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Somatostatin-induced inhibition of neuronal Ca2+ current modulated by cGMP-dependent protein kinase.

Neurotransmitter release is frequently regulated by peptides that modulate neuronal calcium channels. Whole-cell recordings show that the ion permeability and voltage dependence of these channels are controlled by a membrane-associated pathway involving GTP-binding proteins. Here we use perforated-patch recordings to show that, in addition to this pathway, the peptide somatostatin inhibits the calcium current in chick ciliary ganglion neurons by a second soluble pathway involving a cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase (cGMP-PK). This somatostatin inhibition of Ca2+ current did not desensitize and was not characterized by the slowing of Ca(2+)-current activation (kinetic slowing) observed in whole-cell recordings. When cGMP-PK was inhibited, somatostatin inhibition of Ca2+ current resembled that observed with whole-cell recordings. cGMP agonists mimic the effect of somatostatin only in perforated patch recordings. An endogenous cGMP-PK therefore forms part of the mechanism by which somatostatin induces a sustained inhibition of neuronal calcium channels.

Animals↗

Kindling induces transient NMDA receptor-mediated facilitation of high-frequency input in the rat dentate gyrus.

To elucidate the gating mechanism of the epileptic dentate gyrus on seizure-like input, we investigated dentate gyrus field potentials and granule cell excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) following high-frequency stimulation (10-100 Hz) of the lateral perforant path in an experimental model of temporal lobe epilepsy (i.e., kindled rats). Although control slices showed steady EPSP depression at frequencies greater than 20 Hz, slices taken from animals 48 h after the last seizure presented pronounced EPSP facilitation at 50 and 100 Hz, followed by steady depression. However, 28 days after kindling, the EPSP facilitation was no longer detectable. Using the specific N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and RS-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazoleproponic acid (AMPA) receptor antagonists 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid and SYM 2206, we examined the time course of alterations in glutamate receptor-dependent synaptic currents that parallel transient EPSP facilitation. Forty-eight hours after kindling, the fractional AMPA and NMDA receptor-mediated excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) components shifted dramatically in favor of the NMDA receptor-mediated response. Four weeks after kindling, however, AMPA and NMDA receptor-mediated EPSCs reverted to control-like values. Although the granule cells of the dentate gyrus contain mRNA-encoding kainate receptors, neither single nor repetitive perforant path stimuli evoked kainate receptor-mediated EPSCs in control or in kindled rats. The enhanced excitability of the kindled dentate gyrus 48 h after the last seizure, as well as the breakdown of its gating function, appear to result from transiently enhanced NMDA receptor activation that provides significantly slower EPSC kinetics than those observed in control slices and in slices from kindled animals with a 28-day seizure-free interval. Therefore, NMDA receptors seem to play a critical role in the acute throughput of seizure activity and in the induction of the kindled state but not in the persistence of enhanced seizure susceptibility.

2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate↗

Induction of long-term depression and potentiation by low- and high-frequency stimulation in the dentate area of the anesthetized rat: magnitude, time course and EEG.

We investigated the possible importance of stimulus train frequency for the induction and magnitude of long-term synaptic plasticity in the perforant path-granule cell pathway. Under the same experimental conditions, low- (15 Hz) or high-frequency (400 Hz) stimulation could elicit a profound long-term depression (LTD), or typical long-term potentiation (LTP), of the population spike amplitude, excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) amplitude and spike onset latency. In addition, changes in the relationship between the EPSP and population spike amplitude indicated that granule cell excitability was enhanced during LTP and reduced during LTD. LTD occurred primarily after low-frequency stimulation (5 of 6 cases), and was always accompanied by striking changes in the EEG, most notably a biphasic slow potential. While the EEG changes were confined to the first 5 min after the tetanus, LTD lasted from 1 to 4 h. The nature of the EEG events is still unclear, it is suggested that they may represent a spreading depression-like episode. Finally, we found that LTP evoked by high-frequency stimulation was larger and generally reached peak magnitude faster than when it followed low-frequency stimulation. A possible mechanism and role for hippocampal LTD is proposed.

Anesthesia, General↗

The disulfide bond in chromogranin B, which is essential for its sorting to secretory granules, is not required for its aggregation in the trans-Golgi network.

