Synaptically activated Ca2+waves and NMDA spikes locally suppress voltage-dependent Ca2+signalling in rat pyramidal cell dendrites

1. Compartmental modeling experiments were carried out in an anatomically characterized neocortical pyramidal cell to study the integrative behavior of a complex dendritic tree containing active membrane mechanisms. Building on a previously presented hypothesis, this work provides further support for a novel principle of dendritic information processing that could underlie a capacity for nonlinear pattern discrimination and/or sensory processing within the dendritic trees of individual nerve cells. 2. It was previously demonstrated that when excitatory synaptic input to a pyramidal cell is dominated by voltage-dependent N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type channels, the cell responds more strongly when synaptic drive is concentrated within several dendritic regions than when it is delivered diffusely across the dendritic arbor. This effect, called dendritic "cluster sensitivity," persisted under wide-ranging parameter variations and directly implicated the spatial ordering of afferent synaptic connections onto the dendritic tree as an important determinant of neuronal response selectivity. 3. In this work, the sensitivity of neocortical dendrites to spatially clustered synaptic drive has been further studied with fast sodium and slow calcium spiking mechanisms present in the dendritic membrane. Several spatial distributions of the dendritic spiking mechanisms were tested with and without NMDA synapses. Results of numerous simulations reveal that dendritic cluster sensitivity is a highly robust phenomenon in dendrites containing a sufficiency of excitatory membrane mechanisms and is only weakly dependent on their detailed spatial distribution, peak conductances, or kinetics. Factors that either work against or make irrelevant the dendritic cluster sensitivity effect include 1) very high-resistance spine necks, 2) very large synaptic conductances, 3) very high baseline levels of synaptic activity, and 4) large fluctuations in level of synaptic activity on short time scales. 4. The functional significance of dendritic cluster sensitivity has been previously discussed in the context of associative learning and memory. Here it is demonstrated that the dendritic tree of a cluster-sensitive neuron implements an approximative spatial correlation, or sum of products operation, such as that which could underlie nonlinear disparity tuning in binocular visual neurons.

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Voltage-based inhibitory synaptic plasticity: network regulation, diversity, and flexibility

10.1101/2020.12.08.416263 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Victor Pedrosa ◽

Claudia Clopath

Keyword(s):

Synaptic Plasticity ◽

Pyramidal Cell ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Postsynaptic Membrane ◽

Network Activity ◽

Inhibitory Neurons ◽

Plasticity Model ◽

Feedforward Network ◽

Voltage Dependent ◽

Homeostatic Mechanisms

AbstractNeural networks are highly heterogeneous while homeostatic mechanisms ensure that this heterogeneity is kept within a physiologically safe range. One of such homeostatic mechanisms, inhibitory synaptic plasticity, has been observed across different brain regions. Computationally, however, inhibitory synaptic plasticity models often lead to a strong suppression of neuronal diversity. Here, we propose a model of inhibitory synaptic plasticity in which synaptic updates depend on presynaptic spike arrival and postsynaptic membrane voltage. Our plasticity rule regulates the network activity by setting a target value for the postsynaptic membrane potential over a long timescale. In a feedforward network, we show that our voltage-dependent inhibitory synaptic plasticity (vISP) model regulates the excitatory/inhibitory ratio while allowing for a broad range of postsynaptic firing rates and thus network diversity. In a feedforward network in which excitatory and inhibitory neurons receive correlated input, our plasticity model allows for the development of co-tuned excitation and inhibition, in agreement with recordings in rat auditory cortex. In recurrent networks, our model supports memory formation and retrieval while allowing for the development of heterogeneous neuronal activity. Finally, we implement our vISP rule in a model of the hippocampal CA1 region whose pyramidal cell excitability differs across cells. This model accounts for the experimentally observed variability in pyramidal cell features such as the number of place fields, the fields sizes, and the portion of the environment covered by each cell. Importantly, our model supports a combination of sparse and dense coding in the hippocampus. Therefore, our voltage-dependent inhibitory plasticity model accounts for network homeostasis while allowing for diverse neuronal dynamics observed across brain regions.

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Reconstruction of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cell electrophysiology by computer simulation

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1994.71.6.2033 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 71 (6) ◽

pp. 2033-2045 ◽

Cited By ~ 64

Author(s):

E. N. Warman ◽

D. M. Durand ◽

G. L. Yuen

Keyword(s):

