A role for a background sodium current in spontaneous action potentials and secretion from rat lactotrophs

1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (6) ◽  
pp. C1927-C1934 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sankaranarayanan ◽  
S. M. Simasko
Keyword(s):  
Action Potentials ◽  
Sodium Current ◽  
Plaque Assay ◽  
Input Resistance ◽  
Cytosolic Calcium ◽  
Calcium Dependent ◽  
Whole Cell Patch Clamp ◽  
Spontaneous Action ◽  
Spontaneous Action Potentials ◽  
Spontaneous Secretion

We have used the perforated-patch variation of whole cell patch-clamp techniques, measurements of cytosolic calcium with use of fura 2, and secretion measurements with use of the reverse-hemolytic plaque assay to address the role of depolarizing background currents in maintaining spontaneous action potentials and spontaneous secretion from rat lactotrophs in primary culture. Replacement of bath sodium with tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane or N-methyl-D-glucamine caused a dramatic hyperpolarization of the cells, a cessation of spontaneous action potentials, and an increase in input resistance of cells. Tetrodotoxin had no effect on spontaneous action potentials, and removal of bath calcium stopped spiking but did not hyperpolarize the cells. The hyperpolarization in response to removal of bath sodium was associated with a decrease in cytosolic calcium levels. Finally, removal of bath sodium caused a decrease in spontaneous secretion of prolactin from lactotrophs. These data suggest that a background sodium current is essential to drive the membrane to threshold for firing spontaneous calcium-dependent action potentials in lactotrophs. This, in turn, results in elevated intracellular calcium, which supports spontaneous secretion of prolactin from these cells.

PGE2 hyperpolarizes gallbladder neurons and inhibits synaptic potentials in gallbladder ganglia

1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (3) ◽  
pp. G493-G502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee J. Jennings ◽  
Gary M. Mawe
Keyword(s):  
Action Potentials ◽  
Input Resistance ◽  
Gallbladder Motility ◽  
Resting Membrane Potential ◽  
Prostaglandin E ◽  
Synaptic Potentials ◽  
Current Pulses ◽  
Spontaneous Action ◽  
Spontaneous Action Potentials ◽  
Intramural Ganglia

Gallbladder prostaglandin E2(PGE2) levels are significantly elevated in pathophysiological conditions, resulting in changes in gallbladder motility or secretion that may involve actions of the prostanoid in intramural ganglia. This study was undertaken to examine the effects of PGE2 on neurons of the intramural ganglia of the guinea pig gallbladder. Application of PGE2 by microejection or superfusion elicited a complex triphasic change in the resting membrane potential (RMP). For example, application of PGE2 by microejection (100 μM) resulted in a brief hyperpolarization (mean duration 11.1 ± 1.3 s), followed by a mid-phase repolarization toward or above RMP (mean duration 50.7 ± 8.1 s), and finally a long-lasting hyperpolarization (mean duration 157.3 ± 36.7 s). Associated with these PGE2-evoked alterations in RMP were changes in input resistance measured via injection of hyperpolarizing current pulses. An examination of the action potential afterhyperpolarization (AHP) during the PGE2-evoked response revealed an attenuation of both the amplitude and duration of the AHP. However, only a slight increase in excitability of gallbladder neurons in the presence of PGE2 was evident in response to depolarizing current pulses, and PGE2 did not cause the cells to fire spontaneous action potentials. Application of PGE2 reduced the amplitudes of both fast and slow excitatory synaptic potentials. These results suggest that increased prostaglandin production may decrease ganglionic output and therefore contribute to gallbladder stasis.

scholarly journals Cellular Mechanisms Underlying Spontaneous Firing in Rat Suprachiasmatic Nucleus: Involvement of a Slowly Inactivating Component of Sodium Current

