GABA- and glycine-activated currents in the rod bipolar cell of the rabbit retina

1995 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 856-875 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Gillette ◽  
R. F. Dacheux
Keyword(s):  
Gabaa Receptor ◽  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Outward Current ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Morphological Identification ◽  
Response Curves ◽  
Patch Clamp Technique ◽  
T Distribution ◽  
Rod Bipolar Cells

1. Voltage- and ligand-gated currents were recorded from solitary rabbit rod bipolar cells using the whole cell patch-clamp technique. The rod bipolar cell forms a single, stereotypical physiological and morphological class of cells that was easily identified from other neurons and support cells after enzymatic and mechanical dissociation from isolated retina. Protein kinase C immunoreactivity confirmed the validity of using a purely morphological identification of this cell type. 2. Voltage steps in 15-mV increments from a holding potential of -45 mV elicited a large outward current activated near -30 mV. These voltage-gated currents were eliminated by using equimolar substitutions of Cs+ and tetraethylammonium+ for K+ in the pipette, indicating that they represent a mixture of K+ currents. 3. The putative inhibitory neurotransmitters gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine activated inward Cl- currents when pressure-applied from pipettes placed near the axon terminals of rod bipolar cells, which were voltage-clamped at -45 mV. With changes in intracellular or extracellular Cl- concentration, the reversal potential of these ligand-gated currents changed as predicted by the Nernst equation for Cl- activity. The dose-response curves for GABA and glycine were sigmoidal with saturating concentrations of 100 and 300 microM, respectively. 4. GABA-activated currents were 1) reversibly reduced by the allosteric inhibitor picrotoxin and the competitive antagonist bicuculline; 2) potentiated by the benzodiazepine diazepam and the barbiturate barbital sodium; and 3) indistinguishable from muscimol-activated currents. There was no response to the GABAB agonist baclofen. Collectively, these data strongly suggest that the GABA-activated currents in rabbit rod bipolar cells are mediated by the GABAA receptor. This is similar to the GABA-activated currents in other mammalian rod bipolar cells. 5. Application of the conformationally restricted GABA analogue cis-4-aminocrotonic acid (CACA) failed to elicit a response, whereas the conformationally extended GABA analogue trans-4-aminocrotonic acid (TACA) elicited a response similar to that of GABA. Although bicuculline appeared to suppress the GABA-activated current slightly more than the TACA-activated current (not significant using Student's t-distribution), GABA- and TACA-activated currents were equally suppressed by picrotoxin and equally enhanced by diazepam and barbital sodium. These data, coupled with the inefficacy of CACA, argue against the existence of a GABAC-type channel in the rod bipolar cell of the rabbit and suggest that GABA and TACA were activating the same GABAA receptor-channel complex.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals Synaptic vesicle dynamics in mouse rod bipolar cells

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
QUN-FANG WAN ◽  
ALEJANDRO VILA ◽  
ZHEN-YU ZHOU ◽  
RUTH HEIDELBERGER
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Vesicle ◽  
Time Constant ◽  
Active Zone ◽  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Membrane Surface ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Calcium Dependent ◽  
Vesicle Dynamics ◽  
Rod Bipolar Cells

AbstractTo better understand synaptic signaling at the mammalian rod bipolar cell terminal and pave the way for applying genetic approaches to the study of visual information processing in the mammalian retina, synaptic vesicle dynamics and intraterminal calcium were monitored in terminals of acutely isolated mouse rod bipolar cells and the number of ribbon-style active zones quantified. We identified a releasable pool, corresponding to a maximum of ≈35 vesicles/ribbon-style active zone. Following depletion, this pool was refilled with a time constant of ≈7 s. The presence of a smaller, rapidly releasing pool and a small, fast component of refilling was also suggested. Following calcium channel closure, membrane surface area was restored to baseline with a time constant that ranged from 2 to 21 s depending on the magnitude of the preceding Ca2+ transient. In addition, a brief, calcium-dependent delay often preceded the start of onset of membrane recovery. Thus, several aspects of synaptic vesicle dynamics appear to be conserved between rod-dominant bipolar cells of fish and mammalian rod bipolar cells. A major difference is that the number of vesicles available for release is significantly smaller in the mouse rod bipolar cell, both as a function of the total number per neuron and on a per active zone basis.