Action Potential ◽

Voltage Clamp ◽

Pyramidal Cell ◽

Compartment Model ◽

Ionic Channels ◽

Firing Frequency ◽

Repetitive Firing ◽

Amplitude Increase ◽

Voltage Dependent ◽

K Current

1. We have developed a 16-compartment model that reproduces most of the features of the CA1 pyramidal cell electrophysiology observed experimentally. The model was constructed using seven active ionic conductances: gNa, gCa, gDR, gCT, gA, gM, and gAHP whose kinetics have been, inferred, in most cases, from the available voltage-clamp data obtained from these cells. We focussed the simulation on the initial and late accommodation, the slow depolarization potential and the spike broadening during repetitive firing, because their mechanisms are not well understood. 2. Current-clamp records were reproduced by iterative adjustments to the ionic maximum conductances, scaling and/or “reshaping” of the gates' time constant within the experimental voltage-clamp data, and shifting the position of the steady-state gate opening. The final properties of the ionic channels were not significantly different from the voltage-clamp experiments. 3. The resulting model reproduces all four after-potentials that have been recorded to follow activation of the cell. The fast, medium, and slow after-hyperpolarization potentials (AHPs) were, respectively, generated by ICT, IM, and IAHP. Furthermore, the model suggests that the mechanisms underlying the depolarization after potential (DAP) is mostly due to passive recharging of the soma by the dendrites. 4. The model also reproduces most of the firing features experimentally observed during injection of long current pulses. Model responses showed a small initial decrease in the firing frequency during a slow underlying depolarization potential, followed by a more significant frequency decrease. Moreover, a gradual broadening of the action potential and loss of the fast AHP were also observed during the initial high-frequency firing, followed, as the firing frequency decreased, by a gradual recovery of the spikes' original width and fast AHP amplitude increase. 5. A large reduction of the K repolarizing current was required to reproduce the spike broadening and reduction of the fast AHP experimentally observed in CA1 cells during repetitive firing responses. The incorporation of a transient Ca- and voltage-dependent K current (ICT) into the model successfully reproduced these experimental observations. In contrast, we were unable to reproduce this phenomenon when a large persistent Ca- and voltage-dependent K current (generally named IC) was included in the model. These results suggest that there is a strong contribution to action-potential repolarization and fast AHP by a transient Ca- and voltage-dependent K current (ICT). 6. The two accommodation steps were induced by a progressively enlargement of two K currents IM (initial) and IAHP (late).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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Balanced ionotropic receptor dynamics support signal estimation via voltage-dependent membrane noise

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00786.2015 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 115 (1) ◽

pp. 530-545 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Curtis M. Marcoux ◽

Stephen E. Clarke ◽

William H. Nesse ◽

Andre Longtin ◽

Leonard Maler

Keyword(s):

Pyramidal Cell ◽

Pyramidal Neurons ◽

Dynamic Balance ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Pyramidal Cells ◽

Weakly Electric Fish ◽

Ionotropic Receptor ◽

Membrane Noise ◽

Voltage Dependent

Encoding behaviorally relevant stimuli in a noisy background is critical for animals to survive in their natural environment. We identify core biophysical and synaptic mechanisms that permit the encoding of low-frequency signals in pyramidal neurons of the weakly electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus, an animal that can accurately encode even miniscule amplitude modulations of its self-generated electric field. We demonstrate that slow NMDA receptor (NMDA-R)-mediated excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) are able to summate over many interspike intervals (ISIs) of the primary electrosensory afferents (EAs), effectively eliminating the baseline EA ISI correlations from the pyramidal cell input. Together with a dynamic balance of NMDA-R and GABA-A-R currents, this permits stimulus-evoked changes in EA spiking to be transmitted efficiently to target electrosensory lobe (ELL) pyramidal cells, for encoding low-frequency signals. Interestingly, AMPA-R activity is depressed and appears to play a negligible role in the generation of action potentials. Instead, we hypothesize that cell-intrinsic voltage-dependent membrane noise supports the encoding of perithreshold sensory input; this noise drives a significant proportion of pyramidal cell spikes. Together, these mechanisms may be sufficient for the ELL to encode signals near the threshold of behavioral detection.

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NMDA-Based Pattern Discrimination in a Modeled Cortical Neuron

Neural Computation ◽

10.1162/neco.1992.4.4.502 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 502-517 ◽

Cited By ~ 95

Author(s):

Bartlett W. Mel

Keyword(s):

Pyramidal Cell ◽

Dendritic Tree ◽

Pattern Discrimination ◽

Information Storage ◽

Processing Power ◽

Excitatory Synaptic Input ◽

Voltage Dependent ◽

Nmda Channels ◽

Pattern Information

Compartmental simulations of an anatomically characterized cortical pyramidal cell were carried out to study the integrative behavior of a complex dendritic tree. Previous theoretical (Feldman and Ballard 1982; Durbin and Rumelhart 1989; Mel 1990; Mel and Koch 1990; Poggio and Girosi 1990) and compartmental modeling (Koch et al. 1983; Shepherd et al. 1985; Koch and Poggio 1987; Rall and Segev 1987; Shepherd and Brayton 1987; Shepherd et al. 1989; Brown et al. 1991) work had suggested that multiplicative interactions among groups of neighboring synapses could greatly enhance the processing power of a neuron relative to a unit with only a single global firing threshold. This issue was investigated here, with a particular focus on the role of voltage-dependent N-methyl-D-asparate (NMDA) channels in the generation of cell responses. First, it was found that when a large proportion of the excitatory synaptic input to dendritic spines is carried by NMDA channels, the pyramidal cell responds preferentially to spatially clustered, rather than random, distributions of activated synapses. Second, based on this mechanism, the NMDA-rich neuron is shown to be capable of solving a nonlinear pattern discrimination task. We propose that manipulation of the spatial ordering of afferent synaptic connections onto the dendritic arbor is a possible biological strategy for pattern information storage during learning.

