scholarly journals Electrophysiological properties of human β-cell lines EndoC-βH1 and -βH2 conform with human β-cells

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît Hastoy ◽  
Mahdieh Godazgar ◽  
Anne Clark ◽  
Vibe Nylander ◽  
Ioannis Spiliotis ◽  
...  

AbstractThe electrophysiological and secretory properties of the human β-cell lines EndoC-βH1 and EndoC-βH2 were investigated. Both cell lines respond to glucose (6-20mM) with 2-to 3-fold stimulation of insulin secretion, an effect that was mimicked by tolbutamide (0.2mM) and reversed by diazoxide (0.5mM). Glucose-induced insulin release correlated with an elevation of [Ca2+]i, membrane depolarization and increased action potential firing. KATP channel activity at 1mM glucose is low and increasing glucose to 6 or 20mM reduced KATP channel activity to the same extent as application of the KATP channel blocker tolbutamide (0.2mM). The upstroke of the action potentials in EndoC-βH1 and −βH2 cells observed at high glucose principally reflects activation of L- and P/Q-type Ca2+ channels with some small contribution of TTX-sensitive Na+ channels. Action potential repolarization involves activation of voltage-gated Kv2.2 channels and large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels. Exocytosis (measured by measurements of membrane capacitance) was triggered by membrane depolarizations >10ms to membrane potentials above -30mV. Both cell lines were well-granulated (6,000-15,000 granules/cell) and granules consisted of a central insulin core surrounded by a clear halo. We conclude that the EndoC-βH1 and -βH2 cells share many features of primary human β-cells and that they represent a useful experimental model.

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 264-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances L. Meredith ◽  
Katherine J. Rennie

We developed a rodent crista slice to investigate regional variations in electrophysiological properties of vestibular afferent terminals. Thin transverse slices of the gerbil crista ampullaris were made and electrical properties of calyx terminals in central zones (CZ) and peripheral zones (PZ) compared with whole cell patch clamp. Spontaneous action potential firing was observed in 25% of current-clamp recordings and was either regular or irregular in both zones. Firing was abolished when extracellular choline replaced Na+ but persisted when hair cell mechanotransduction channels or calyx AMPA receptors were blocked. This suggests that ion channels intrinsic to the calyx can generate spontaneous firing. In response to depolarizing voltage steps, outward K+ currents were observed at potentials above −60 mV. K+ currents in PZ calyces showed significantly more inactivation than currents in CZ calyces. Underlying K+ channel populations contributing to these differences were investigated. The KCNQ channel blocker XE991 dihydrochloride blocked a slowly activating, sustained outward current in both PZ and CZ calyces, indicating the presence of KCNQ channels. Mean reduction was greatest in PZ calyces. XE991 also reduced action potential firing frequency in CZ and PZ calyces and broadened mean action potential width. The K+ channel blocker 4-aminopyridine (10–50 μM) blocked rapidly activating, moderately inactivating currents that were more prevalent in PZ calyces. α-Dendrotoxin, a selective blocker of KV1 channels, reduced outward currents in CZ calyces but not in PZ calyces. Regional variations in K+ conductances may contribute to different firing responses in calyx afferents.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikollas M. Benites ◽  
Beatriz Rodrigues ◽  
Carlos H. Silveira ◽  
Ricardo M. Leão

AbstractThe dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) in the auditory brainstem integrates auditory and somatosensory information. Mature fusiform neurons express two qualitative intrinsic states in equal proportions: quiet, with no spontaneous regular action potential firing, or active, with regular spontaneous action potential firing. However, how these firing states and other electrophysiological properties of fusiform neurons develop during early postnatal days to adulthood is not known. Thus, we recorded fusiform neurons from mice from P4 to P21 and analyzed their electrophysiological properties. In the pre-hearing phase (P4-P13), we found that fusiform neurons are mostly quiet, with the active state emerging after hearing onset at P14. Subthreshold properties present more variations before hearing onset, while action potential properties vary more after P14, developing bigger, shorter, and faster action potentials. Interestingly, the activity threshold is more depolarized in pre-hearing cells suggesting that persistent sodium current (INaP) increases its expression after hearing. In fact, INaP increases its expression after hearing, accordingly with the development of active neurons. Thus, we suggest that the post-hearing expression of INaP creates the active state of the fusiform neuron. At the same time, other changes refine the passive membrane properties and increase the speed of action potential firing of fusiform neurons.


2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 3666-3676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Xia Zhang ◽  
Liu Lin Thio

Although extracellular Zn2+ is an endogenous biphasic modulator of strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors (GlyRs), the physiological significance of this modulation remains poorly understood. Zn2+ modulation of GlyR may be especially important in the hippocampus where presynaptic Zn2+ is abundant. Using cultured embryonic mouse hippocampal neurons, we examined whether 1 μM Zn2+, a potentiating concentration, enhances the inhibitory effects of GlyRs activated by sustained glycine applications. Sustained 20 μM glycine (EC25) applications alone did not decrease the number of action potentials evoked by depolarizing steps, but they did in 1 μM Zn2+. At least part of this effect resulted from Zn2+ enhancing the GlyR-induced decrease in input resistance. Sustained 20 μM glycine applications alone did not alter neuronal bursting, a form of hyperexcitability induced by omitting extracellular Mg2+. However, sustained 20 μM glycine applications depressed neuronal bursting in 1 μM Zn2+. Zn2+ did not enhance the inhibitory effects of sustained 60 μM glycine (EC70) applications in these paradigms. These results suggest that tonic GlyR activation could decrease neuronal excitability. To test this possibility, we examined the effect of the GlyR antagonist strychnine and the Zn2+ chelator tricine on action potential firing by CA1 pyramidal neurons in mouse hippocampal slices. Co-applying strychnine and tricine slightly but significantly increased the number of action potentials fired during a depolarizing current step and decreased the rheobase for action potential firing. Thus Zn2+ may modulate neuronal excitability normally and in pathological conditions such as seizures by potentiating GlyRs tonically activated by low agonist concentrations.