1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 1811-1825 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.M.A. Pennartz ◽  
M. A. Bierlaagh ◽  
A.M.S. Geurtsen
Keyword(s):  
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Sodium Current ◽  
Calcium Currents ◽  
Spontaneous Firing ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Current Clamp Mode ◽  
Ionic Mechanisms ◽  
Spontaneous Action ◽  
Spontaneous Action Potentials

Pennartz, C.M.A., M. A. Bierlaagh, and A.M.S. Geurtsen. Cellular mechanisms underlying spontaneous firing in rat suprachiasmatic nucleus: involvement of a slowly inactivating component of sodium current. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 1811–1825, 1997. Neurons constituting the pacemaker of circadian rhythms, located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, generate spontaneous firing patterns that change across the day-night cycle. Their average spontaneous firing rate is considered an important functional marker of clock activity because it is highest during daytime and low at night. In this study we investigate the ionic mechanisms underlying spontaneous firing in acutely prepared slices and dissociated neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus. In current-clamp mode, spontaneous action potentials were consistently preceded by depolarizing ramps. These ramps were Na+ dependent, were sensitive to tetrodotoxin (TTX), and disappeared on hyperpolarization. Ramps and associated spikes were not abolished by blockers of the H current (1 mM cesium) or calcium currents (50 μM nickel or 200 μM cadmium). In voltage-clamped neurons in slices or dissociated neurons, TTX-sensitive and Na+-dependent inward current was observed to activate well below firing threshold (−60 to −50 mV). The low-threshold component of Na+ current inactivated slowly as compared with the fast component that mediates action potentials. However, its inactivation proceeded more rapidly than has been reported for the persistent Na+ current in cortical structures. Persistent Na+ current was generally absent or small in amplitude. The voltage dependence and kinetics of the slowly inactivating component of Na+ current are consistent with the hypothesis that it is partially deinactivated during spike afterhyperpolarizations and contributes significantly to subsequent depolarizing ramps. These observations implicate the slowly inactivating component of Na+ current in ionic mechanisms governing spontaneous firing in suprachiasmatic nucleus neurons.

Calcium-dependent potassium conductance in rat supraoptic nucleus neurosecretory neurons

1985 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1375-1382 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Bourque ◽  
J. C. Randle ◽  
L. P. Renaud
Keyword(s):  
Time Constant ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Supraoptic Nucleus ◽  
Potassium Conductance ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Input Resistance ◽  
Mean Amplitude ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
Calcium Dependent ◽  
Neurosecretory Neurons

Intracellular recordings of rat supraoptic nucleus neurons were obtained from perfused hypothalamic explants. Individual action potentials were followed by hyperpolarizing afterpotentials (HAPs) having a mean amplitude of -7.4 +/- 0.8 mV (SD). The decay of the HAP was approximated by a single exponential function having a mean time constant of 17.5 +/- 6.1 ms. This considerably exceeded the cell time constant of the same neurons (9.5 +/- 0.8 ms), thus indicating that the ionic conductance underlying the HAP persisted briefly after each spike. The HAP had a reversal potential of -85 mV and was unaffected by intracellular Cl- ionophoresis of during exposure to elevated extracellular concentrations of Mg2+. In contrast, the peak amplitude of the HAP was proportional to the extracellular Ca2+ concentration and could be reversibly eliminated by replacing Ca2+ with Co2+, Mn2+, or EGTA in the perfusion fluid. During depolarizing current pulses, evoked action potential trains demonstrated a progressive increase in interspike intervals associated with a potentiation of successive HAPs. This spike frequency adaptation was reversibly abolished by replacing Ca2+ with Co2+, Mn2+, or EGTA. Bursts of action potentials were followed by a more prolonged afterhyperpolarization (AHP) whose magnitude was proportional to the number of impulses elicited (greater than 20 Hz) during a burst. Current injection revealed that the AHP was associated with a 20-60% decrease in input resistance and showed little voltage dependence in the range of -70 to -120 mV. The reversal potential of the AHP shifted with the extracellular concentration of K+ [( K+]o) with a mean slope of -50 mV/log[K+]o.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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