scholarly journals HCN hyperpolarization-activated cation channels strengthen virtual nicotinic EPSPs and thereby elevate synaptic amplification in rat sympathetic neurons

2016 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 438-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul H. M. Kullmann ◽  
Kristine M. Sikora ◽  
K. Lyles Clark ◽  
Irene Arduini ◽  
Mitchell G. Springer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Voltage Clamp ◽  
Cyclic Nucleotide ◽  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Hcn Channels ◽  
Dynamic Clamp ◽  
Messenger Rnas ◽  
Cation Conductance ◽  
Cervical Ganglion ◽  
Synaptic Gain

The influence of hyperpolarization-activated cation current (h-current; Ih) upon synaptic integration in paravertebral sympathetic neurons was studied together with expression of hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) subunit isoforms. All four HCN subunits were detected in homogenates of the rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG) using the PCR to amplify reverse-transcribed messenger RNAs (RT-PCR) and using quantitative PCR. Voltage clamp recordings from dissociated SCG neurons at 35°C detected Ih in all cells, with a maximum hyperpolarization-activated cation conductance of 1.2 ± 0.1 nS, half-maximal activation at −87.6 mV, and reversal potential of −31.6 mV. Interaction between Ih and synaptic potentials was tested with virtual fast nicotinic excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) created with dynamic clamp. The blocking of Ih with 15 μM ZD7288 hyperpolarized cells by 4.7 mV and increased the virtual synaptic conductance required to stimulate an action potential from 7.0 ± 0.9 nS to 12.1 ± 0.9 nS. In response to stimulation with 40 s long trains of virtual EPSPs, ZD7288 reduced postsynaptic firing from 2.2 to 1.7 Hz and the associated synaptic amplification from 2.2 ± 0.1 to 1.7 ± 0.2. Cyclic nucleotide binding to HCN channels was simulated by blocking native Ih with ZD7288, followed by reconstitution with virtual Ih using a dynamic clamp model of the voltage clamp data. Over a 30-mV range, shifting the half-activation voltage for Ih in 10 mV depolarizing increments always increased synaptic gain. These results indicate that Ih, in sympathetic neurons, can strengthen nicotinic EPSPs and increase synaptic amplification, while also working as a substrate for cyclic nucleotide-dependent modulation.

scholarly journals Excitatory Muscarinic Modulation Strengthens Virtual Nicotinic Synapses on Sympathetic Neurons and Thereby Enhances Synaptic Gain

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 3104-3113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul H. M. Kullmann ◽  
John P. Horn
Keyword(s):  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Sympathetic Ganglia ◽  
Dynamic Clamp ◽  
Neuronal Types ◽  
Synaptic Gain ◽  
Nicotinic Synapses ◽  
M1 Muscarinic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Muscarinic Modulation ◽  
M1 Muscarinic Receptors

Acetylcholine excites many neuronal types by binding to postsynaptic m1-muscarinic receptors that signal to ion channels through the Gq/11 protein. To investigate the functional significance of this metabotropic pathway in sympathetic ganglia, we studied how muscarinic excitation modulated the integration of virtual nicotinic excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) created in dissociated bullfrog B-type sympathetic neurons with the dynamic-clamp technique. Muscarine (1 μM) strengthened the impact of virtual synapses by reducing the artificial nicotinic conductance required to reach the postsynaptic firing threshold from 20.9 ± 5.4 to 13.1 ± 3.1 nS. Consequently, postganglionic action potential output increased by 4–215% when driven by different patterns of virtual presynaptic activity that were chosen to reflect the range of physiological firing rates and convergence levels seen in amphibian and mammalian sympathetic ganglia. In addition to inhibiting the M-type K+ conductance, muscarine activated a leak conductance in three of 37 cells. When this leak conductance was reproduced with the dynamic clamp, it also acted to strengthen virtual nicotinic synapses and enhance postganglionic spike output. Combining pharmacological M-conductance suppression with virtual leak activation, at resting potentials between −50 and −55 mV, produced synergistic strengthening of nicotinic synapses and an increase in the integrated postganglionic spike output. Together, these results reveal how muscarinic activation of a branched metabotropic pathway can enhance integration of fast EPSPs by modulating their effective strength. The results also support the hypothesis that muscarinic synapses permit faster and more accurate feedback control of autonomic behaviors by generating gain through synaptic amplification in sympathetic ganglia.

