Interactions of tetramethrin, fenvalerate and DDT at the sodium channel in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons

Uninjured C-type rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons predominantly express slowly inactivating TTX-resistant (TTX-R) and slowly repriming TTX-sensitive (TTX-S) Na+ currents. After peripheral axotomy, TTX-R current density is reduced and rapidly repriming TTX-S currents emerge and predominate. The change in TTX-S repriming kinetics is paralleled by an increase in the level of transcripts and protein for the Nav1.3 sodium channel α-subunit, which is known to exhibit rapid repriming. Changes in Na+current profile and kinetics in DRG neurons may substantially alter neuronal excitability and could contribute to some states of chronic pain associated with injury of sensory neurons. In the present study, we asked whether glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF), which have been shown to prevent some axotomy-induced changes such as the loss of TTX-R Na+ current expression in DRG neurons, can ameliorate the axotomy-induced change in TTX-S Na+ current repriming kinetics. We show that intrathecally administered GDNF and NGF, delivered individually, can partially reverse the effect of axotomy on the repriming kinetics of TTX-S Na+ currents. When GDNF and NGF were co-administered, the repriming kinetics were fully rescued. We observed parallel effects of GDNF and NGF on the Nav1.3 sodium channel transcript levels in axotomized DRG. Both GDNF and NGF were able to partially reverse the axotomy-induced increase in Nav1.3 mRNA, with GDNF plus NGF producing the largest effect. Our data indicate that both GDNF and NGF can partially reverse an important effect of axotomy on the electrogenic properties of sensory neurons and that their effect is additive.

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Nonlinear effects of hyperpolarizing shifts in activation of mutant Nav1.7 channels on resting membrane potential

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00898.2016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 117 (4) ◽

pp. 1702-1712 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Mark Estacion ◽

Stephen G. Waxman

Keyword(s):

Membrane Potential ◽

Dorsal Root Ganglion ◽

Sodium Channel ◽

Dorsal Root ◽

Voltage Dependence ◽

Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons ◽

Resting Membrane Potential ◽

Dynamic Clamp ◽

Drg Neurons ◽

Ganglion Neurons

The Nav1.7 sodium channel is preferentially expressed within dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and sympathetic ganglion neurons. Gain-of-function mutations that cause the painful disorder inherited erythromelalgia (IEM) shift channel activation in a hyperpolarizing direction. When expressed within DRG neurons, these mutations produce a depolarization of resting membrane potential (RMP). The biophysical basis for the depolarized RMP has to date not been established. To explore the effect on RMP of the shift in activation associated with a prototypical IEM mutation (L858H), we used dynamic-clamp models that represent graded shifts that fractionate the effect of the mutation on activation voltage dependence. Dynamic-clamp recording from DRG neurons using a before-and-after protocol for each cell made it possible, even in the presence of cell-to-cell variation in starting RMP, to assess the effects of these graded mutant models. Our results demonstrate a nonlinear, progressively larger effect on RMP as the shift in activation voltage dependence becomes more hyperpolarized. The observed differences in RMP were predicted by the “late” current of each mutant model. Since the depolarization of RMP imposed by IEM mutant channels is known, in itself, to produce hyperexcitability of DRG neurons, the development of pharmacological agents that normalize or partially normalize activation voltage dependence of IEM mutant channels merits further study. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Inherited erythromelalgia (IEM), the first human pain disorder linked to a sodium channel, is widely regarded as a genetic model of neuropathic pain. IEM is produced by Nav1.7 mutations that hyperpolarize activation. These mutations produce a depolarization of resting membrane potential (RMP) in dorsal root ganglion neurons. Using dynamic clamp to explore the effect on RMP of the shift in activation, we demonstrate a nonlinear effect on RMP as the shift in activation voltage dependence becomes more hyperpolarized.

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