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Function of NMDA Receptors and Persistent Sodium Channels in a Feedback Pathway of the Electrosensory System

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.2001.86.4.1612 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 86 (4) ◽

pp. 1612-1621 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Neil Berman ◽

Robert J. Dunn ◽

Leonard Maler

Keyword(s):

Nmda Receptors ◽

Sodium Channels ◽

Pyramidal Cell ◽

Voltage Dependence ◽

Late Phase ◽

Pyramidal Cells ◽

Receptor Component ◽

Voltage Dependent ◽

Gymnotiform Fish ◽

Apical Dendrites

Voltage-dependent amplification of ionotropic glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) can, in many vertebrate neurons, be due either to the intrinsic voltage dependence of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, or voltage-dependent persistent sodium channels expressed on postsynaptic dendrites or somata. In the electrosensory lateral line lobe (ELL) of the gymnotiform fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus,glutamatergic inputs onto pyramidal cell apical dendrites provide a system where both amplification mechanisms are possible. We have now examined the roles for both NMDA receptors and sodium channels in the control of EPSP amplitude at these synapses. An antibody specific for the A. leptorhynchus NR1 subunit reacted strongly with ELL pyramidal cells and were particularly abundant in the spines of pyramidal cell apical dendrites. We have also shown that NMDA receptors contributed strongly to the late phase of EPSPs evoked by stimulation of the feedback fibers terminating on the apical dendritic spines; further, these EPSPs were voltage dependent. Blockade of NMDA receptors did not, however, eliminate the voltage dependence of these EPSPs. Blockade of somatic sodium channels by local somatic ejection of tetrodotoxin (TTX), or inclusion of QX314 (an intracellular sodium channel blocker) in the recording pipette, reduced the evoked EPSPs and completely eliminated their voltage dependence. We therefore conclude that, in the subthreshold range, persistent sodium currents are the main contributor to voltage-dependent boosting of EPSPs, even when they have a large NMDA receptor component.

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116 Contribution of voltage dependent calcium channels to a evoked calcium increase response in a CA1 pyramidal cell

Neuroscience Research Supplements ◽

10.1016/s0921-8696(05)80728-5 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 18 ◽

pp. S21

Author(s):

Ken-Ichi Ito ◽

Hiroyoshi Miyakawa ◽

Hiroshi Kato ◽

Takafumi Inoue ◽

Daisuke Yasutomi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Calcium Channels ◽

Pyramidal Cell ◽

Voltage Dependent ◽

Voltage Dependent Calcium Channels

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Amplification and linearization of distal synaptic input to cortical pyramidal cells

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1994.72.6.2743 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 72 (6) ◽

pp. 2743-2753 ◽

Cited By ~ 103

Author(s):

O. Bernander ◽

C. Koch ◽

R. J. Douglas

Keyword(s):

