Correlation of125I-LSD autoradiographic labeling with serotonin voltage clamp responses inAplysia neurons

Synapse ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martyn L. Evans ◽  
Michael J. Kadan ◽  
Paul R. Hartig ◽  
David O. Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Voltage Clamp ◽  
Autoradiographic Labeling

Characterization of Transport Activity of SLC11 Transporters in Xenopus laevis Oocytes by Fluorophore Quenching

2021 ◽  
pp. 247255522110041
Author(s):  
Raffaella Cinquetti ◽  
Francesca Guia Imperiali ◽  
Salvatore Bozzaro ◽  
Daniele Zanella ◽  
Francesca Vacca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Voltage Clamp ◽  
Expression System ◽  
Peptide Transporter ◽  
Xenopus Laevis Oocytes ◽  
Substrate Uptake ◽  
Transport Activity ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Metal Transporters ◽  
Electrode Voltage

Membrane proteins are involved in different physiological functions and are the target of pharmaceutical and abuse drugs. Xenopus laevis oocytes provide a powerful heterologous expression system for functional studies of these proteins. Typical experiments investigate transport using electrophysiology and radiolabeled uptake. A two-electrode voltage clamp is suitable only for electrogenic proteins, and uptake measurements require the existence of radiolabeled substrates and adequate laboratory facilities. Recently, Dictyostelium discoideum Nramp1 and NrampB were characterized using multidisciplinary approaches. NrampB showed no measurable electrogenic activity, and it was investigated in Xenopus oocytes by acquiring confocal images of the quenching of injected fluorophore calcein. This method is adequate to measure the variation in emitted fluorescence, and thus transporter activity indirectly, but requires long experimental procedures to collect statistically consistent data. Considering that optimal expression of heterologous proteins lasts for 48–72 h, a slow acquiring process requires the use of more than one batch of oocytes to complete the experiments. Here, a novel approach to measure substrate uptake is reported. Upon injection of a fluorophore, oocytes were incubated with the substrate and the transport activity measured, evaluating fluorescence quenching in a microplate reader. The technique permits the testing of tens of oocytes in different experimental conditions simultaneously, and thus the collection of significant statistical data for each batch, saving time and animals. The method was tested with different metal transporters (SLC11), DMT1, DdNramp1, and DdNrampB, and verified with the peptide transporter PepT1 (SLC15). Comparison with traditional methods (uptake, two-electrode voltage clamp) and with quenching images acquired by fluorescence microscopy confirmed its efficacy.

Epileptiform activity in the hippocampus produced by tetraethylammonium

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1077-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Rutecki ◽  
F. J. Lebeda ◽  
D. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Potassium Channel ◽  
Voltage Clamp ◽  
Channel Blocker ◽  
Mossy Fiber ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Evoked Response ◽  
Epileptiform Discharge ◽  
Extracellular Potassium ◽  
Potassium Channel Blocker ◽  
Epileptiform Discharges

1. The epileptiform discharges in the CA3 region of the rat hippocampal slice produced by bath application of the potassium channel blocker tetraethylammonium (TEA) were investigated. The effects of a convulsant (5 mM) and subconvulsant (0.5 mM) concentration of TEA on the mossy fiber-evoked synaptic currents were studied by the use of voltage-clamp techniques to determine whether TEA, like 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), another potassium channel blocker and convulsant, increased both inhibitory and excitatory components of the synaptic response. 2. At extracellular potassium concentrations of 2.5 mM, TEA (5 mM) was found to produce spontaneously occurring epileptiform discharges that could be recorded extracellularly. The intracellular correlate of the epileptiform discharge, the paroxysmal depolarizing shift (PDS), could be reversed in polarity by depolarizing the membrane and was associated with a large increase in membrane conductance. These results suggest that a synaptically mediated potential underlies the generation of the epileptiform discharge. 3. The reversal potential for the PDS was dependent on the time, relative to the extracellularly recorded field discharge, at which the measurement was made. In current clamp the mean reversal potential of the PDS measured at the midpoint of the extracellular discharge was -3.3 +/- 2.9 (SE) mV (n = 9). The reversal potential of the PDS was considerably more negative when measured either before or after the midpoint of the extracellular discharge, suggesting the presence of an inhibitory synaptic component. In voltage clamp similar results were obtained and a large conductance change was found to be associated with the PDS. These results suggest that the synaptic conductance associated with the PDS has both inhibitory and excitatory components. 4. TEA increased significantly the mossy fiber-evoked, early-inhibitory conductance. A convulsant concentration (5 mM) increased the conductance measured 15 ms after the stimulus from 39.7 +/- 8.7 to 87.2 +/- 8.0 nS (n = 6). The reversal potential associated with the conductance depolarized from -68.3 +/- 3.4 to -58.3 +/- 4.0 mV after 5 mM TEA. A subconvulsant concentration of TEA (0.5 mM) also increased the conductance of the mossy fiber-evoked response at 15 ms after the stimulus from 49.5 +/- 3.1 to 63.1 +/- 6.1 nS (n = 4) without an associated shift in reversal potential. 5. The late-inhibitory component of the mossy fiber-evoked response, when present, was increased by 5 mM TEA and unchanged by 0.5 mM TEA. 6. The excitatory mossy fiber-evoked synaptic current was studied in the presence of picrotoxin and was found to be increased and prolonged by 5 mM TEA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals Activation-inactivation of potassium channels and development of the potassium-channel spike in internally perfused squid giant axons.

1981 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Inoue
Keyword(s):  
Potassium Channels ◽  
Potassium Channel ◽  
Voltage Clamp ◽  
Time Constant ◽  
Equilibrium Potential ◽  
Giant Axons ◽  
Dependent Inactivation ◽  
Voltage Dependent ◽  
Time Courses ◽  
Calcium Permeability

A spike that is the result of calcium permeability through potassium channels was separated from the action potential is squid giant axons internally perfused with a 30 mM NaF solution and bathed in a 100 mM CaCl2 solution by blocking sodium channels with tetrodotoxin. Currents through potassium channels were studied under voltage clamp. The records showed a clear voltage-dependent inactivation of the currents. The inactivation was composed of at least two components; one relatively fast, having a time constant of 20--30 ms, and the other very slow, having a time constant of 5--10 s. Voltage clamp was carried out with a variety of salt compositions in both the internal and external solutions. A similar voltage-dependent inactivation, also composed of the two components, was recognized in all the current through potassium channels. Although the direction and intensity of current strongly depended on the salt composition of the solutions, the time-courses of these currents at corresponding voltages were very similar. These results strongly suggest that the inactivation of the currents in attributable to an essential, dynamic property of potassium channels themselves. Thus, the generation of a potassium-channel spike can be understood as an event that occurs when the equilibrium potential across the potassium channel becomes positive.

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