Estimating Use-Dependent Synaptic Gain in Autonomic Ganglia by Computational Simulation and Dynamic-Clamp Analysis

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (5) ◽  
pp. 2659-2671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diek W. Wheeler ◽  
Paul H. M. Kullmann ◽  
John P. Horn
Keyword(s):  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Computational Simulation ◽  
Sympathetic Neuron ◽  
Sympathetic Ganglia ◽  
Spike Timing ◽  
Calcium Currents ◽  
Dynamic Clamp ◽  
Autonomic Ganglia ◽  
Postsynaptic Spike ◽  
Synaptic Gain

Biological gain mechanisms regulate the sensitivity and dynamics of signaling pathways at the systemic, cellular, and molecular levels. In the sympathetic nervous system, gain in sensory-motor feedback loops is essential for homeostatic regulation of blood pressure and body temperature. This study shows how synaptic convergence and plasticity can interact to generate synaptic gain in autonomic ganglia and thereby enhance homeostatic control. Using a conductance-based computational model of an idealized sympathetic neuron, we simulated the postganglionic response to noisy patterns of presynaptic activity and found that a threefold amplification in postsynaptic spike output can arise in ganglia, depending on the number and strength of nicotinic synapses, the presynaptic firing rate, the extent of presynaptic facilitation, and the expression of muscarinic and peptidergic excitation. The simulations also showed that postsynaptic refractory periods serve to limit synaptic gain and alter postsynaptic spike timing. Synaptic gain was measured by stimulating dissociated bullfrog sympathetic neurons with 1–10 virtual synapses using a dynamic clamp. As in simulations, the threshold synaptic conductance for nicotinic excitation of firing was typically 10–15 nS, and synaptic gain increased with higher levels of nicotinic convergence. Unlike the model, gain in neurons sometimes declined during stimulation. This postsynaptic effect was partially blocked by 10 μM Cd2+, which inhibits voltage-dependent calcium currents. These results support a general model in which the circuit variations observed in parasympathetic and sympathetic ganglia, as well as other neural relays, can enable functional subsets of neurons to behave either as 1:1 relays, variable amplifiers, or switches.

TRPC1, TRPC3, and TRPC4 in Rat Orofacial Structures

2017 ◽  
Vol 204 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 293-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masatoshi Fujita ◽  
Tadasu Sato ◽  
Takehiro Yajima ◽  
Eiji Masaki ◽  
Hiroyuki Ichikawa
Keyword(s):  
Transient Receptor Potential ◽  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Receptor Potential ◽  
Monovalent Cation ◽  
Calcitonin Gene ◽  
Cervical Ganglion ◽  
Parasympathetic Neurons ◽  
Transient Receptor ◽  
And Function ◽  
And Control

TRPC (transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily C) members are nonselective monovalent cation channels and control Ca2+ inflow. In this study, immunohistochemistry for TRPC1, TRPC3, and TRPC4 was performed on rat oral and craniofacial structures to elucidate their distribution and function in the peripheries. In the trigeminal ganglion (TG), 56.1, 84.1, and 68.3% of sensory neurons were immunoreactive (IR) for TRPC1, TRPC3, and TRPC4, respectively. A double immunofluorescence method revealed that small to medium-sized TG neurons co-expressed TRPCs and calcitonin gene-related peptide. In the superior cervical ganglion, all sympathetic neurons showed TRPC1 and TRPC3 immunoreactivity. Parasympathetic neurons in the submandibular ganglion, tongue, and parotid gland were TRPC1, TRPC3, and TRPC4 IR. Gustatory and olfactory cells were also IR for TRPC1, TRPC3, and/or TRPC4. In the musculature, motor endplates expressed TRPC1 and TRPC4 immunoreactivity. It is likely that TRPCs are associated with sensory, autonomic, and motor functions in oral and craniofacial structures.

