An intracellular study of chemosensory fibers and endings

1980 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1077-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Hayashida ◽  
H. Koyano ◽  
C. Eyzaguirre
Keyword(s):  
Carotid Body ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Physiological Saline ◽  
Mean Amplitude ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Chemical Stimulation ◽  
Nerve Terminals ◽  
Generator Potential ◽  
Single Nerve ◽  
Frequency Changes

1. The carotid body and its nerve, removed from anesthetized cats, were placed in physiological saline flowing under paraffin oil. The nerve, lifted into the oil, was used for either electrical stimulation or recording of the total afferent discharge. Intracellular recordings were obtained from individual nerve fibers and endings within the carotid body. The recording sites were identified by injecting Procion yellow through the intracellular electrodes; the tissues were then prepared for histology and observed with episcopic fluorescence or Nomarski optics. 2. Intracellularly recorded chemosensory fibers conducted at 1.1-30 m/s and usually displayed action potentials of regular amplitude. At times, however, some spikes become partially blocked while others maintained their original amplitude. "Natural" (hypoxia) or chemical (ACh or NaCN) stimulation induced different patterns of frequency changes of the large and small action potentials. This indicated nerve fiber branching at some distance from the recording site. 3. Intra- and extracellularly recorded spikes were blocked in 0 [Na+]0 by tetrodotoxin (TTX) or procaine. 4. During chemical stimulation, a slowly occurring depolarization (receptor or generator potential) was recorded intracellularly from the afferent fibers. It developed concomitantly with the increase in discharge. 5. Impalement of single nerve terminals (histologically identified) showed numerous "spontaneous" depolarizing potentials (SDPs) that had a mean amplitude of 5.6 mV, a mean duration of 46.1 ms, and nearly random distribution. They increased in frequency and summated during chemical stimulation. SDPs originated from either the site of recording or from neighboring areas. When the SDPs attained a certain amplitude, they seemed to give rise to action potentials. Also, relatively well developed or partially blocked spikes (apparently originating elsewhere) were recorded from single nerve terminals. 6. The receptor (generator) potential of chemosensory receptors appears to be an integrated response formed by multiple activity originating in different nerve endings.

Spontaneous action potential generation due to persistent sodium channel currents in simulated carotid body afferent fibers

2008 ◽  
Vol 104 (5) ◽  
pp. 1394-1401 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F. Donnelly
Keyword(s):  
Carotid Body ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Afferent Nerve ◽  
Random Pattern ◽  
Nerve Terminals ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Afferent Nerve Fibers ◽  
Axonal Diameter ◽  
Spontaneous Action

The mechanism by which action potentials (APs) are generated in afferent nerve fibers in the carotid body is unknown, but it is generally speculated to be release of an excitatory transmitter and synaptic depolarizing events. However, previous results suggested that Na+ channels in the afferent nerve fibers play an important role in this process. To better understand the potential mechanism by which Na+ channels may generate APs, a mathematical model of chemoreceptor nerve fibers that incorporated Hodgkin-Huxley-type Na+ channels with kinetics of activation and inactivation, as determined previously from recordings of petrosal chemoreceptor neurons, was constructed. While the density of Na+ channels was kept constant, spontaneous APs arose in nerve terminals as the axonal diameter was reduced to that in rat carotid body. AP excitability and pattern were similar to those observed in chemoreceptor recordings: 1) a random pattern at low- and high-frequency discharge rates, 2) a high sensitivity to reductions in extracellular Na+ concentration, and 3) a variation in excitability that increased with AP generation rate. Taken together, the results suggest that an endogenous process in chemoreceptor nerve terminals may underlie AP generation, a process independent of synaptic depolarizing events.

The Mechanism of Acute Neuromuscular Weakness Induced by Chloroquine

1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 1099-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Vartanian ◽  
H. M. Chinyanga
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Muscle Weakness ◽  
Muscle Fiber ◽  
Mechanism Of Action ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
End Plate ◽  
Excitable Membranes ◽  
Single Nerve ◽  
Electrically Excitable Membranes

Chloroquine caused muscle weakness in neuromuscular preparations of both frog and cat in doses as low as those used in clinical practice. Studies of end-plate and action potentials in the muscle fibers and action potentials in single nerve fibers showed that the muscle weakness induced by chloroquine resulted from depression of the excitability of the electrically excitable membranes of the axon and muscle fiber. This led to the decrease of action potentials of the axon resulting in the reduction of transmitter output at the end plate and decreased firing index, as well as to the decrease in the amplitude of action potential of the muscle fiber itself. It was inferred that the mechanism of action of chloroquine was similar to that of local anesthetics.

