Search results for "Patch-clamp"
showing 10 items of 85 documents
Pathway-specificity in N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor-mediated synaptic inputs onto subplate neurons
2007
The subplate plays an important role in forming neuronal connections during early cortical development. We characterized by the use of whole-cell and cell-attached patch-clamp recordings in coronal brain slices from newborn mice (postnatal day [P] 0-3) the functional properties of two major pathways onto subplate neurons (SPn), the thalamocortical and the intra-subplate synaptic input. The two afferent pathways were stimulated extracellularly with bipolar electrodes placed in the thalamus and the subplate, respectively. Synaptically evoked and pharmacologically isolated N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) -mediated responses with an onset latency of approximately 6 ms could be reliably re…
Cardiac effects of isoliquiritigenin
1997
The effects of isoliquiritigenin on force of contraction (Fc), L-type Ca2+ current (I(Ca)) and intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) were investigated in rat ventricular heart muscle. Isoliquiritigenin increased Fc and I(Ca) and, after longer exposure times, resting tension and [Ca2+]i. The effect of isoliquiritigenin (100 microM) on I(Ca) was diminished by Rp-cAMPS (30 microM). 1H-[1,2,4]oxa- diazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (50 microM) did not influence the effects of isoliquiritigenin on Fc and I(Ca). The positive inotropic effects of isoprenaline and forskolin, but not of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, were potentiated by isoliquiritigenin (100 microM). In the presence of milrinone (10…
GABA-A Receptors Regulate Neocortical Neuronal Migration In Vitro and In Vivo
2006
The cortical migration process depends on a number of trophic factors and on the activation of different voltage- and ligand-gated channels. We investigated the role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors in the neuronal migration process of the newborn rat parietal cortex in vivo and in vitro. Local in vivo application of the GABA-A antagonist bicuculline methiodide (BMI) or the agonist muscimol via cortical surface Elvax implants induced prominent alterations in the cortical architecture when compared with untreated or sham-operated controls. BMI- and muscimol-treated animals revealed heterotopic cell clusters in the upper layers and a complete loss of the cortical lamination …
Oligodendrocytes in mouse corpus callosum are coupled via gap junction channels formed by connexin47 and connexin32.
2010
According to previously published ultrastructural studies, oligodendrocytes in white matter exhibit gap junctions with astrocytes, but not among each other, while in vitro oligodendrocytes form functional gap junctions. We have studied functional coupling among oligodendrocytes in acute slices of postnatal mouse corpus callosum. By whole-cell patch clamp we dialyzed oligodendrocytes with biocytin, a gap junction-permeable tracer. On average 61 cells were positive for biocytin detected by labeling with streptavidin-Cy3. About 77% of the coupled cells stained positively for the oligodendrocyte marker protein CNPase, 9% for the astrocyte marker GFAP and 14% were negative for both CNPase and GF…
Temporally precise control of single-neuron spiking by juxtacellular nanostimulation
2017
Temporal patterns of action potentials influence a variety of activity-dependent intra- and intercellular processes and play an important role in theories of neural coding. Elucidating the mechanisms underlying these phenomena requires imposing spike trains with precisely defined patterns, but this has been challenging due to the limitations of existing stimulation techniques. Here we present a new nanostimulation method providing control over the action potential output of individual cortical neurons. Spikes are elicited through the juxtacellular application of short-duration fluctuating currents (“kurzpulses”), allowing for the sub-millisecond precise and reproducible induction of arbitr…
Choline is a Selective Agonist of α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in the Rat Brain Neurons
1998
In the present study, we demonstrate that choline, a precursor of acetylcholine (ACh) and a product of acetylcholine hydrolysis by acetylcholinesterase (AChE), acts as an efficient and relatively selective agonist of alpha7-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) in neurons cultured from the rat hippocampus, olfactory bulb and thalamus as well as in PC12 cells. Choline was able to activate postsynaptic and presynaptic alpha7 nAChRs, with the latter action resulting in the release of other neurotransmitters. Although choline was approximately one order of magnitude less potent than ACh (EC50 of 1.6 mM for choline and 0.13 mM for ACh), it acted as a full agonist at alpha7 nAChRs.…
Sensitivity of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to the opiate antagonists naltrexone and naloxone: receptor blockade and up-regulation
2003
In HEK293 cells stably expressing alpha4beta2 nAChRs, naltrexone, but not naloxone, blocked alpha4beta2 nAChRs via an open-channel blocking mechanism. In primary hippocampal cultures, naltrexone inhibited alpha7 nAChRs up-regulated by nicotine, and in organotypic hippocampal cultures naltrexone caused a time-dependent up-regulation of functional alpha7 nAChRs that was detected after removal of the drug. These results indicate that naltrexone could be used as a smoking cessation aid.
Functional Synaptic Projections onto Subplate Neurons in Neonatal Rat Somatosensory Cortex
2002
Subplate neurons (SPn) play an important role in the formation of thalamocortical connections during early development and show glutamatergic and GABAergic spontaneous synaptic activity. We characterized these synaptic inputs by performing whole-cell recordings from SPn in somatosensory cortical slices of postnatal day 0-3 rats. At -70 mV, electrical stimulation of the thalamocortical afferents elicited in 68% of the SPn a monosynaptic CNQX-sensitive postsynaptic current (PSC). These fast PSCs were mediated by AMPA receptors, because they were prolonged by cyclothiazide and blocked by GYKI 52466. On membrane depolarization, thalamocortical stimulation elicited in 50% of the cells an additio…
Allopregnanolone augments epileptiform activity of an in-vitro mouse hippocampal preparation in the first postnatal week.
2019
Abstract In the immature brain the neurotransmitter γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) mediates a membrane depolarization and can contribute to both, inhibition and excitation. Therefore the consequences of a positive modulation of GABA(A) receptors by neurosteroids on epileptiform activity are hard to predict. In order to analyze whether neurosteroids attenuate or exaggerate epileptiform activity in the immature brain, we investigated the effect of the neurosteroid allopregnanolone on epileptiform activity in an in-toto hippocampus preparation of early postnatal mice (postnatal days 4–7) using field potential recordings. These in-vitro experiments revealed that 0.5 μmol/L allopregnanolone had no …
Nitric oxide and excitatory postsynaptic currents in immature rat sympathetic preganglionic neurons in vitro.
1997
Neuronal nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity was localized to sympathetic preganglionic neurons of the intermediolateral cell column and cyclic GMP immunoreactivity to nerve fibers projecting into the intermediolateral cell column of 20-25-day-old rats. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made from sympathetic preganglionic neurons in spinal cord slices of immature rats and the role of nitric oxide and cyclic GMP on excitatory postsynaptic currents was studied. Superfusing the slices with the nitric oxide precursor L-arginine (300 microM) increased the amplitude of evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents as well as the frequency of spontaneous miniature excitatory postsynaptic current…