scholarly journals Effects of calcium on electrical propagation in early embryonic precontractile heart as revealed by multiple-site optical recording of action potentials.

1985 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Komuro ◽  
A Hirota ◽  
T Yada ◽  
T Sakai ◽  
S Fujii ◽  
...  

The effects of Ca2+ on electrical propagation in early embryonic precontractile chick hearts were studied optically using a voltage-sensitive merocyanine-rhodanine dye. Spontaneous optical signals, corresponding to action potentials, were recorded simultaneously from 25 separate regions of the eight-to-nine-somite embryonic primitive heart, using a square photodiode array. Electrical propagation was assessed by analyzing the timing of the signals obtained from different regions. Electrical propagation in the heart was suppressed by either lowering or raising extracellular Ca2+. Similar effects were produced by a Ca2+ ionophore (A23187). We have also found that electrical propagation across the primordial fusion line at the midline of the heart was enhanced by increasing, and depressed by lowering, external Ca2+. One possible interpretation is that intercellular communication in the embryonic precontractile heart is regulated by the level of the intracellular Ca2+ concentration, and it is suggested that intercellular communication across the primordial fusion line strongly depends on external Ca2+.

1988 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Kamino ◽  
H Komuro ◽  
T Sakai ◽  
A Hirota

Pacemaking areas in the early embryonic chick hearts were quantitatively assessed using simultaneous multiple-site optical recordings of spontaneous action potentials. The measuring system with a 10- X 10- or a 12 X 12-element photodiode array had a spatial resolution of 15-30 microns. Spontaneous action potential-related optical signals were recorded simultaneously from multiple contiguous regions in the area in which the pacemaker site was located in seven- to nine-somite embryonic hearts stained with a voltage-sensitive merocyanine-rhodanine dye (NK 2761). In the seven- to early eight-somite embryonic hearts, the location of the pacemaking area is not uniquely determined, and as development proceeds to the nine-somite stage, the pacemaking area becomes confined to the left pre-atrial tissue. Analysis of the simultaneous multiple-site optical recordings showed that the pacemaking area was basically circular in shape in the later eight- to nine-somite embryonic hearts. An elliptical shape also was observed at the seven- to early eight-somite stages of development. The size of the pacemaking area was estimated to be approximately 1,200-3,000 micron2. We suggest that the pacemaking area is composed of approximately 60-150 cells, and that the pacemaking area remains at a relatively constant size throughout the seven- to nine-somite stages. It is thus proposed that a population of pacemaking cells, rather than a single cell, serves as a rhythm generator in the embryonic chick heart.


1986 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hitoshi KOMURO ◽  
Tetsuro SAKAI ◽  
Akihiko HIROTA ◽  
Kohtaro KAMINO

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1432) ◽  
pp. 689-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiyuki Hosokawa ◽  
Masaki Ohta ◽  
Takeshi Saito ◽  
Alan Fine

Spatio-temporal patterns of neuronal activity before and after the induction of long-term potentiation in mouse hippocampal slices were studied using a real-time high-resolution optical recording system. After staining the slices with voltage-sensitive dye, transmitted light images and extracellular field potentials were recorded in response to stimuli applied to CA1 stratum radiatum. Optical and electrical signals in response to single test pulses were enhanced for at least 30 minutes after brief high-frequency stimulation at the same site. In two-pathway experiments, potentiation was restricted to the tetanized pathway. The optical signals demonstrated that both the amplitude and area of the synaptic response were increased, in patterns not predictable from the initial, pretetanus, pattern of activation. Optical signals will be useful for investigating spatio-temporal patterns of synaptic enhancement underlying information storage in the brain.


1983 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 887-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
D M Senseman ◽  
H Shimizu ◽  
I S Horwitz ◽  
B M Salzberg

The interaction between synaptic and electronic excitation of cells from the salivary gland of the snail Helisoma trivolvis was studied using a voltage-sensitive merocyanine dye. Linear and square photodiode matrix arrays were used to record simultaneously the response to neuronal stimulation of 15-25 separate regions of the gland. Laterally opposed acini exhibited highly synchronous electrical activity, which suggested a correspondingly high degree of electrical coupling. In the longitudinal direction, coupling appeared weaker. The onset of depolarization after neuronal stimulation was progressively delayed along the longitudinal gland axis, in agreement with the measured conduction velocity of the presynaptic nerve spike. In most instances, neuronal stimulation directly activated a regenerative gland response (action potential) at the junction between the anterior and central duct. Excitation of distal gland regions was usually mediated by electronic spread from active, more proximal gland regions. Occasionally, "collisions" between excitatory waves traveling in opposite directions were observed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 1545-1553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan A. N. Fisher ◽  
Jonathan R. Barchi ◽  
Cristin G. Welle ◽  
Gi-Ho Kim ◽  
Paul Kosterin ◽  
...  

We report the first optical recordings of action potentials, in single trials, from one or a few (∼1–2 μm) mammalian nerve terminals in an intact in vitro preparation, the mouse neurohypophysis. The measurements used two-photon excitation along the “blue” edge of the two-photon absorption spectrum of di-3-ANEPPDHQ (a fluorescent voltage-sensitive naphthyl styryl-pyridinium dye), and epifluorescence detection, a configuration that is critical for noninvasive recording of electrical activity from intact brains. Single-trial recordings of action potentials exhibited signal-to-noise ratios of ∼5:1 and fractional fluorescence changes of up to ∼10%. This method, by virtue of its optical sectioning capability, deep tissue penetration, and efficient epifluorescence detection, offers clear advantages over linear, as well as other nonlinear optical techniques used to monitor voltage changes in localized neuronal regions, and provides an alternative to invasive electrode arrays for studying neuronal systems in vivo.


Nature ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 306 (5938) ◽  
pp. 36-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Salzberg ◽  
A. L. Obaid ◽  
D. M. Senseman ◽  
H. Gainer

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