scholarly journals Current advances in invertebrate vision: insights from patch-clamp studies of photoreceptors in apposition eyes

2016 ◽  
Vol 116 (2) ◽  
pp. 709-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman V. Frolov
Keyword(s):  
Patch Clamp ◽  
Visual Ecology ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Compound Eyes ◽  
Intracellular Recordings ◽  
Biophysical Properties ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
New Information ◽  
Neural Superposition

Traditional electrophysiological research on invertebrate photoreceptors has been conducted in vivo, using intracellular recordings from intact compound eyes. The only exception used to be Drosophila melanogaster, which was exhaustively studied by both intracellular recording and patch-clamp methods. Recently, several patch-clamp studies have provided new information on the biophysical properties of photoreceptors of diverse insect species, having both apposition and neural superposition eyes, in the contexts of visual ecology, behavior, and ontogenesis. Here, I discuss these and other relevant results, emphasizing differences between fruit flies and other species, between photoreceptors of diurnal and nocturnal insects, properties of distinct functional types of photoreceptors, postembryonic developmental changes, and relationships between voltage-gated potassium channels and visual ecology.

scholarly journals Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel α-Aminoamides Containing Benzoheterocyclic Moiety for the Treatment of Pain

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1716
Author(s):  
Kun Tong ◽  
Ruotian Zhang ◽  
Fengzhi Ren ◽  
Tao Zhang ◽  
Junlin He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ion Channels ◽  
Patch Clamp ◽  
Formalin Test ◽  
Sodium Ion ◽  
Inhibitory Potency ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Patch Clamp Electrophysiology ◽  
Sodium Ion Channels

Novel α-aminoamide derivatives containing different benzoheterocyclics moiety were synthesized and evaluated as voltage-gated sodium ion channels blocks the treatment of pain. Compounds 6a, 6e, and 6f containing the benzofuran group displayed more potent in vivo analgesic activity than ralfinamide in both the formalin test and the writhing assay. Interestingly, they also exhibited potent in vitro anti-Nav1.7 and anti-Nav1.8 activity in the patch-clamp electrophysiology assay. Therefore, compounds 6a, 6e, and 6f, which have inhibitory potency for two pain-related Nav targets, could serve as new leads for the development of analgesic medicines.

scholarly journals Kv5, Kv6, Kv8, and Kv9 subunits: No simple silent bystanders

2016 ◽  
Vol 147 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elke Bocksteins
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Strategies ◽  
K Channel ◽  
Biophysical Properties ◽  
Tissue Specific ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Novel Treatments ◽  
Novel Therapeutic Strategies ◽  
Different Tissues ◽  
Novel Therapeutic

Members of the electrically silent voltage-gated K+ (Kv) subfamilies (Kv5, Kv6, Kv8, and Kv9, collectively identified as electrically silent voltage-gated K+ channel [KvS] subunits) do not form functional homotetrameric channels but assemble with Kv2 subunits into heterotetrameric Kv2/KvS channels with unique biophysical properties. Unlike the ubiquitously expressed Kv2 subunits, KvS subunits show a more restricted expression. This raises the possibility that Kv2/KvS heterotetramers have tissue-specific functions, making them potential targets for the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Here, I provide an overview of the expression of KvS subunits in different tissues and discuss their proposed role in various physiological and pathophysiological processes. This overview demonstrates the importance of KvS subunits and Kv2/KvS heterotetramers in vivo and the importance of considering KvS subunits and Kv2/KvS heterotetramers in the development of novel treatments.

Abstract 11691: Atorvastatin Reverses Impaired Voltage-gated K + Channels-mediated Coronary Vasodilation By Upregulating PPARγ In Diabetes (Best of Basic Science Abstract)

Circulation ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 132 (suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Su ◽  
Wei-Ping Li ◽  
Miao Chen ◽  
Hui Chen ◽  
Hong-Wei Li
Keyword(s):  
Patch Clamp ◽  
Protein Expression ◽  
Current Density ◽  
High Glucose ◽  
Diabetic Rats ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Coronary Vasodilation ◽  
Patch Clamp Recording ◽  
Voltage Gated