Chromogranin B (secretogranin I), a protein sorted to secretory granules in many endocrine cells and neurons, undergoes selective aggregation during the sorting process in the trans-Golgi network. Reduction of the single, highly conserved intramolecular disulfide bond of chromogranin B by exposure of intact PC12 cells to the thiol reducing agent dithiothreitol has previously been shown to cause its missorting to the constitutive pathway of secretion. Using saponin perforation of membrane vesicles in aggregative buffer mimicking the milieu in the lumen of the trans-Golgi network (pH 6.4, 10 mM calcium), we show here that treatment with dithiothreitol does not prevent the aggregation of chromogranin B in this compartment. This implies that the loop in the chromogranin B polypeptide that is formed by the disulfide bond has a critical role in the membrane recognition of aggregated chromogranin B during secretory granule formation.

Animals↗

(R,S)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG) fails to block long-term potentiation under urethane anaesthesia in vivo.

The effects of the metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist (R,S)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG) on the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the dentate gyrus were examined under urethane anaesthesia in vivo. In experiment 1, bilateral intraventricular infusion of either 20 mM or 200 mM (R,S)-MCPG (5 microl each side) failed to block LTP in the perforant path-granule cell projection, relative to vehicle-infused controls; 30 mM D-AP5 (5 microl each side) infused in the same way as MCPG completely blocked LTP. Experiment 2, in which the contralateral perforant path-dentate gyrus pathway was used as a non-tetanized control, revealed that slight baseline changes induced by MCPG infusion were transient; again no block of LTP was obtained. The efficacy of mGluR blockade was confirmed in experiment 3, in which MCPG antagonized an increase in spontaneous activity induced by (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (ACPD). In experiment 4, significant depotentiation was induced by low frequency stimulation (5 Hz for 1 min) given 2 min after high frequency tetanization, but MCPG remained ineffective in blocking LTP after a second tetanus. In experiment 5, increasing the period of low frequency stimulation from 1 to 10 min produced greater depotentiation, but still did not unmask an MCPG-sensitive component of LTP. These experiments fail to support a role for mGluRs in the induction of LTP in the dentate gyrus under urethane anaesthesia in vivo, nor do they support the idea that a metabotropic switch controlling sensitivity to MCPG is reset by depotentiation.

Analysis of Variance↗

Catamenial pneumothorax: report of a case and review of the Japanese and non-Japanese literature.

A case of catamenial pneumothorax (CPT) was presented. The patient is a 34-year-old Japanese woman who had two histories of right pneumothorax occurring simultaneously with the menstruation. A thoracotomy, several blue cysts and tiny perforations were noted in the diaphragm. Partial excision of the lesion gave a favorable result. Pathological examination of the excised diaphragm revealed an endometriosis. Fisterography of the perforations at thoracotomy showed the pathway between thoracic and abdominal space. But the contrast medium didn't spread widely into the abdomen, but remained localized at the right paracolonic space, in accord with the right side predominancy of the endometriosis of the diaphragm which causes the CPT. The clinical and pathological features in Japanese cases including our own case are compared with those in English literature.

Adult↗

Voluntary exercise rescues deficits in spatial memory and long-term potentiation in prenatal ethanol-exposed male rats.

Prenatal ethanol exposure can lead to long-lasting impairments in the ability to process spatial information in rats, as well as produce long-lasting deficits in the ability of animals to exhibit long-term potentiation, a biological model of learning and memory processing. Conversely, we have recently shown that both spatial memory and long-term potentiation can be enhanced in animals that are given access to a running wheel in their home cage. In the present study, Sprague-Dawley rat dams were given one of three diets throughout gestation: (i) a liquid diet containing ethanol (35.5% ethanol-derived calories); (ii) a liquid diet, isocaloric to the ethanol diet, but with maltose-dextrin substituting for the ethanol derived calories and (iii) an ad libitum diet of standard rat chow. At weaning (28 days) animals were housed individually in either a standard rat cage, or a cage that contained a running wheel. Adult offspring were tested on a two trial version of the Morris water maze beginning at postnatal day 60, for five consecutive days. Following this, the capacity of the perforant path to dentate gyrus pathway to sustain long-term potentiation was examined in these animals using theta-patterned conditioning stimuli. Our results demonstrate that prenatal ethanol exposure can produce pronounced deficits in both spatial memory and long-term potentiation, but that allowing animal's access to voluntary exercise can attenuate these deficits to the point that those exposed to ethanol prenatally can no longer be differentiated from control animals. These findings indicate that voluntary exercise may have therapeutic benefits for individuals that have undergone prenatal ethanol exposure.