Computer-Assisted Analysis of Multi-Color Confocal Microscopic Datasets: Automated Light Microscopic Discrimination of Synaptic Relationships

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 284-285
Author(s):  
M Wessendorf ◽  
A Beuning ◽  
D Cameron ◽  
J Williams ◽  
C Knox
Keyword(s):  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Confocal Scanning Laser Microscopy ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Nerve Terminals ◽  
Neuronal Somata ◽  
Scanning Laser Microscopy ◽  
Confocal Scanning ◽  
Entire Cell ◽  
Confocal Scanning Laser ◽  
Assisted Analysis

Multi-color confocal scanning-laser microscopy (CSLM) allows examination of the relationships between neuronal somata and the nerve fibers surrounding them at sub-micron resolution in x,y, and z. Given these properties, it should be possible to use multi-color CSLM to identify relationships that might be synapses and eliminate those that are clearly too distant to be synapses. In previous studies of this type, pairs of images (e.g., red and green images for tissue stained with rhodamine and fluorescein) have been merged and examined for nerve terminals that appose a stained cell (see, for instance, Mason et al.). The above method suffers from two disadvantages, though. First, although it is possible to recognize appositions in which the varicosity abuts the cell in the x or y axes, it is more difficult to recognize them if the apposition is oriented at all in the z-axis—e.g., if the varicosity lies above or below the neuron rather than next to it. Second, using this method to identify potential appositions over an entire cell is time-consuming and tedious.

Acute O2 sensing through HIF2α-dependent expression of atypical cytochrome oxidase subunits in arterial chemoreceptors

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (615) ◽  
pp. eaay9452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Moreno-Domínguez ◽  
Patricia Ortega-Sáenz ◽  
Lin Gao ◽  
Olalla Colinas ◽  
Paula García-Flores ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ion Channels ◽  
Carotid Body ◽  
Acute Hypoxia ◽  
Mechanistic Explanation ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Glomus Cells ◽  
Adult Mice ◽  
Genes Encoding ◽  
Regulation Of Breathing

Acute cardiorespiratory responses to O2 deficiency are essential for physiological homeostasis. The prototypical acute O2-sensing organ is the carotid body, which contains glomus cells expressing K+ channels whose inhibition by hypoxia leads to transmitter release and activation of nerve fibers terminating in the brainstem respiratory center. The mechanism by which changes in O2 tension modulate ion channels has remained elusive. Glomus cells express genes encoding HIF2α (Epas1) and atypical mitochondrial subunits at high levels, and mitochondrial NADH and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation during hypoxia provides the signal that regulates ion channels. We report that inactivation of Epas1 in adult mice resulted in selective abolition of glomus cell responsiveness to acute hypoxia and the hypoxic ventilatory response. Epas1 deficiency led to the decreased expression of atypical mitochondrial subunits in the carotid body, and genetic deletion of Cox4i2 mimicked the defective hypoxic responses of Epas1-null mice. These findings provide a mechanistic explanation for the acute O2 regulation of breathing, reveal an unanticipated role of HIF2α, and link acute and chronic adaptive responses to hypoxia.

Neuropeptide tyrosine-like immunoreactive nerve fibers in the carotid body chemoreceptor of rats

1986 ◽  
Vol 372 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisatake Kondo ◽  
Hirofumi Kuramoto ◽  
Tsuneo Fujita
Keyword(s):  
Carotid Body ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Neuropeptide Tyrosine

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)

scholarly journals Immunohistochemical Characteristics of the Human Carotid Body in the Antenatal and Postnatal Periods of Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (15) ◽  
pp. 8222
Author(s):  
Dmitry Otlyga ◽  
Ekaterina Tsvetkova ◽  
Olga Junemann ◽  
Sergey Saveliev
Keyword(s):  
Tyrosine Hydroxylase ◽  
Carotid Body ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Individual Development ◽  
Endocrine Function ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type I Cells ◽  
Carotid Bodies ◽  
I Cells ◽  
Human Carotid

The evolutionary and ontogenetic development of the carotid body is still understudied. Research aimed at studying the comparative morphology of the organ at different periods in the individual development of various animal species should play a crucial role in understanding the physiology of the carotid body. However, despite more than two centuries of study, the human carotid body remains poorly understood. There are many knowledge gaps in particular related to the antenatal development of this structure. The aim of our work is to study the morphological and immunohistochemical characteristics of the human carotid body in the antenatal and postnatal periods of development. We investigated the human carotid bodies from 1 embryo, 20 fetuses and 13 adults of different ages using samples obtained at autopsy. Immunohistochemistry revealed expression of βIII-tubulin and tyrosine hydroxylase in the type I cells and nerve fibers at all periods of ontogenesis; synaptophysin and PGP9.5 in the type I cells in some of the antenatal cases and all of the postnatal cases; 200 kDa neurofilaments in nerve fibers in some of the antenatal cases and all of the postnatal cases; and GFAP and S100 in the type II cells and Schwann cells in some of the antenatal cases and all of the postnatal cases. A high level of tyrosine hydroxylase in the type I cells was a distinctive feature of the antenatal carotid bodies. On the contrary, in the type I cells of adults, the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase was significantly lower. Our data suggest that the human carotid body may perform an endocrine function in the antenatal period, while in the postnatal period of development, it loses this function and becomes a chemosensory organ.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document