scholarly journals Repetitive firing and wing stiffness in the locomotory musculature of the pteropod Clione limacina

2018 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-361
Author(s):  
Richard A. Satterlie
Author(s):  
Thomas J Pirtle ◽  
Richard A Satterlie

Abstract Typically, the marine mollusk, Clione limacina, exhibits a slow, hovering locomotor gait to maintain its position in the water column. However, the animal exhibits behaviorally relevant locomotor swim acceleration during escape response and feeding behavior. Both nitric oxide and serotonin mediate this behavioral swim acceleration. In this study, we examine the role that the second messenger, cGMP, plays in mediating nitric oxide and serotonin-induced swim acceleration. We observed that the application of an analog of cGMP or an activator of soluble guanylyl cyclase increased fictive locomotor speed recorded from Pd-7 interneurons of the animal’s locomotor central pattern generator. Moreover, inhibition of soluble guanylyl cyclase decreased fictive locomotor speed. These results suggest that basal levels of cGMP are important for slow swimming and that increased production of cGMP mediates swim acceleration in Clione. Because nitric oxide has its effect through cGMP signaling and because we show herein that cGMP produces cellular changes in Clione swim interneurons that are consistent with cellular changes produced by serotonin application, we hypothesize that both nitric oxide and serotonin function via a common signal transduction pathway that involves cGMP. Our results show that cGMP mediates nitric oxide-induced but not serotonin-induced swim acceleration in Clione.


1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 529-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. P. Norekian ◽  
R. A. Satterlie

1. The behavioral repertoire of the holoplanktonic pteropod mollusk Clione limacina includes a few well-defined behaviors organized in a priority sequence. Whole body withdrawal takes precedence over slow swimming behavior, whereas feeding behavior is dominant over withdrawal. In this study a group of neurons is described in the pleural ganglia, which controls whole body withdrawal behavior in Clione. Each pleural withdrawal (Pl-W) neuron has a high threshold for spike generation and is capable of inducing whole body withdrawal in a semi-intact preparation: retraction of the body-tail, wings, and head. Each Pl-W neuron projects axons into the main central nerves and innervates all major regions of the body. 2. Stimulation of Pl-W neurons produces inhibitory inputs to swim motor neurons that terminate swimming activity in the preparation. In turn, Pl-W neurons receive inhibitory inputs from the cerebral neurons involved in the control of feeding behavior in Clione, neurons underlying extrusion of specialized prey capture appendages. Thus it appears that specific inhibitory connections between motor centers can explain the dominance of withdrawal behavior over slow swimming and feeding over withdrawal in Clione.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (570) ◽  
pp. eabc1492
Author(s):  
Lawrence S. Hsieh ◽  
John H. Wen ◽  
Lena H. Nguyen ◽  
Longbo Zhang ◽  
Stephanie A. Getz ◽  
...  

The causative link between focal cortical malformations (FCMs) and epilepsy is well accepted, especially among patients with focal cortical dysplasia type II (FCDII) and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). However, the mechanisms underlying seizures remain unclear. Using a mouse model of TSC- and FCDII-associated FCM, we showed that FCM neurons were responsible for seizure activity via their unexpected abnormal expression of the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide–gated potassium channel isoform 4 (HCN4), which is normally not present in cortical pyramidal neurons after birth. Increasing intracellular cAMP concentrations, which preferentially affects HCN4 gating relative to the other isoforms, drove repetitive firing of FCM neurons but not control pyramidal neurons. Ectopic HCN4 expression was dependent on the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), preceded the onset of seizures, and was also found in diseased neurons in tissue resected from patients with TSC and FCDII. Last, blocking HCN4 channel activity in FCM neurons prevented epilepsy in the mouse model. These findings suggest that HCN4 play a main role in seizure and identify a cAMP-dependent seizure mechanism in TSC and FCDII. Furthermore, the unique expression of HCN4 exclusively in FCM neurons suggests that gene therapy targeting HCN4 might be effective in reducing seizures in FCDII or TSC.


1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 1512-1528 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hernández-Pineda ◽  
A. Chow ◽  
Y. Amarillo ◽  
H. Moreno ◽  
M. Saganich ◽  
...  