Author(s):  
Vincenzo Crunelli ◽  
Adam C. Errington ◽  
Stuart W. Hughes ◽  
Tibor I. Tóth

During non-rapid eye movement sleep and certain types of anaesthesia, neurons in the neocortex and thalamus exhibit a distinctive slow (<1 Hz) oscillation that consists of alternating UP and DOWN membrane potential states and which correlates with a pronounced slow (<1 Hz) rhythm in the electroencephalogram. While several studies have claimed that the slow oscillation is generated exclusively in neocortical networks and then transmitted to other brain areas, substantial evidence exists to suggest that the full expression of the slow oscillation in an intact thalamocortical (TC) network requires the balanced interaction of oscillator systems in both the neocortex and thalamus. Within such a scenario, we have previously argued that the powerful low-threshold Ca 2+ potential (LTCP)-mediated burst of action potentials that initiates the UP states in individual TC neurons may be a vital signal for instigating UP states in related cortical areas. To investigate these issues we constructed a computational model of the TC network which encompasses the important known aspects of the slow oscillation that have been garnered from earlier in vivo and in vitro experiments. Using this model we confirm that the overall expression of the slow oscillation is intricately reliant on intact connections between the thalamus and the cortex. In particular, we demonstrate that UP state-related LTCP-mediated bursts in TC neurons are proficient in triggering synchronous UP states in cortical networks, thereby bringing about a synchronous slow oscillation in the whole network. The importance of LTCP-mediated action potential bursts in the slow oscillation is also underlined by the observation that their associated dendritic Ca 2+ signals are the only ones that inform corticothalamic synapses of the TC neuron output, since they, but not those elicited by tonic action potential firing, reach the distal dendritic sites where these synapses are located.


2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 1146-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Carmean ◽  
M. A. Yonkers ◽  
M. B. Tellez ◽  
J. R. Willer ◽  
G. B. Willer ◽  
...  

The study of touch-evoked behavior allows investigation of both the cells and circuits that generate a response to tactile stimulation. We investigate a touch-insensitive zebrafish mutant, macho (maco), previously shown to have reduced sodium current amplitude and lack of action potential firing in sensory neurons. In the genomes of mutant but not wild-type embryos, we identify a mutation in the pigk gene. The encoded protein, PigK, functions in attachment of glycophosphatidylinositol anchors to precursor proteins. In wild-type embryos, pigk mRNA is present at times when mutant embryos display behavioral phenotypes. Consistent with the predicted loss of function induced by the mutation, knock-down of PigK phenocopies maco touch insensitivity and leads to reduced sodium current (INa) amplitudes in sensory neurons. We further test whether the genetic defect in pigk underlies the maco phenotype by overexpressing wild-type pigk in mutant embryos. We find that ubiquitous expression of wild-type pigk rescues the touch response in maco mutants. In addition, for maco mutants, expression of wild-type pigk restricted to sensory neurons rescues sodium current amplitudes and action potential firing in sensory neurons. However, expression of wild-type pigk limited to sensory cells of mutant embryos does not allow rescue of the behavioral touch response. Our results demonstrate an essential role for pigk in generation of the touch response beyond that required for maintenance of proper INa density and action potential firing in sensory neurons.


1991 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 744-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Johnson ◽  
P. A. Getting

1. The purpose of this study was to determine the electrophysiological properties of neurons within the region of the nucleus ambiguus (NA), an area that contains the ventral respiratory group. By the use of an in vitro brain stem slice preparation, intracellular recordings from neurons in this region (to be referred to as NA neurons, n = 235) revealed the following properties: postinhibitory rebound (PIR), delayed excitation (DE), adaptation, and posttetanic hyperpolarization (PTH). NA neurons were separated into three groups on the basis of their expression of PIR and DE: PIR cells (58%), DE cells (31%), and Non cells (10%). Non cells expressed neither PIR nor DE and no cells expressed both PIR and DE. 2. PIR was a transient depolarization that produced a single action potential or a burst of action potentials when the cell was released from hyperpolarization. In the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX), the maximum magnitude of PIR was 7-12 mV. Under voltage-clamp conditions, hyperpolarizing voltage steps elicited a small inward current during the hyperpolarization and a small inward tail current on release from hyperpolarization. These currents, which mediate PIR, were most likely due to Q-current because they were blocked with extracellular cesium and were insensitive to barium. 3. DE was a delay in the onset of action potential firing when cells were hyperpolarized before application of depolarizing current. When cells were hyperpolarized to -90 mV for greater than or equal to 300 ms, maximum delays ranged from 150 to 450 ms. The transient outward current underlying DE was presumed to be A-current because of the current's activation and inactivation characteristics and its elimination by 4-aminopyridine (4-AP). 4. Adaptation was examined by applying depolarizing current for 2.0 s and measuring the frequency of evoked action potentials. Although there was a large degree of variability in the degree of adaptation, PIR cells tended to express less adaptation than DE and Non cells. Nearly three-fourths of all NA neurons adapted rapidly (i.e., 50% adaptation in less than 200 ms), but PIR cells tended to adapt faster than DE and Non cells. PTH after a train of action potentials was relatively rare and occurred more often in DE cells (43%) and Non cells (33%) than in PIR cells (13%). PTH had a magnitude of up to 18 mV and time constants that reflected the presence of one (1.7 +/- 1.4 s, mean +/- SD) or two components (0.28 +/- 0.13 and 4.1 +/- 2.2 s).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


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