Activation of neurotransmitter release in hippocampal nerve terminals during recovery from intracellular acidification.
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Intracellular pH may be an important variable regulating neurotransmitter release. A number of pathological conditions, such as anoxia and ischemia, are known to influence intracellular pH, causing acidification of brain cells and excitotoxicity. We examined the effect of acidification on quantal glutamate release. Although acidification caused only modest changes in release, recovery from acidification was associated with a very large (60-fold) increase in the frequency of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) in cultured hippocampal neurons. This was accompanied by a block of evoked EPSCs and a rise in intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i). The rise in mEPSC frequency required extracellular Ca2+, but influx did not occur through voltage-operated channels. Because acidic pH is known to activate the Na+/H+ antiporter, we hypothesized that a resulting Na+ load could drive Ca2+ influx through the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger during recovery from acidification. This hypothesis is supported by three observations. First, intracellular Na+ rises during acidification. Second, the elevation in [Ca2+]i and mEPSC frequency during recovery from acidification is prevented by the Na+/H+ antiporter blocker EIPA applied during the acidification step. Third, the rise in free Ca2+ and mEPSC frequency is blocked by the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger blocker dimethylbenzamil. We thus propose that during recovery from intracellular acidification a massive activation of neurotransmitter release occurs because the successive activation of the Na+/H+ and Na+/Ca2+ exchangers in nerve terminals leads to an elevation of intracellular calcium. Our results suggest that changes in intracellular pH and especially recovery from acidification have extensive consequences for the release process in nerve terminals. Excessive release of glutamate through the proposed mechanism could be implicated in excitotoxic insults after anoxic or ischemic episodes. (+info)
In situ and in vitro identification and characterization of cardiac ganglion neurons in the crab, Carcinus maenas.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the intrinsic membrane properties and hormonal responses of individual central pattern generating neurons in the cardiac ganglion of the shore crab Carcinus maenas. Because the cardiac ganglion in this crustacean species is buried within the heart musculature and is therefore inaccessible for direct morphological and electrophysiological analysis, we developed two novel in vitro preparations. First, to make the ganglion accessible, we established a brief enzymatic treatment procedure that enabled us to isolate the entire cardiac ganglion, in the absence of muscle tissue. Second, a cell culture procedure was developed to isolate individual neurons in vitro. With the use of both isolated ganglionic and neuronal cell culture techniques, this study provides the first direct account of the neuroanatomy of the cardiac ganglion in shore crabs. We demonstrate that cultured neurons not only survived the isolation procedures, but that they also maintained their intrinsic membrane and transmitter response properties, similar to those seen in the intact ganglion. Specifically, we tested the peptides proctolin, crustacean cardioactive peptide, the FLRFamide-related peptide F2, and an amine (serotonin) on both isolated ganglion and in vitro culture neurons. We measured changes in neuronal burst rate, burst amplitude, pacemaker slope, and membrane potential oscillation amplitude in response to the above four hormones. Each hormone either increased neuronal activity in spontaneously bursting neurons, or induced a bursting pattern in quiescent cells. The in vitro cell culture system developed here now provides us with an excellent opportunity to elucidate cellular, synaptic and hormonal mechanisms by which cardiac activity is generated in shore crabs. (+info)
Partial uncoupling of neurotransmitter release from [Ca2+]i by membrane hyperpolarization.
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The dependence of evoked and asynchronous release on intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) and presynaptic membrane potential was examined in single-release boutons of the crayfish opener neuromuscular junction. When a single bouton was depolarized by a train of pulses, [Ca2+]i increased to different levels according to the frequency of stimulation. Concomitant measurements of evoked release and asynchronous release, from the same bouton, showed that both increased in a sigmoidal manner as a function of [Ca2+]i. When each of the depolarizing pulses was immediately followed by a hyperpolarizing pulse, [Ca2+]i was elevated to a lesser degree than in the control experiments, and the rate of asynchronous release and the quantal content were reduced; most importantly, evoked quantal release terminated sooner. The diminution of neurotransmitter release by the hyperpolarizing postpulse (HPP) could not be entirely accounted for by the reduction in [Ca2+]i. The experimental results are consistent with the hypothesis that the HPP reduces the sensitivity of the release machinery to [Ca2+]i, thereby not only reducing the quantal content but also terminating the quantal release process sooner. (+info)
Involvement of cGMP-dependent protein kinase in adrenergic potentiation of transmitter release from the calyx-type presynaptic terminal.
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I have previously reported that norepinephrine (NE) induces a sustained potentiation of transmitter release in the chick ciliary ganglion through a mechanism pharmacologically distinct from any known adrenergic receptors. Here I report that the adrenergic potentiation of transmitter release was enhanced by a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) and by zaprinast, an inhibitor of cGMP-selective phosphodiesterase. Exogenous application of the membrane-permeable cGMP, 8-bromo-cGMP (8Br-cGMP), potentiated the quantal transmitter release, and after potentiation, the addition of NE was no longer effective. On the other hand, 8Br-cAMP neither potentiated the transmitter release nor occluded the NE-induced potentiation. The NE-induced potentiation was blocked by neither nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor nor NO scavenger. The quantal transmitter release was not potentiated by NO donors, e.g., sodium nitroprusside. The NE-induced potentiation and its enhancement by IBMX was antagonized by two inhibitors of protein kinase G (PKG), Rp isomer of 8-(4-chlorophenylthio) guanosine-3', 5'-cyclic monophosphorothioate and KT5823. As with NE-induced potentiation, the effects of 8Br-cGMP on both the resting intraterminal [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]i) and the action potential-dependent increment of [Ca2+]i (DeltaCa) in the presynaptic terminal were negligible. The reduction of the paired pulse ratio of EPSC is consistent with the notion that the NE- and cGMP-dependent potentiation of transmitter release was attributable mainly to an increase of the exocytotic fusion probability. These results indicate that NE binds to a novel adrenergic receptor that activates guanylyl cyclase and that accumulation of cGMP activates PKG, which may phosphorylate a target protein involved in the exocytosis of synaptic vesicles. (+info)
Fast excitatory synaptic transmission mediated by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in Drosophila neurons.