Animals↗

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide depresses synaptic transmission in the hippocampus and has specific binding sites on the synaptic membranes.

The electrical activity of transverse slices of hippocampus was used as a bioassay in which extracts of fresh brain tissue were screened for biological activity. A factor that depressed synaptic transmission was identified as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). This depressant action of NAD could be observed at concentrations in the range 1-10 microM and the degree of depression was monotonically related to the concentration of NAD in the bathing medium. NAD did not affect the antidromic invasion of the granule cells nor did it alter the relationship between the electrically evoked excitatory postsynaptic field potential (e.p.s.p.) and the population discharge of the granule cells (population spike). These results suggest that NAD did not affect the electrical excitability of the neuronal membranes. NAD had little effect on the sensitivity of granule cells to iontophoretically applied L-glutamate, the putative excitatory transmitter for the perforant path-granule cell pathway. Pure synaptosomal membranes, free of mitochondria, had two binding sites for NAD: a high affinity site with a Kd of 1 microM and a low affinity site with a Kd of 17 microM. These sites were similar in affinity to those of mitochondria, although the density of the high affinity sites was 5 X greater in the synaptosomal membranes. Adenosine had a relatively weak affinity for the NAD binding sites. It was concluded that NAD probably depressed synaptic transmission in the dentate gyrus by binding to sites on the presynaptic nerve terminal and reducing the amount of transmitter released by a nerve impulse. The physiological significance of this view is discussed.

Animals↗

Consensus paper on venous leg ulcer. The Alexander House Group.

This is a condensed consensus report, summarizing the present status of various aspects of epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of venous ulcers. There are conflicting results regarding the prevalence of venous ulcers ranging from 0.18 to 1.3%, depending on the types of ulcers reported. With regard to macrovascular changes preceding venous leg ulceration, ambulatory venous hypertension is the common pathway, usually related to incompetent perforating veins and the deep venous system. Obstruction of the deep venous system seems to be less frequently related to venous ulcers. Microvascular changes have been recently studied in more detail; morphologic as well as functional changes are summarized and considered from the viewpoint of various hypotheses, including fibrin cuff, leukocyte adhesion, etc. Various investigational approaches are summarized and recommendations for the most cost-effective diagnostic tests are given. Finally, conservative medical as well as surgical treatment avenues are evaluated. Emphasis is given to the normalization of ambulatory venous pressure by sclerotherapy, ligation, or other surgical procedures, in addition to compression. The consensus report is concluded by detailed recommendations for future clinical trials.

Chemotherapy, Adjuvant↗

Septal modulation of excitatory transmission in hippocampus.

Application of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine to conventional hippocampal slices caused a significant reduction of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) elicited by single pulse stimulation to the medial perforant path. Similar but smaller effects were obtained in the lateral perforant path and other excitatory pathways within hippocampus. The reductions were blocked by atropine, were not accompanied by evident changes in the EPSP waveform, and were eliminated by lesions to the cholinergic septo-hippocampal projections. Antidromic responses to mossy fiber stimulation, recorded in stratum granulosum, were not affected by the drug. However, paired-pulse facilitation was reliably increased, indicating that the depressed synaptic responses were secondary to reductions in transmitter release. The absence of cholinergic axo-axonic connections in the molecular layer suggests that physostigmine reduces presynaptic release by increasing retrograde signaling from the granule cells. In accord with this, an antagonist of the CB1 cannabinoid receptor eliminated the effects of physostigmine on synaptic responses, while an antagonist of the presynaptically located m2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor did not. This is in contrast to previously reported effects involving application of cholinergic agonists, in which presynaptic inhibition likely results from direct activation of presynaptically located muscarinic receptors. In summary, it is proposed that the cholinergic inputs from the septum to the middle molecular layer modulate, via endocannabinoid release, the potency of the primary excitatory afferent of hippocampus.

Animals↗

Epileptogenesis is associated with enhanced glutamatergic transmission in the perforant path.