The globus pallidus plays central roles in the basal ganglia circuitry involved in movement control as well as in cognitive and emotional functions. There is therefore great interest in the anatomic and electrophysiological characterization of this nucleus. Most pallidal neurons are GABAergic projecting cells, a large fraction of which express the calcium binding protein parvalbumin (PV). Here we show that PV-containing pallidal neurons coexpress Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 K+ channel proteins and that both Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 antibodies coprecipitate both channel proteins from pallidal membrane extracts solubilized with nondenaturing detergents, suggesting that the two channel subunits are forming heteromeric channels. Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 channels have several unusual electrophysiological properties when expressed in heterologous expression systems and are thought to play special roles in neuronal excitability including facilitating sustained high-frequency firing in fast-spiking neurons such as interneurons in the cortex and the hippocampus. Electrophysiological analysis of freshly dissociated pallidal neurons demonstrates that these cells have a current that is nearly identical to the currents expressed by Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 proteins in heterologous expression systems, including activation at very depolarized membrane potentials (more positive than −10 mV) and very fast deactivation rates. These results suggest that the electrophysiological properties of native channels containing Kv3.1 and Kv3.2 proteins in pallidal neurons are not significantly affected by factors such as associated subunits or postranslational modifications that result in channels having different properties in heterologous expression systems and native neurons. Most neurons in the globus pallidus have been reported to fire sustained trains of action potentials at high-frequency. Kv3.1–Kv3.2 voltage-gated K+channels may play a role in helping maintain sustained high-frequency repetitive firing as they probably do in other neurons.


Polar Biology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 571-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Böer ◽  
Martin Graeve ◽  
Gerhard Kattner

1962 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1163-1179 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. F. Fuortes ◽  
Francoise Mantegazzini

Eccentric cells of Limulus respond with repetitive firing to sustained depolarizing currents. Following stimulation with a step of current, latency is shorter than first interval and later intervals increase progressively. A shock of intensity twice threshold can evoke firing 25 msec. after an impulse. But in the same cell, a current step twice rheobase evokes a second impulse more than 50 msec. after the first, and current intensity must be raised to over five times rheobase to obtain a first interval of about 25 msec. Repetitive firing was evoked by means of trains of shocks. With stimuli of moderate intensity, firing was evoked by only some of the shocks and intervals between successive impulses increased with time. This is ascribed to accumulation of refractoriness with successive impulses. Higher frequencies of firing are obtained with shocks of intensity n x threshold than with constant currents of intensity n x rheobase. It is concluded that prolonged currents depress the processes leading to excitation and that (in the cells studied) repetitive firing is controlled both by the after-effects of firing (refractoriness) and by the depressant effects of sustained stimuli (accommodation). Development of subthreshold "graded activity" is an important process leading to excitation of eccentric cells, but is not the principal factor determining frequency of firing in response to constant currents.


1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 1127-1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Nambu ◽  
R. Llinas

1. We investigated the electrical properties of globus pallidus neurons intracellularly using brain slices from adult guinea pigs. Three types of neurons were identified according to their intrinsic electrophysiological properties. 2. Type I neurons (59%) were silent at the resting membrane level (-65 +/- 10 mV, mean +/- SD) and generated a burst of spikes, with strong accommodation, to depolarizing current injection. Calcium-dependent low-frequency (1-8 Hz) membrane oscillations were often elicited by membrane depolarization (-53 +/- 8 mV). A low-threshold calcium conductance and an A-current were also identified. The mean input resistance of this neuronal type was 70 +/- 22 M omega. 3. Type II neurons (37%) fired spontaneously at the resting membrane level (-59 +/- 9 mV). Their repetitive firing (< or = 200 Hz) was very sensitive to the amplitude of injected current and showed weak accommodation. Sodium-dependent high-frequency (20-100 Hz) subthreshold membrane oscillations were often elicited by membrane depolarization. This neuronal type demonstrated a low-threshold calcium spike and had the highest input resistance (134 +/- 62 M omega) of the three neuron types. 4. Type III neurons (4%) did not fire spontaneously at the resting membrane level (-73 +/- 5 mV). Their action potentials were characterized by a long duration (2.3 +/- 0.6 ms). Repetitive firing elicited by depolarizing current injection showed weak or no accommodation. This neuronal type had an A-current and showed the lowest input resistance (52 +/- 35 M omega) of the three neuron types. 5. Stimulation of the caudoputamen evoked inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) in Type I and II neurons. In Type II neurons the IPSPs were usually followed by rebound firing. Excitatory postsynaptic potentials and antidromic responses were also elicited in some Type I and II neurons. The estimated conduction velocity of the striopallidal projection was < 1 m/s (Type I neurons, 0.49 +/- 0.37 m/s; Type II neurons, 0.33 +/- 0.13 m/s).