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Difficulty in recording from single neurons in vivo has precluded functional analyses of transmission at central synapses in Drosophila, where the neurotransmitters and receptors mediating fast synaptic transmission have yet to be identified. Here we demonstrate that spontaneously active synaptic connections form between cultured neurons prepared from wild-type embryos and provide the first direct evidence that both acetylcholine and GABA mediate fast interneuronal synaptic transmission in Drosophila. The predominant type of fast excitatory transmission between cultured neurons is mediated by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Detailed analysis of cholinergic transmission reveals that spontaneous EPSCs (sEPSCs) are composed of both evoked and action potential-independent [miniature EPSC (mEPSC)] components. The mEPSCs are characterized by a broad, positively skewed amplitude histogram in which the variance is likely to reflect differences in the currents induced by single quanta. Biophysical characteristics of the cholinergic mEPSCs include a rapid rise time (0.6 msec) and decay (tau = 2 msec). Regulation of mEPSC frequency by external calcium and cobalt suggests that calcium influx through voltage-gated channels influences the probability of ACh release. In addition, brief depolarization of the cultures with KCl can induce a calcium-dependent increase in sEPSC frequency that persists for up to 3 hr after termination of the stimulus, illustrating one form of plasticity at these cholinergic synapses. These data demonstrate that cultured embryonic neurons, amenable to both genetic and biochemical manipulations, present a unique opportunity to define genes/signal transduction cascades involved in functional regulation of fast excitatory transmission at interneuronal cholinergic synapses in Drosophila. (+info)
Different proctolin neurons elicit distinct motor patterns from a multifunctional neuronal network.
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Distinct motor patterns are selected from a multifunctional neuronal network by activation of different modulatory projection neurons. Subsets of these projection neurons can contain the same neuromodulator(s), yet little is known about the relative influence of such neurons on network activity. We have addressed this issue in the stomatogastric nervous system of the crab Cancer borealis. Within this system, there is a neuronal network in the stomatogastric ganglion (STG) that produces many versions of the pyloric and gastric mill rhythms. These different rhythms result from activation of different projection neurons that innervate the STG from neighboring ganglia and modulate STG network activity. Three pairs of these projection neurons contain the neuropeptide proctolin. These include the previously identified modulatory proctolin neuron and modulatory commissural neuron 1 (MCN1) and the newly identified modulatory commissural neuron 7 (MCN7). We document here that each of these neurons contains a unique complement of cotransmitters and that each of these neurons elicits a distinct version of the pyloric motor pattern. Moreover, only one of them (MCN1) also elicits a gastric mill rhythm. The MCN7-elicited pyloric rhythm includes a pivotal switch by one STG network neuron from playing a minor to a major role in motor pattern generation. Therefore, modulatory neurons that share a peptide transmitter can elicit distinct motor patterns from a common target network. (+info)
Influence of motor activities on the release of transmitter quanta from motor nerve terminals in mice.
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We investigated the effects of motor activities on transmitter release in mouse nerve-muscle preparations of the diaphragm muscle (DPH), extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDL), and soleus muscle (SOL). Mice were divided into a control group, a motor-restricted (RST) group, and a motor-compelled (CMP) group. The quantal content (m) of endplate potentials was measured intracellularly. In DPH the motor activity was unaffected. In the CMP group the m value of the EDL group increased with increases in the cooperativity of Ca2+ in transmitter release. Compared with the CMP group, the SOL of the RST group had a smaller m value with increases in the cooperativity of Ca2+ in transmitter release. These results suggest that motor activities can influence neuromuscular activity specific to different systems, however, the motor compulsion specifically activated the function of EDL and the motor restriction activated the function of SOL, and these effects might lead to altered activity of the release of transmitter quanta in motor nerve terminals of mice. (+info)
Substance P primes the formation of hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide in human neutrophils.
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Substance P (SP), a neurotransmitter of the central and peripheral nervous system, has been implicated as a mediator of the pulmonary inflammatory response through its stimulatory effects on neutrophils. We investigated the role of SP in priming the production of reactive oxygen species by human neutrophils with the cytochrome c reduction assay and by flow cytometry using the intracellular oxidizable probe dichlorofluorescein. We also investigated SP-induced formation of nitrite and nitrate as an index of nitric oxide (NO) production. Our results indicate that SP primes two distinct pathways with respect to the induction of reactive oxygen species in the human neutrophil: the production of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide by the calmodulin-dependent NADPH oxidase, and the generation of NO by a constitutive NO synthase. Preincubation of neutrophils with inhibitors of calmodulin and NO synthase diminished the oxidative response in an additive fashion. These results give insight into distinct signal transduction pathways in the SP-primed neutrophil with respect to the formation of superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, and NO. (+info)