The perforant path provides the main excitatory input into the hippocampus and has been proposed to play a critical role in the generation of temporal lobe seizures. It has been hypothesized that changes in glutamatergic transmission in this pathway promote the epileptogenic process and seizure generation. We therefore asked whether epileptogenesis is associated with enhanced glutamatergic transmission from the perforant path to dentate granule cells. We used a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy in which spontaneous seizures occur after an episode of pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus. Whole cell patch-clamp recordings were obtained from dentate granule cells in hippocampal slices from control and epileptic animals 3 wk after pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus. The paired pulse ratio of perforant path-evoked AMPA receptor-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) was reduced in tissue obtained from epileptic rats. This is consistent with an increase in release probability. N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated EPSCs were also prolonged. This prolongation could not be accounted for by decreased activity of glutamate transporters or by a change in NMDA receptor subunit composition in dentate granule cells, implying a change in NMDA receptor kinetics. This change in NMDA receptor kinetics was associated with the emergence of significant synaptic cross-talk, detected as a use-dependent block of receptors activated by medial perforant path synapses after lateral perforant path stimulation in MK-801. Enhanced glutamatergic transmission and the emergence of cross-talk among perforant path-dentate granule cell synapses may contribute to lowering seizure threshold.

Animals↗

Colchicine-induced lesion of rat hippocampal granular cells prevents conditioned active avoidance with perforant path stimulation as conditioned stimulus, but not conditioned emotion.

Successful acquisition of active avoidance by rats with low frequency (15 cps) stimulation of the perforant path as a conditioning stimulus is correlated with a slowly developing long-term enhancement of perforant path-granular cell synapses. After selective destruction of granular cells of the stimulated side by unilateral microinjection of 1.6 micrograms/0.2 microliter colchicine into the dentate area, field potentials could no longer be evoked by test stimuli and animals subsequently failed to acquire the conditioned active avoidance with perforant path stimulation as a CS. However, colchicine-treated animals showed the same development of conditioned emotional responses as saline controls and they could also successfully be conditioned with light and tone as the CS. These results suggest that the granular cells are necessarily involved in the conditioning pathway for the active avoidance with perforant path stimulation as the CS. Other targets of the perforant path, e.g., ipsi- and contralateral CA1 pyramidal cells and contralateral granular cells, or antidromic activation of the entorhinal cortex seem an insufficient substitute for granular cells in the pathway for this conditioned active avoidance, but would probably participate in the conditioned emotional responses. The results additionally support our hypothesis, that post-conditioning LTP in granular cell synapses contribute to the acquisition and/or the storage of a memory trace.

Animals↗

Long-term effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on hippocampal reactivity to afferent stimulation.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has become a promising treatment of affective disorders in humans, yet the neuronal basis of its long-lasting effects in the brain is still unknown. We studied acute and lasting effects of TMS on reactivity of the rat hippocampus to stimulation of the perforant path. Application of TMS to the brain of the anesthetized rat caused a dose-dependent transient increase in population spike (PS) response of the dentate gyrus to perforant path stimulation. In addition, TMS caused a marked decrease in inhibition and an increase in paired-pulse potentiation of reactivity to stimulation of the perforant path. Also, TMS suppressed the ability of fenfluramine (FFA), a serotonin releaser, to potentiate PS response to perforant path stimulation. Chronic TMS did not affect single population spikes but caused an increase in paired-pulse potentiation, which was still evident 3 weeks after the last of seven daily TMS treatments. After chronic TMS, FFA was ineffective in enhancing reactivity to perforant path stimulation, probably because it lost the ability to release serotonin. In addition, the beta adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol, which caused an increase in PS in the control rats, failed to do so in the TMS-treated rats. These results indicate that TMS produces a long-term reduction in efficacy of central modulatory systems.

Afferent Pathways↗

Behavioral state dependence of homo- and hetero-synaptic modulation of dentate gyrus excitability.

The effects of two different waking behavioral states on the modulation of perforant, path-evoked population spikes were studied following prestimulation of either the perforant path itself, the dentate gyrus commissural/association pathway, or the medial septum. The intermediate-latency, post-inhibitory 'rebound' of the population spike, which normally follows short-latency, perforant path or commissure-induced inhibition, was substantially increased during forced locomotion on a treadmill, compared with quiet wakefulness. There was no effect of these behavioral states either on the short-latency inhibitory phase itself or on the average magnitude of the unconditioned population spike. The short-latency, GABA-mediated disinhibitory effect of medial septal prestimulation was slightly reduced by walking, as might be expected from the increased feedforward excitatory drive on hippocampal interneurons that occurs during walking. Septal prestimulation during walking also led to a large, intermediate-latency spike facilitation that was completely absent during the quiet, awake state. Lesions of the medial septum attenuated the effects of behavioral state on the post-inhibitory facilitation from both perforant path and commissural stimulation. Atropine reduced the walking-induced increase in intermediate-latency facilitation, but had no effect in the still condition. We conclude that, during walking, electrical stimulation within the hippocampal formation or septum leads to a delayed increase in dentate gyrus excitability that is probably mediated polysynaptically through the medial septum or fibers passing through it. This state dependency is not due to tonic suppression of the inhibitory systems within the dentate gyrus itself.