2003 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 3097-3113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason S. Rothman ◽  
Paul B. Manis

Using kinetic data from three different K+ currents in acutely isolated neurons, a single electrical compartment representing the soma of a ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) neuron was created. The K+ currents include a fast transient current ( IA), a slow-inactivating low-threshold current ( ILT), and a noninactivating high-threshold current ( IHT). The model also includes a fast-inactivating Na+ current, a hyperpolarization-activated cation current ( Ih), and 1–50 auditory nerve synapses. With this model, the role IA, ILT, and IHT play in shaping the discharge patterns of VCN cells is explored. Simulation results indicate that IHT mainly functions to repolarize the membrane during an action potential, and IA functions to modulate the rate of repetitive firing. ILT is found to be responsible for the phasic discharge pattern observed in Type II cells (bushy cells). However, by adjusting the strength of ILT, both phasic and regular discharge patterns are observed, demonstrating that a critical level of ILT is necessary to produce the Type II response. Simulated Type II cells have a significantly faster membrane time constant in comparison to Type I cells (stellate cells) and are therefore better suited to preserve temporal information in their auditory nerve inputs by acting as precise coincidence detectors and having a short refractory period. Finally, we demonstrate that modulation of Ih, which changes the resting membrane potential, is a more effective means of modulating the activation level of ILT than simply modulating ILT itself. This result may explain why ILT and Ih are often coexpressed throughout the nervous system.


1995 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 1911-1919 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Parkis ◽  
D. A. Bayliss ◽  
A. J. Berger

1. We used conventional intracellular recording techniques in 400-microns-thick slices from the brain stems of juvenile rats to investigate the action of norepinephrine (NE) on subthreshold and firing properties of hypoglossal motoneurons (HMs). 2. In recordings in current-clamp mode, 50 or 100 microM NE elicited a reversible depolarization accompanied by an increase in input resistance (RN) in all HMs tested (n = 74). In recordings in single-electrode voltage-clamp mode, NE induced a reversible inward current (INE) accompanied by a reduction in input conductance. The average reversal potential for INE was -104 mV. The NE responses could be elicited in a Ca(2+)-free solution containing tetrodotoxin, indicating that they were postsynaptic. 3. The NE response could be blocked by the alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist prazosin, but not by the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol, and could be mimicked by the alpha 1-adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine but not by the alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist UK 14,304 or by the beta-adrenoceptor agonist isoproterenol when alpha-adrenoceptors were blocked. 4. Substitution of barium for calcium in the perfusion solution blocked the increase in RN in response to NE without completely blocking the depolarization. Replacement of sodium chloride with choline chloride in the barium-substituted perfusion solution blocked the remaining depolarization. 5. The neuropeptide thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), which also depolarizes and increases the RN of HMs, occluded the response of HMs to NE. 6. NE altered HM firing properties in three ways: it always lowered the minimum amount of injected current needed to elicit repetitive firing, it increased the slope of the firing frequency versus injected current relation in 8 of 14 cells tested, and it increased the delay from the onset of the depolarizing current pulse to the first evoked spike in all cells tested. 7. We conclude that NE acts directly on alpha 1-adrenoceptors to increase the excitability of HMs. It does this by reducing a barium-sensitive resting potassium current and activating a barium-insensitive inward current carried primarily by sodium ions. A portion of the intracellular pathway for these actions is shared by TRH. In addition, there is evidence that NE alters HM firing patterns by affecting currents that are activated following depolarization.


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