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)

Plasticity of postganglionic sympathetic neurons in the rat superior cervical ganglion after axotomy

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Klimaschewski ◽  
Thang D. Tran ◽  
Rainer Nobiling ◽  
Christine Heym
Keyword(s):  
Superior Cervical Ganglion ◽  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Cervical Ganglion

Cholecystokinin-gated currents in neurons of the rat solitary complex in vitro

1993 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 2584-2595 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Branchereau ◽  
J. Champagnat ◽  
M. Denavit-Saubie
Keyword(s):  
Voltage Clamp ◽  
Potassium Current ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Input Resistance ◽  
Calcium Currents ◽  
Equilibrium Potential ◽  
Potassium Ions ◽  
Nernst Equation ◽  
Membrane Hyperpolarization ◽  
Cckb Receptor

1. Ionic conductances controlled by type A and type B cholecystokinin (CCK) receptors were studied in neurons of the rat nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMNV), using intracellular and whole-cell patch clamp recordings in current or voltage clamp configuration during bath application of agonists (CCK8, CCK4, BC 264) and antagonists. 2. CCKA receptor-related inhibition was associated with a membrane hyperpolarization and a decrease in input resistance that developed 2-6 min after the arrival of drug into the extracellular medium. These effects were induced by 5 nM CCK8 but not BC 264 and they were blocked by the CCKA antagonist, L-364,718, but not by the CCKB antagonist, L-365,260. 3. CCKA receptor-related inhibition was generated by a potassium current that reversed at a reversal potential E(rev) of -73 +/- 1 (mean +/- SE) mV with bathing potassium concentration [K+]o = 6 mM and at -88 +/- 1 with [K+]o = 3 mM, in agreement with the Nernst equation for potassium ions. 4. CCKB receptor-related excitation was associated with a membrane depolarization and an increase of the input resistance induced by the following agonists at threshold concentrations: CCK8 (0.2 nM) > or = BC 264 (0.4 nM) > CCK4 (10.9 nM). The increase of input resistance was abolished by L-365,260 and was maintained after blockade of the CCKA current by L-364,718. 5. CCKB receptor-related excitation, in the neurons (30% of cases) in which clear response reversal was observed, appeared to be generated by a decrease of a potassium conductance. Responses showed a reversal potential E(rev) of -68 +/- 4 mV with [K+]o = 6 mM and -89 +/- 1 mV with [K+]o = 3 mM, verifying predictions from the Nernst equation applied to potassium ions. However, in 70% of cases, clear reversal was not observed at membrane potentials negative to the theoretical potassium equilibrium potential EK. 6. In voltage clamp studies, CCK8 induced a 181 +/- 17 pA inward current associated with a 26 +/- 4% decrease in the instantaneous current (I(ins)) generated by hyperpolarizing voltage steps. This effect on I(ins) was demonstrated in the absence of effects on the outward noninactivating potassium current (IM) and on the inward noninactivating cationic current (IQ). 7. CCKB receptor-mediated excitation was not suppressed by cobalt, a blocker of calcium currents, and was not associated with a change of the calcium-dependent potassium current (IK(Ca)).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Postganglionic sympathetic neurons express endothelin

1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (3) ◽  
pp. R873-R878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah H. Damon
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Superior Cervical Ganglion ◽  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Northern Analysis ◽  
Rat Pups ◽  
Cervical Ganglion ◽  
Brain And Spinal Cord ◽  
The Brain

Endothelin (ET) is a peptide originally identified as an endothelial-derived vasoconstrictor. It is now recognized that ET is produced by and acts on many other tissues including the brain and spinal cord, where it is believed to modulate neurotransmission. The present studies demonstrate that ET is synthesized by and secreted from postganglionic sympathetic neurons. With the use of Northern analysis, ET-1 mRNA was detected in cultures of sympathetic superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons isolated from 3- to 5-day old rat pups. ET-1 and ET-3 peptides were also detected in cultured SCG neurons using immunohistochemistry. ET-1 (50 pg/106 cells) and ET-3 (173 pg/106 cells) were detected by radioimmunoassay of media conditioned by cultured SCG. ET-1 (77 pg/mg protein) and ET-3 (30 pg/mg protein) were also detected by radioimmunoassay of extracts of adult SCG.

scholarly journals Discovery and Characterization of a Distinct Cyclic Nucleotide Binding Pocket in HCN Channels

2014 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 627a
Author(s):  
Anna Moroni ◽  
Marco Lolicato ◽  
Annalisa Bucchi ◽  
Cristina Arrigoni ◽  
Stefano Zucca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cyclic Nucleotide ◽  
Nucleotide Binding ◽  
Binding Pocket ◽  
Hcn Channels ◽  
Cyclic Nucleotide Binding
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