Aging↗

Morphology of the intrarenal lymphatic system. Capsular and hilar communications.

Recent functional evidence has indicated that ureteric obstruction for three or more days in dogs causes a diversion of renal lymph from the hilar to the capsular system. The present study was concerned with the structural correlate of this functional evidence, having special reference to communications between the two systems. Within three days of ureteric occlusion the capsular lymphatic system became dilated. On histological examination two types of tributaries were found. One (termed a perforating lymphatic) served as a primary pathway for superficial cortical lymph from the subcapsular plexus, and penetrated the capsule either alone or in company with a small vein. The other (termed a communicating lymphatic) was closely associated with the occasional penetrating interlobular blood vessel which traversed the capsule to ramify in the perirenal tissue. Approximately 60% of the penetrating arteries in eight dog kidneys had associated communicating lymphatics. On the renal surface the perforating and communicating lymphatics formed the primary collecting vessels of the capsular system. Within the renal substance the communicating lymphatics were directly continuous with lymphatics which surrounded the interlobular blood vessels and which have been shown to drain into the hilar network. Thus the communicating lymphatics formed direct connections between the hilar and capsular systems. It was concluded that these communications, although dilated by hydronephrosis, existed under control conditions. Functionally they are probably of importance only under special circumstances when intrarenal lymph may be diverted from one to the other system.

Animals↗

Conditional dendritic spike propagation following distal synaptic activation of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons.

The perforant-path projection to the hippocampus forms synapses in the apical tuft of CA1 pyramidal neurons. We used computer modeling to examine the function of these distal synaptic inputs, which led to three predictions that we confirmed in experiments using rat hippocampal slices. First, activation of CA1 neurons by the perforant path is limited, a result of the long distance between these inputs and the soma. Second, activation of CA1 neurons by the perforant path depends on the generation of dendritic spikes. Third, the forward propagation of these spikes is unreliable, but can be facilitated by modest activation of Schaffer-collateral synapses in the upper apical dendrites. This 'gating' of dendritic spike propagation may be an important activation mode of CA1 pyramidal neurons, and its modulation by neurotransmitters or long-term, activity-dependent plasticity may be an important feature of dendritic integration during mnemonic processing in the hippocampus.

Action Potentials↗

Custom-designed high-density conformal planar multielectrode arrays for brain slice electrophysiology.

Multielectrode arrays have enabled electrophysiological experiments exploring spatio-temporal dynamics previously unattainable with single electrode recordings. The finite number of electrodes in planar MEAs (pMEAs), however, imposes a trade-off between the spatial resolution and the recording area. This limitation was circumvented in this paper through the custom design of experiment-specific tissue-conformal high-density pMEAs (cMEAs). Four configurations were presented as examples of cMEAs designed for specific stimulation and recording experiments in acute hippocampal slices. These cMEAs conformed in designs to the slice cytoarchitecture whereas their high-density provided high spatial resolution for selective stimulation of afferent pathways and current source density (CSD) analysis. The cMEAs have 50 or 60 microm center-to-center inter-electrode distances and were manufactured on glass substrates by photolithographically defining ITO leads, insulating them with silicon nitride and SU-8 2000 epoxy-based photoresist and coating the etched electrode tips with gold or platinum. The ability of these cMEAs to stimulate and record electrophysiological activity was demonstrated by recording monosynaptic, disynaptic, and trisynaptic field potentials. The conformal designs also facilitated the selection of the optimal electrode locations for stimulation of specific afferent pathways (Schaffer collaterals; medial versus lateral perforant path) and recording the corresponding responses. In addition, the high-density of the arrays enabled CSD analysis of laminar profiles obtained through sequential stimulation along the CA1 pyramidal tree.

Afferent Pathways↗