Aims: Voltage-gated K + (K v ) channels in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) play an important role in the regulation of coronary microcirculation. Atorvastatin (ATV) has shown some beneficial effects on vascular function, but the effect of ATV on K v channels-mediated coronary vasodilation remains unknown. The present study was designed to investigate the role of ATV in improving K v channels-mediated coronary dilator function in diabetes and the underlying mechanisms. Methods: Isolated VSMCs were incubated in normal or high glucose medium plus a different dose of ATV for 24 h at 37 o C. Patch-clamp recording and molecular biological techniques were used to assess the function and expression of K v channels. Control or type 2 diabetic rats were treated with ATV (50 mg/kg daily) by oral gavage for 10 weeks. Vasodilation of isolated rat coronary arteries was measured using a pressurized myograph. GW9662, the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) antagonist, was used to determine whether the mechanism of ATV-improved K v channel function can be explained by upregulation of PPARγ pathway. Results: Patch-clamp analysis revealed that high glucose reduced K v current density by 58.7 ± 4.6%, which was accompanied by a downregulation of K v 1.2 and K v 1.5 expression. Treatment with ATV reversed the inhibitory effect of high glucose on K v current density in a dose-dependent manner (1 μmol/L, 15.0 ± 2.6%; 10 μmol/L, 49.1 ± 3.8%; 100 μmol/L, 69.9 ± 4.8%; P < 0.05). In addition, ATV restored high glucose-induced downregulation of K v channel protein expression, and the difference was significant in both 10 μmol/L and 100 μmol/L groups. For in vivo study, K v channels-mediated coronary vasodilation was decreased in diabetic rats, compared with controls (9.1 ± 1.3 vs. 36.7 ± 1.4%, P < 0.05), whereas this decrease was partly corrected by ATV (25.0 ± 2.8 vs. 9.1 ± 1.3%, P < 0.05). Treatment with ATV prominently increased protein expression of PPARγ both in vitro and in vivo . The effect of ATV in regulating K v channels and K v channels-mediated vasodilation was markedly blunted by GW9662. Conclusions: In conclusion, treatment with ATV activates PPARγ pathway and preserves K v channel activity in VSMCs, thus providing improvement of coronary dilator function in diabetic rats.

scholarly journals Autonomous patch-clamp robot for functional characterization of neurons in vivo: development and application to mouse visual cortex

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 2341-2357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory L. Holst ◽  
William Stoy ◽  
Bo Yang ◽  
Ilya Kolb ◽  
Suhasa B. Kodandaramaiah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Patch Clamp ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Intracellular Recordings ◽  
Patch Clamping ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
Highly Skilled

Patch clamping is the gold standard measurement technique for cell-type characterization in vivo, but it has low throughput, is difficult to scale, and requires highly skilled operation. We developed an autonomous robot that can acquire multiple consecutive patch-clamp recordings in vivo. In practice, 40 pipettes loaded into a carousel are sequentially filled and inserted into the brain, localized to a cell, used for patch clamping, and disposed. Automated visual stimulation and electrophysiology software enables functional cell-type classification of whole cell-patched cells, as we show for 37 cells in the anesthetized mouse in visual cortex (V1) layer 5. We achieved 9% yield, with 5.3 min per attempt over hundreds of trials. The highly variable and low-yield nature of in vivo patch-clamp recordings will benefit from such a standardized, automated, quantitative approach, allowing development of optimal algorithms and enabling scaling required for large-scale studies and integration with complementary techniques. NEW & NOTEWORTHY In vivo patch-clamp is the gold standard for intracellular recordings, but it is a very manual and highly skilled technique. The robot in this work demonstrates the most automated in vivo patch-clamp experiment to date, by enabling production of multiple, serial intracellular recordings without human intervention. The robot automates pipette filling, wire threading, pipette positioning, neuron hunting, break-in, delivering sensory stimulus, and recording quality control, enabling in vivo cell-type characterization.

Patch Clamp Recording in Vivo

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ferster
Keyword(s):  
Patch Clamp ◽  
Brain Slices ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Intracellular Recordings ◽  
Intracellular Membrane ◽  
Patch Clamp Recording ◽  
Intact Organism ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
History Of

Patch clamp recording in vivo allows an investigator to study intracellular membrane potentials in an intact organism (as opposed to cells in culture or acute brain slices). This technique is a reliable method of obtaining high-quality intracellular recordings from neurons, regardless of their size, in several parts of the mammalian brain. This chapter will describe the principles and practice of performing patch clamp experiments in vivo, beginning with a brief history of the technological developments that have made this technique possible.

scholarly journals Caenorhabditis elegans Junctophilin has tissue-specific functions and regulates neurotransmission with extended-synaptotagmin

Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A Piggott ◽  
Zilu Wu ◽  
Stephen Nurrish ◽  
Suhong Xu ◽  
Joshua M Kaplan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Channels ◽  
Calcium Channel ◽  
Tissue Specific ◽  
Voltage Gated ◽  
Membrane Contact Sites ◽  
Contact Sites ◽  
Pharyngeal Muscles ◽  
Membrane Contact ◽  
Null Mutants