Voltage- and transmitter-gated currents in isolated rod bipolar cells of rat retina

1990 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 860-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Karschin ◽  
H. Wassle
Keyword(s):  
Ion Channels ◽  
Outward Current ◽  
Amacrine Cells ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Similar Distribution ◽  
Isolated Cells ◽  
Membrane Hyperpolarization ◽  
Rat Retina ◽  
Inward Current ◽  
Rod Bipolar Cells

1. Bipolar cells were isolated from adult rat retinas after enzymatic and mechanical treatment. The cells could be unequivocally identified from their morphology because of high retention of their axon and dendritic processes after isolation. 2. Protein kinase C (PKC) immunoreactivity performed on sections of the rat retina labeled rod bipolar cells and a few amacrine cells. Virtually all bipolar cells in the dissociates expressed PKC immunoreactivity and were, therefore, rod bipolar cells. 3. Rod bipolar cells were examined with the tight-seal whole-cell and excised-patch recording techniques. Resting potentials of the isolated cells recorded under current-clamp conditions showed a broad unimodal distribution around -37 mV. 4. Membrane depolarization from a holding potential of -90 mV resulted in an outward current. A fast sodium inward current was not observed. Membrane hyperpolarization from a holding potential of -40 mV activated an inwardly rectifying current. 5. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine, the putative retinal neurotransmitters that mediate the bipolar cells' receptive field surround in vivo, activated chloride conductances in almost all isolated bipolar cells. GABA- and glycine-evoked currents were both desensitizing and could be antagonized by the classical blockers bicuculline, picrotoxin, and strychnine, respectively. 6. Pressure application of the drugs from fine microcapillaries to various parts of the isolated cells suggests a high GABA sensitivity at the axonal endings compared with either the somatic or dendritic region. A similar distribution was not found for glycine. On the contrary, glycine-induced single-channel events with main conductances of 52 and 34 pS were recorded from membrane patches excised from the cells' somata. 7. Conductances induced by glutamate and several excitatory amino acid agonists were observed in a number of the cells. Application of the glutamate agonist 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (APB) induced an inward current at negative holding potentials associated with the opening of ion channels. In only 5 of 93 cells, APB closed ion channels, leading to a decrease in membrane conductance.

Ca2+-activated Cl− current can be triggered by Na+ current-induced SR Ca2+ release in rabbit ventricle

1999 ◽  
Vol 277 (4) ◽  
pp. H1467-H1477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Sun ◽  
Denis Chartier ◽  
Stanley Nattel ◽  
Normand Leblanc
Keyword(s):  
Ventricular Myocytes ◽  
Physiological Role ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Outward Current ◽  
External Solution ◽  
Rabbit Heart ◽  
Transient Outward Current ◽  
Release Mechanism ◽  
Patch Clamp Technique ◽  
Reverse Mode

The Ca2+-activated Cl− current [ I Cl(Ca)] contributes to the repolarization of the cardiac action potential under physiological conditions. I Cl(Ca) is known to be primarily activated by Ca2+release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). L-type Ca2+ current [ I Ca(L)] represents the major trigger for Ca2+ release in the heart. Recent evidence, however, suggests that Ca2+ entry via reverse-mode Na+/Ca2+exchange promoted by voltage and/or Na+ current ( I Na) may also play a role. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that I Cl(Ca) can be induced by I Na in the absence of I Ca(L). Macroscopic currents and Ca2+transients were measured using the whole cell patch-clamp technique in rabbit ventricular myocytes loaded with Indo-1. Nicardipine (10 μM) abolished I Ca(L)at a holding potential of −75 mV as tested in Na+-free external solution. In the presence of 131 mM external Na+and in the absence of I Ca(L), a 4-aminopyridine-resistant transient outward current was recorded in 64 of 81 cells accompanying a phasic Ca2+ transient. The current reversed at −42.0 ± 1.3 mV ( n = 6) and at +0.3 ± 1.4 mV ( n = 6) with 21 and 141 mM of internal Cl−, respectively, similar to the predicted reversal potential with low intracellular Cl− concentration ([Cl−]i) (−47.8 mV) and high [Cl−]i(−1.2 mV). Niflumic acid (100 μM) inhibited the current without affecting the Ca2+ signal ( n = 8). Both the current and Ca2+ transient were abolished by 10 mM caffeine ( n = 6), 10 μM ryanodine ( n = 3), 30 μM tetrodotoxin ( n = 9), or removal of extracellular Ca2+( n = 6). These properties are consistent with those of I Cl(Ca)previously described in mammalian cardiac myocytes. We conclude that 1) I Cl(Ca) can be recorded in the absence of I Ca(L), and 2) I Na-induced SR Ca2+ release mechanism is also present in the rabbit heart and may play a physiological role in activating the Ca2+-sensitive membrane Cl− conductance.

