium pump, and certain currents with characteristics that are similar to those of the classical leakage current. The interaction of all these components gives rise to complex sub-threshold behaviours in the neurons, such as intrinsic rhythmic oscillations, which leads us away from the passive concept of the resting potential. CONCLUSIONS: An ever-increasing number of descriptions of intrinsic sub-threshold, rhythmic activity are being reported, which could suggest that they are a generalised phenomenon in the nervous system. Further studies need to be conducted into the complex mechanisms that determine the resting potential in order to gain an understanding of the phenomena of neuronal excitability and to find an explanation for some of the many pathological conditions that affect the nervous system.
The defensive gill-withdrawal reflex in Aplysia has proven to be an attractive system for analyzing the neural mechanisms underlying simple forms of learning such as habituation, sensitization, and classic conditioning. Previous studies have shown that habituation is associated with synaptic depression and sensitization with presynaptic facilitation of transmitter release from sensory neurons mediating the reflex. The synaptic depression, in turn, is associated with a decrease in Ca2+ currents in the sensory neurons, whereas presynaptic facilitation with increased Ca2+ currents produced indirectly by a decrease in a novel serotonergic sensitive K+ current. The present work represents an initial quantitative examination of the extent to which these mechanisms account for each of these types of synaptic plasticity. To address these issues a lumped parameter mathematical model of the sensory neuron release process was constructed. Major components of this model include Ca2+-channel inactivation, Ca2+-mediated neurotransmitter release and mobilization, and readily releasable and upstream feeding pools of neurotransmitter. In the model, release of neurotransmitter has a linear function of Ca2+ concentration and is not affected directly by residual Ca2+. The model not only simulates the data of synaptic depression and recovery from depression, but also qualitatively predicts other features of neurotransmitter release that it was not designed to fit. These include features of synaptic depression with high and low levels of transmitter release, posttetanic potentiation, a steep relationship between action potential duration and transmitter release, enhanced release produced by broadening the sensory neuron action potential (presynaptic facilitation), and dramatic synaptic depression with two closely spaced tetraethylammonium (TEA) spikes. The model cannot account fully for synaptic depression with empirically observed somatic Ca2+-current kinetics. Rather a large component of synaptic depression is due to reduction to the pools of releasable neurotransmitter (depletion). In the model when spike durations are greater than 15-20 ms, spike broadening produces little facilitation. However, when spike durations are more physiological, spike broadening leads to enhanced transmitter release.
Enduring synaptic potentiation can be induced in area CA1 of hippocampus by tetanic stimulation and by exposure to a medium containing high Ca2+ concentration. Both tetanic stimulation and high Ca2+ induce potentiation through voltage-dependent, post-synaptic mechanisms. Tetanus-induced long-term potentiation (LTP) was blocked by 50 microM D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV) as previously reported by others. In contrast, Ca2(+)-induced long-lasting potentiation was not reduced by 50 microM APV. Thus the mechanisms by which tetanic stimulation and exposure to high Ca2+ induce synaptic potentiation may differ.
Cell-attached recording provides a way to record the activity of - and to stimulate - neurons in brain slices without rupturing the cell membrane. This review uses theory and experimental data to address the proper application of this technique and the correct interpretation of the data. Voltage-clamp mode is best-suited for recording cell firing activity, and current-clamp mode is best-suited for recording resting membrane potential and synaptic potentials. The magnitude of the seal resistance determines what types of experiments can be accomplished with a cell-attached recording: a loose seal is adequate for recording action potential currents, and a tight seal is required for evoking action potentials in the attached cell and for recording resting and synaptic potentials. When recording action potential currents, if the researcher does not want to change the firing activity of the cell, then it is important that no current passes from the amplifier through the patch resistance. In order to accomplish this condition, the recording pipette should be held at the potential that gives a holding current of 0. An advantage of cell-attached current-clamp over whole-cell recording is that it accurately depicts whether a synaptic potential is hyperpolarizing or depolarizing without the risk of changing its polarity.