Abstract The junctophilin family of proteins tether together plasma membrane (PM) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes, and couple PM- and ER-localized calcium channels. Understanding in vivo functions of junctophilins is of great interest for dissecting the physiological roles of ER-PM contact sites. Here, we show that the sole C. elegans junctophilin JPH-1 localizes to discrete membrane contact sites in neurons and muscles and has important tissue-specific functions. jph-1 null mutants display slow growth and development due to weaker contraction of pharyngeal muscles, leading to reduced feeding. In the body wall muscle, JPH-1 co-localizes with the PM-localized EGL-19 voltage-gated calcium channel and ER-localized UNC-68/RyR calcium channel, and is required for animal movement. In neurons, JPH-1 co-localizes with the membrane contact site protein Extended-SYnaptoTagmin 2 (ESYT-2) in soma, and is present near presynaptic release sites. Interestingly, jph-1 and esyt-2 null mutants display mutual suppression in their response to aldicarb, suggesting that JPH-1 and ESYT-2 have antagonistic roles in neuromuscular synaptic transmission. Additionally, we find an unexpected cell non-autonomous effect of jph-1 in axon regrowth after injury. Genetic double mutant analysis suggests that jph-1 functions in overlapping pathways with two PM-localized voltage-gated calcium channels, egl-19 and unc-2, and unc-68/RyR for animal health and development. Finally, we show that jph-1 regulates the colocalization of EGL-19 and UNC-68 and that unc-68/RyR is required for JPH-1 localization to ER-PM puncta. Our data demonstrate important roles for junctophilin in cellular physiology, and also provide insights into how junctophilin functions together with other calcium channels in vivo.

scholarly journals Improvement of Biophysical Properties and Affinity of a Human Anti-L1CAM Therapeutic Antibody through Antibody Engineering Based on Computational Methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 6696
Author(s):  
Heesu Chae ◽  
Seulki Cho ◽  
Munsik Jeong ◽  
Kiyoung Kwon ◽  
Dongwook Choi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computational Methods ◽  
Human Monoclonal Antibody ◽  
Antibody Engineering ◽  
Antigen Binding ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Biophysical Properties ◽  
Preclinical Development ◽  
Cell Bank ◽  
Aggregation Propensity

The biophysical properties of therapeutic antibodies influence their manufacturability, efficacy, and safety. To develop an anti-cancer antibody, we previously generated a human monoclonal antibody (Ab417) that specifically binds to L1 cell adhesion molecule with a high affinity, and we validated its anti-tumor activity and mechanism of action in human cholangiocarcinoma xenograft models. In the present study, we aimed to improve the biophysical properties of Ab417. We designed 20 variants of Ab417 with reduced aggregation propensity, less potential post-translational modification (PTM) motifs, and the lowest predicted immunogenicity using computational methods. Next, we constructed these variants to analyze their expression levels and antigen-binding activities. One variant (Ab612)—which contains six substitutions for reduced surface hydrophobicity, removal of PTM, and change to the germline residue—exhibited an increased expression level and antigen-binding activity compared to Ab417. In further studies, compared to Ab417, Ab612 showed improved biophysical properties, including reduced aggregation propensity, increased stability, higher purification yield, lower pI, higher affinity, and greater in vivo anti-tumor efficacy. Additionally, we generated a highly productive and stable research cell bank (RCB) and scaled up the production process to 50 L, yielding 6.6 g/L of Ab612. The RCB will be used for preclinical development of Ab612.

Toxicokinetic and Genotoxicity Study of NNK in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats Following Nose-Only Inhalation Exposure, Intraperitoneal Injection, and Oral Gavage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Chieh Hu ◽  
Matthew S Bryant ◽  
Estatira Sepehr ◽  
Hyun-Ki Kang ◽  
Raul Trbojevich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Lung ◽  
Inhalation Exposure ◽  
Systemic Exposure ◽  
Sprague Dawley ◽  
Oral Gavage ◽  
Sd Rats ◽  
New Information ◽  
Sprague Dawley Rats ◽  
Tissue Specimens

Abstract The tobacco-specific nitrosamine NNK [4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone] is found in tobacco products and tobacco smoke. NNK is a potent genotoxin and human lung carcinogen; however, there are limited inhalation data for the toxicokinetics (TK) and genotoxicity of NNK in vivo. In the present study, a single dose of 5x10−5, 5x10−3, 0.1, or 50 mg/kg body weight (BW) of NNK, 75% propylene glycol (vehicle control), or air (sham control) was administered to male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (9-10 weeks age) via nose-only inhalation (INH) exposure for 1 hour. For comparison, the same doses of NNK were administered to male SD rats via intraperitoneal (IP) injection and oral gavage (PO). Plasma, urine, and tissue specimens were collected at designated timepoints and analyzed for levels of NNK and its major metabolite 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) and tissue levels of DNA adduct O6-methylguanine by LC/MS/MS. TK data analysis was performed using a non-linear regression program. For the genotoxicity subgroup, tissues were collected at 3 hours post-dosing for comet assay analysis. Overall, the TK data indicated that NNK was rapidly absorbed and metabolized extensively to NNAL after NNK administration via the three routes. The IP route had the greatest systemic exposure to NNK. NNK metabolism to NNAL appeared to be more efficient via INH than IP or PO. NNK induced significant increases in DNA damage in multiple tissues via the three routes. The results of this study provide new information and understanding of the toxicokinetics and genotoxicity of NNK.

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