scholarly journals A novel action of quinine and quinidine on the membrane conductance of neurons from the vertebrate retina.

1994 ◽  
Vol 104 (6) ◽  
pp. 1039-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
R P Malchow ◽  
H Qian ◽  
H Ripps
Keyword(s):  
Lucifer Yellow ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Outward Current ◽  
Membrane Conductance ◽  
Cobalt Acetate ◽  
Cinchona Alkaloids ◽  
Horizontal Cells ◽  
Patch Clamp Technique ◽  
Voltage Dependent ◽  
Gap Junctional

The cinchona alkaloids quinine and quinidine have been shown to block a broad range of voltage-gated membrane conductances in a variety of excitable tissues. Using the whole-cell version of the patch clamp technique, we examined the effects of these compounds on voltage-dependent currents from horizontal cells dissociated enzymatically from the all-rod retina of the skate. We report here a novel and unexpected action of quinine and quinidine on isolated horizontal cells. In addition to blocking several of the voltage-activated currents of these cells, the introduction of the alkaloids evoked a large outward current when the cells were held at depolarized potentials. Using tail current analysis, the reversal potential of the outward current was close to O mV, and the current was markedly suppressed by extracellularly applied cobalt, acetate, and halothane. Depolarization in the presence of quinine also permitted entry into the cells of extracellularly applied Lucifer yellow (MW = 443 D), whereas a 3-kD fluorescein-dextran complex was excluded. These findings suggest that the large, apparently nonselective conductance induced by quinine and quinidine results from the opening of hemi-gap junctional channels.

scholarly journals Nonlinear transfer and temporal gain control in ON bipolar cells

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikhil R. Deshmukh ◽  
Michael J. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Gain Control ◽  
Outward Current ◽  
Opposite Polarity ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Visual Signal ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Full Field ◽  
Discrete Channels

AbstractThe separation of visual input into discrete channels begins at the photoreceptor to bipolar cell synapse. Current models of the ON pathway describe the time-varying membrane voltage of ON bipolar cells as a linear function of light fluctuations. While this linearity holds under some visual conditions, stimulating the retina with full-field, high contrast flashes reveals a number of nonlinearities already present in the input current of ON bipolar cells. First, we show that the synaptic input to ON bipolar cells is asymmetric in response to equal flashes of opposite polarity. Next, we show that this asymmetry emerges because the responses to dark flashes increase linearly with contrast, whereas responses to bright flashes are highly rectified. We also describe how the outward current saturates in response to dark flashes of increasing duration. Furthermore, varying the inter-flash interval between a pair of high contrast flashes reveals a rapid, transient form of gain control that modulates both the amplitude and time course of the flash response. We develop a phenomenological model that captures the primary features of the ON bipolar cell response at high contrast. Finally, we discuss the implications of these nonlinearities in our understanding of how retinal circuitry shapes the visual signal.

Rod bipolar cells in the cone-dominated retina of the tree shrew Tupaia belangeri

1991 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 629-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Müller ◽  
Leo Peichl
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Tree Shrew ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Plexiform Layer ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Peripheral Retina ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Topographical Distribution ◽  
Rod Bipolar Cells