Pyramidal Cell ◽

Synaptic Input ◽

Striate Cortex ◽

Dendritic Tree ◽

Pyramidal Cells ◽

Synaptic Efficacy ◽

Induced Voltage ◽

Apical Tuft ◽

Voltage Dependent ◽

The Relationship

1. Computer simulations were used to study the effect of voltage-dependent calcium and potassium conductances in the apical dendritic tree of a pyramidal cell on the synaptic efficacy of apical synaptic input. The apical tuft in layers 1 and 2 is the target of feedback projections from other cortical areas. 2. The current, Isoma, flowing into the soma in response to synaptic input was used to assess synaptic efficacy. This measure takes full account of all the relevant nonlinearities in the dendrities and can be used during spiking activity. Isoma emphasizes current flowing in response to synaptic input rather than synaptically induced voltage change. This measure also permits explicit characterization of the input-output relationship of the entire neuron by computing the relationship between presynaptic input and postsynaptic output frequency. 3. Simulations were based on two models. The first was a biophysically detailed 400-compartment model of a morphologically characterized layer 5 pyramidal cell from striate cortex of an adult cat. In this model eight voltage-dependent conductances were incorporated into the somatic membrane to provide the observed firing behavior of a regular spiking cell. The second model was a highly simplified three-compartment equivalent electrical circuit. 4. If the dendritic tree is entirely passive, excitatory synaptic input of the non-N-methyl-D-aspartate (non-NMDA) type to layers 1, 2, and 3 saturate at very moderate input rates, because of the high input impedance of the apical tuft. Layers 1 and 2 together can deliver only 0.25 nA current to the soma. This modest effect is surprising in view of the important afferents that synapse on the apical tuft and is inconsistent with experimental data indicating a more powerful effect. 5. We introduced in a controlled manner a voltage-dependent potassium conductance in the apical tuft, gK, to prevent saturation of the synaptic response. This conductance was designed to linearize the relationship between presynaptic input frequency and the somatic current. We also introduced a voltage-dependent calcium conductance along the apical trunk, gCa, to amplify the apical signal, i.e., the synaptic current reaching the soma. 6. To arrive at a specific relationship between the presynaptic input rate and the somatic current delivered by the synaptic input, we derived the activation curves of gK and gCa either analytically or numerically. The resultant voltage-dependent behavior of both conductances was similar to experimentally measured activation curves.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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The low-resolution 3D-structure of porin, a channel-forming protein in E. coliouter membranes

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100075932 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

pp. 440-441

Author(s):

A. Engel ◽

D.L. Dorset ◽

A. Massalski ◽

J.P. Rosenbusch

Keyword(s):

Crystal Packing ◽

3D Structure ◽

Gram Negative Bacteria ◽

Protein Ratio ◽

Crystal Forms ◽

Large Molecules ◽

Functional Studies ◽

Voltage Dependent ◽

Planar Membranes ◽

Hexagonal Arrays

Porins represent a group of channel forming proteins that facilitate diffusion of small solutes across the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, while excluding large molecules (>650 Da). Planar membranes reconstituted from purified matrix porin (OmpF protein) trimers and phospholipids have allowed quantitative functional studies of the voltage-dependent channels and revealed concerted activation of triplets. Under the same reconstitution conditions but using high protein concentrations porin aggregated to 2D lattices suitable for electron microscopy and image processing. Depending on the lipid-to- protein ratio three different crystal packing arrangements were observed: a large (a = 93 Å) and a small (a = 79 Å) hexagonal and a rectangular (a = 79 Å b = 139 Å) form with p3 symmetry for the hexagonal arrays. In all crystal forms distinct stain filled triplet indentations could be seen and were found to be morphologically identical within a resolution of (22 Å). It is tempting to correlate stain triplets with triple channels, but the proof of this hypothesis requires an analysis of the structure in 3 dimensions.

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Cryo-Electron Microscopy and Correlation Averaging of Frozen-Hydrated, Polymorphic 2D Crystals of the Mitochondrial Outer Membrane Channel

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100179257 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 100-101

Author(s):

Xiao-Wei Guo

Keyword(s):

Outer Membrane ◽

Hexagonal Lattice ◽

Mitochondrial Outer Membrane ◽

Rectangular Lattice ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Cryo Electron Microscopy ◽

Voltage Dependent ◽

Outer Membrane Channel ◽

2D Crystals ◽

Vdac Channel

Voltage-dependent, anion-selective channels (VDAC) are formed in the mitochondrial outer membrane (mitOM) by a 30-kDa polypeptide. These channels form ordered 2D arrays when mitOMs from Neurospora crassa are treated with soluble phospholipase A2. We obtain low-dose electron microscopic images of unstained specimens of VDAC crystals preserved in vitreous ice, using a Philips EM420 equipped with a Gatan cryo-transfer stage. We then use correlation analysis to compute average projections of the channel crystals. The procedure involves Fourier-filtration of a region within a crystal field to obtain a preliminary average that is subsequently cross-correlated with the entire crystal. Subregions are windowed from the crystal image at coordinates of peaks in the cross-correlation function (CCF, see Figures 1 and 2) and summed to form averages (Figure 3).The VDAC channel forms several different types of crystalline arrays in mitOMs. The polymorph first observed during phospholipase treatment is a parallelogram array (a=13 run, b=11.5 run, θ==109°) containing 6 water-filled pores per unit cell. Figure 1 shows the CCF of a sub-field of such an “oblique” array used to compute the correlation average of Figure 3A. With increased phospholipase treatment, other polymorphs are observed, often co-existing within the same crystal. For example, two distinct (but closely related) types of lattices occur in the field corresponding to the CCF of Figure 2: a “contracted” version of the parallelogram lattice (a=13 run, b=10 run, θ=99°), and a near-rectangular lattice (a=8.5 run, b=5 nm). The pattern of maxima in this CCF suggests that a third, near-hexagonal lattice (a=4.5 nm) may also be present. The correlation averages of Figures 3B-D were computed from polycrystalline fields, using peak coordinates in regions of CCFs corresponding to each of the three lattice types.

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