Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ahmed A. Aldohbeyb, Ahmad O. Alokaily
Summary: Pyramidal neurons and interneurons in the mammalian cortex play crucial roles in regulating neuronal activities. They exhibit different firing patterns and can discriminate between different types of stimuli by changing their action potential onset parameters.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Carlie L. Cullen, Renee E. Pepper, Mackenzie T. Clutterbuck, Kimberley A. Pitman, Viola Oorschot, Loic Auderset, Alexander D. Tang, Georg Ramm, Ben Emery, Jennifer Rodger, Renaud B. Jolivet, Kaylene M. Young
Summary: Research has shown that myelin sheaths in the adult mouse brain, supported by mature oligodendrocytes, remain plastic and undergo subtle structural modifications that influence action potential conduction velocity. Stimuli like repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and spatial learning can alter the axon-glial configuration in active brain regions, independently of oligodendrogenesis, robustly changing action potential conduction velocity. Modifying this structure may be a mechanism that facilitates learning in the adult mouse brain, as demonstrated by correlations between aptitude in a spatial learning task and conduction velocity in specific neural pathways.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ahmed A. Aldohbeyb, Jozsef Vigh, Kevin L. Lear
Summary: The study introduces two new methods for quantifying the rapidity of action potential onset, which have lower variation and better distinguish between different neuron types compared to current methods. By measuring the rapidity of action potentials, it is possible to effectively classify neuron types.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chen Zhang, Drew Maslar, Taylor F. Minckley, Kate D. LeJeune, Yan Qin
Summary: This study found that developing neurons can generate spontaneous and synchronous zinc spikes in primary hippocampal cultures, driven by glutamate-mediated neural excitability and calcium spikes. In addition, transient cellular acidification was observed along with each zinc spike. These results suggest that zinc spikes, induced by calcium influx-induced cellular acidification, may play important signaling roles in neuronal development.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Marian Kollarik, Fei Ru, Nikoleta Pavelkova, John Mulcahy, John Hunter, Bradley J. Undem
Summary: The study found that selective Na(V)1.7 blockers can effectively inhibit the C-wave of compound action potentials and parasympathetic cholinergic contractions in human isolated bronchi. In addition, Na(V)1.7 mRNA was found to be strongly expressed and transported down the vagus nerve bundles.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Evan E. Hart, Matthew P. H. Gardner, Marios C. Panayi, Thorsten Kahnt, Geoffrey Schoenbaum
Summary: Recording both single-unit activity and calcium signals in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) of rats during olfactory discrimination learning, we found that the calcium signal only provided a degraded estimate of the information available in the single-unit spiking, primarily reflecting reward value.
Article
Neurosciences
Jing-Jing Liu, Katherine W. Eyring, Gabriele M. Koenig, Evi Kostenis, Richard W. Tsien
Summary: Oxytocin modulates ion channels in CA2 pyramidal neurons, increasing responsiveness to synaptic inputs and promoting rhythmic firing. These mechanisms deepen our understanding of oxytocin's role in promoting social memory and cognitive control.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Giulia Quattrocolo, Keagan Dunville, Maximiliano Jose Nigro
Summary: Dr. Raman discovered the resurgent sodium current and has dedicated her research to understanding its mechanisms and biophysical properties, impacting greatly the field of cellular neurophysiology and playing an important role in various neuropathologies.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biology
Natalia Lozovaya, Sanaz Eftekhari, Constance Hammond
Summary: Electrophysiological recordings show that early excitatory cholinergic-GABAergic microcircuits are crucial for the maturation of GABAergic inhibition in the mouse striatum. Cholinergic interneurons in the striatum activate local GABAergic inhibitory microcircuits, which play a role in action selection and associative learning. The study focuses on dual cholinergic/GABAergic interneurons (CGINs) and finds that their morphological and electrophysiological properties rapidly develop during the first post-natal week.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Jennifer C. Wong, Steven F. Grieco, Karoni Dutt, Lujia Chen, Jacquelyn T. Thelin, George Andrew S. Inglis, Shangrila Parvin, Sandra M. Garraway, Xiangmin Xu, Alan L. Goldin, Andrew Escayg
Summary: Patients with SCN8A epileptic encephalopathy present with a variety of clinical features, and a recent study found that the R1620L mutation in a mouse model is associated with behavioral abnormalities, increased seizure susceptibility, and spontaneous seizures. The mouse model provides valuable insights for better understanding SCN8A mutations and developing new therapeutic strategies.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Piyush Bhardwaj, Don Kulasiri, Sandhya Samarasinghe
Summary: The presence of high-density AIS protein voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav) at the axon initial segment (AIS) region is crucial for action potential initiation. Computational experiments suggest that Nav channels with all serine sites available for phosphorylation bind to AnkG with strong affinity, and the concentration of Nav channels reduces significantly at low initial concentrations of AnkG and casein kinase 2, highlighting the importance of these proteins in Nav channel recruitment.
NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yao-Yi Wang, Bing Zhao, Meng-Meng Wu, Xiao-Li Zheng, Longnian Lin, Dong-Min Yin
Summary: Increased expression of Nrg1 in GABAergic interneurons can cause cortical disinhibition, leading to various neuropsychiatric disorders. The interaction between NRG1 and Na(v)1.1 inhibits Na-v currents critical for GABAergic interneuron excitability, and activating GABAergic interneurons or restoring NRG1 expression can rescue related symptoms.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Colin Brownlee
Summary: A new study has identified the major components that enable the Venus flytrap to fire action potentials, revealing the recruitment of different ion channels and transporters that give rise to this unique plant behavioral response.
Review
Cell Biology
Knut Kirmse, Chuanqiang Zhang
Summary: GABAergic signaling plays a crucial role in the inhibitory stabilization and coordination of excitatory neurons in mature cortical circuits. This review examines how GABA-releasing interneurons acquire their network functions during development, focusing on the visual neocortex and hippocampus in mice and rats. The authors propose that inhibitory stabilization is not functional at the onset of patterned activity, and that glutamatergic neurons are stable by themselves. The strengthening of inhibitory synaptic transmission toward eye opening shapes cortical network dynamics and allows the developing cortex to disengage from extra-cortical synaptic drive. The framework presented in this review has implications for our understanding of human cortical development and the treatment of neonatal seizures.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Daniel Needs, Tianyu Wu, Hung X. Nguyen, Craig S. Henriquez, Nenad Bursac
Summary: This study compares the effects of enhancing endogenous sodium current and expressing slower-inactivating bacterial sodium channels on the electrophysiology of cardiac tissue through computational modeling. The results show that expressing bacterial sodium channels can provide greater anti-arrhythmic benefits in hearts with compromised action potential conduction.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-HEART AND CIRCULATORY PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)