AbstractThe tree shrew has a cone-dominated retina with a rod proportion of 5%, in contrast to the common mammalian pattern of rod-dominated retinae. As a first step to elucidate the rod pathway in the tree shrew retina, we have demonstrated the presence of rod bipolar cells and studied their morphology and distribution by light and electron microscopy.Rod bipolar cells were labeled with an antiserum against the protein kinase C (PKC), a phosphorylating enzyme. Intense PKC immunoreactivity was found in perikarya, axons, and dendrites of rod bipolar cells. The cell bodies are located in the sclerad part of the inner nuclear layer, the dendrites ascend to the outer plexiform layer where they are postsynaptic to rod spherules, and an axon descends towards the inner plexiform layer (IPL). The axons branch, and terminate in the vitread third of the IPL where mammalian rod bipolar cells are known to terminate. Two amacrine cell processes are always seen as the postsynaptic elements (dyads). Dendritic and axonal arbors of rod bipolar cells are rather large, up to 100 μm in diameter. The topographical distribution of the rod bipolar cells was analyzed quantitatively in tangential sections.Their density ranges from 300 cells/mm2 in peripheral retina to 900 cells/mm2 more centrally. The distribution is rather flat with no local extremes. Consistent with the low rod proportion in tree shrew, the rod bipolar cell density is low compared to the rod-dominated cat retina for example (36,000-47,000 rod bipolar cells/mm2). Rod-to-rod bipolar cell ratios in the tree shrew retina range from smaller than 1 to about 7, and thus are also lower than in cat.

Inhibitory Feedback Shapes Bipolar Cell Responses in the Rabbit Retina

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 3423-3435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyosha Molnar ◽  
Frank Werblin
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Light Response ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Inhibitory Input ◽  
Rabbit Retina ◽  
Cell Responses ◽  
Inhibitory Feedback ◽  
Glycinergic Inhibition ◽  
Rod Bipolar Cells ◽  
Cone Bipolar Cells

Retinal bipolar cells can be divided into on and off types based on the polarity of their response to light. Bipolar activity is further shaped by inhibitory inputs, characterized here by the events that occur immediately after the onset of a light step: 1) in most off bipolar cells, excitatory current decreased, whereas inhibitory current increased. These currents reinforced each other, enhancing the light response. 2) In about half of the on cone bipolar cells, the excitatory current increased, whereas inhibitory current decreased, also reinforcing the light response. Both of these reinforcing interactions were mediated by glycinergic inhibition. 3) In the remaining on cone bipolar cells, excitation and inhibition both increased, but inhibition was delayed so that these cells responded transiently. 4) Finally, in rod bipolar cells, excitation and inhibition both increased so that inhibition suppressed excitation, reducing the light response at all time scales. The suppressive inhibition seen in on cone and rod bipolar cells was mediated by GABA. Thus morphologically diverse bipolar cells receive only four main types of inhibitory input, and the majority of “inhibitory” inputs actually serve to enhance excitation.

Center-surround organization in bipolar cells: Symmetry for opposing contrasts

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
PATRICK K. FAHEY ◽  
DWIGHT A. BURKHARDT
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Cell ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Horizontal Cell ◽  
Positive Contrast ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Ambystoma Tigrinum ◽  
Maximal Response ◽  
Response Curves ◽  
Contrast Polarity ◽  
Contrast Gain

Intracellular recordings were obtained from 73 cone-driven bipolar cells in the light-adapted retina of the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum). Responses to flashes of negative and positive contrast for centered spots and concentric annuli of optimum spatial dimensions were analyzed as a function of contrast magnitude. For both depolarizing and hyperpolarizing bipolar cells, it was found that remarkably similar responses were observed for the center and surround when comparisons were made between responses of the same response polarity and thus, responses to opposite contrast polarity. Thus, spatial information and contrast polarity appear to be rather strongly confounded in many bipolar cells. As a rule, the form of the contrast/response curves for center and surround approximated mirror images of each other. Contrast gain and C50 (the contrast required for half-maximal response) were quantitatively similar for center and surround when comparisons were made for responses of the same response polarity. The average contrast gain of the bipolar cell surround was 3–5 times higher than that measured for horizontal cells. Contrast/latency measurements and interactions between flashed spots and annuli showed that the surround response is delayed by 20–80 ms with respect to that of the receptive-field center. Cones showed no evidence for center-surround antagonism while for bipolar cells, the average strength of the surround ranged from about 50% to 155% of the center, depending on the test and response polarity. The results of experiments on the effects of APB (100 μM) on depolarizing bipolar cells suggest that the relative contribution of the feedback pathway (horizontal cell to cones) and the feedforward pathway (horizontal cell to bipolar cell) to the bipolar surround varies in a distributed manner across the bipolar cell population.

Differential Expression of High- and Two Types of Low-Voltage–Activated Calcium Currents in Rod and Cone Bipolar Cells of the Rat Retina

2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 513-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo-Hua Pan
Keyword(s):  
Low Voltage ◽  
Cell Voltage ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Calcium Currents ◽  
Morphological Identification ◽  
Axon Terminals ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Rod Bipolar Cells ◽  
Cone Bipolar Cells

Whole cell voltage-clamp recordings were performed to investigate voltage-activated Ca2+ currents in acutely isolated retinal bipolar cells of rats. Two groups of morphologically different bipolar cells were observed. Bipolar cells of the first group, which represent the majority of isolated bipolar cells, were immunoreactive to protein kinase C (PKC) and, therefore likely to be rod bipolar cells. Bipolar cells of the second group, which represent only a small population of isolated bipolar cells, did not show PKC immunoreactivity and were likely to be cone bipolar cells. The validity of morphological identification of bipolar cells was further confirmed by the presence of GABAC responses in these cells. Bipolar cells of both groups displayed low-voltage–activated (LVA) Ca2+ currents with similar voltage dependence of activation and steady-state inactivation. However, the activation, inactivation, and deactivation kinetics of the LVA Ca2+ currents between rod and cone bipolar cells differed. Particularly, the LVA Ca2+ currents of rod bipolar cells displayed both transient and sustained components. In contrast, the LVA Ca2+ currents of cone bipolar cells were mainly transient. In addition, the LVA Ca2+ channels of rod bipolar cells were more permeable to Ba2+ than to Ca2+, whereas those of cone bipolar cells were equally or less permeable to Ba2+ than to Ca2+. The LVA Ca2+ currents of both rod and cone bipolar cells were antagonized by high concentrations of nimodipine with IC50of 17 and 23 μM, respectively, but largely resistant to Cd2+ and Ni2+. Bipolar cells of both groups also displayed high-voltage–activated (HVA) Ca2+ currents. The HVA Ca2+ currents were, at least in part, to be L-type that were potentiated by BayK-8644 (1 μM) and largely antagonized by low concentrations of nimodipine (5 μM). The L-type Ca2+channels were almost exclusively located at the axon terminals of rod bipolar cells but expressed at least in the cell soma of cone bipolar cells. Results of this study indicate that rod and cone bipolar cells of the mammalian retina differentially express at least two types of LVA Ca2+ channels. Rod and cone bipolar cells also show different spatial distribution of L-type Ca2+channels.

Injection of RNA from carp retina induces the formation of a membrane potassium channel in Xenopus oocytes

1991 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-74
Author(s):  
Lawrence H. Pinto ◽  
Akimichi Kaneko
Keyword(s):  
Xenopus Oocytes ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Outward Current ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Bipolar Cells ◽  
Total Rna ◽  
Outward Currents ◽  
Current Voltage ◽  
Current Voltage Relationship ◽  
Voltage Relationship

AbstractTotal RNA was purified from freshly isolated retinas of adult carp and injected into oocytes of Xenopus laevis (stage 5–6). Two to six days after injection, depolarizing voltage-clamp steps evoked a slowly activated outward currents as large as 3 μA. This current inactivated slowly with a single time constant (τ= 3.1 ± 0.24 S.E.M., for Vm= +30 mV). The current was inhibited by tetraethylammonium (3.8 mM for half-maximal inhibition). In the presence of Co2+ (1 mM) or barium methanesulfonate (40 mM), the current-voltage relationship shifted to slightly more depolarized values (5–10 mV); the maximal value of the current that was sensitive to Co2+ or Ba2+ treatments was only a small fraction (about 10%) of the TEA-sensitive current, and its current-voltage relationship was similar to that for uninjected oocytes. The reversal potential of the membrane current was studied with [K+]0 of 1–77 mM. For [K+]0 > 20 mM, the reversal potential changed with a slope of 63 mV (±;2 mV S.E.M.) per 10-fold change in [K+]0. The conductance was induced half-maximally at 17 mV (±;0.9 mV s.e.m.). The depolarization required for an e−fold increase in conductance was 13 mV (±;0.6 mV s.e.m.). From these results, we conclude that the injection of total RNA from carp retinas induces the formation of a membrane K+ channel in Xenopus oocytes. The channel formed has many of properties reported for the maintained outward current of goldfish horizontal and bipolar cells.

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