Intracellular astrocyte calcium waves in situ increase the frequency of spontaneous AMPA receptor currents in CA1 pyramidal neurons.
AuthorsFiacco TA, McCarthy KD
JournalJ Neurosci
PubMed ID14736858
'Spontaneous neurotransmitter release and activation of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) each play a role in the plasticity of neuronal synapses. Astrocytes may contribute to short- and long-term synaptic changes by signaling to neurons via these processes. Spontaneous whole-cell AMPA receptor (AMPAR) currents were recorded in CA1 pyramidal cells ... More
Characterization of a synaptiform transmission between a neuron and a glial cell in the leech central nervous system.
AuthorsBritz FC, Lohr C, Schmidt J, Deitmer JW
JournalGlia
PubMed ID11968059
'The cross-talk between neurons and glial cells is receiving increased attention because of its potential role in information processing in nervous systems. Stimulation of a single identifiable neuron, the neurosecretory Leydig interneuron in segmental ganglia of the leech Hirudo medicinalis, which modulates specific behaviors in the leech, evokes membrane hyperpolarization ... More
Robust coding of flow-field parameters by axo-axonal gap junctions between fly visual interneurons.
AuthorsCuntz H, Haag J, Forstner F, Segev I, Borst A
JournalProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
PubMed ID17551009
'Complex flight maneuvers require a sophisticated system to exploit the optic flow resulting from moving images of the environment projected onto the retina. In the fly''s visual course control center, the lobula plate, 10 so-called vertical system (VS) cells are thought to match, with their complex receptive fields, the optic ... More
Long-term potentiation of exogenous glutamate responses at single dendritic spines.
AuthorsBagal AA, Kao JP, Tang CM, Thompson SM
JournalProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
PubMed ID16186507
'Long-term increases in the strength of excitatory transmission at Schaffer collateral-CA1 cell synapses of the hippocampus require the insertion of new alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate receptors (AMPARs) into the synapse, but the kinetics of this process are not well established. Using microphotolysis of caged glutamate to activate receptors at single dendritic spines in ... More
Three-dimensional reconstruction of tubular structure of vacuolar membrane throughout mitosis in living tobacco cells.
AuthorsKutsuna N, Kumagai F, Sato MH, Hasezawa S
JournalPlant Cell Physiol
PubMed ID14581629
'Plant vacuoles are the largest of organelles, performing various functions in cellular metabolism, morphogenesis and cell division. Dynamic changes in vacuoles during mitosis were studied by monitoring tubular structure of vacuolar membrane (TVM) in living transgenic tobacco BY-2 cells stably expressing a GFP-AtVam3p fusion protein (BY-GV). Comprehensive images of the ... More
Cumulative lesioning of respiratory interneurons disrupts and precludes motor rhythms in vitro.
AuthorsHayes JA, Wang X, Del Negro CA,
JournalProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
PubMed ID22566628
'How brain functions degenerate in the face of progressive cell loss is an important issue that pertains to neurodegenerative diseases and basic properties of neural networks. We developed an automated system that uses two-photon microscopy to detect rhythmic neurons from calcium activity, and then individually laser ablates the targets while ... More
A method of combined single-cell electrophysiology and electroporation.
AuthorsGraham LJ, Del Abajo R, Gener T, Fernandez E
JournalJ Neurosci Methods
PubMed ID17049616
'This paper describes a method of extracellular recording and subsequent electroporation with the same electrode in single retinal ganglion cells in vitro. We demonstrate anatomical identification of neurons whose receptive fields were measured quantitatively. We discuss how this simple method should also be applicable for the delivery of a variety ... More
Functional localization of neurotransmitter receptors and synaptic inputs to mature neurons of the medial superior olive.
AuthorsCouchman K, Grothe B, Felmy F,
JournalJ Neurophysiol
PubMed ID22131383
'Neurons of the medial superior olive (MSO) code for the azimuthal location of low-frequency sound sources via a binaural coincidence detection system operating on microsecond time scales. These neurons are morphologically simple and stereotyped, and anatomical studies have indicated a functional segregation of excitatory and inhibitory inputs between cellular compartments. ... More
Intersection of group I CD1 molecules and mycobacteria in different intracellular compartments of dendritic cells.
AuthorsSchaible UE, Hagens K, Fischer K, Collins HL, Kaufmann SH
JournalJ Immunol
PubMed ID10779793
'Human CD1a, CD1b, and CD1c molecules can present mycobacterial glycolipids to T cells. Because phagosomes containing viable mycobacteria represent early endosomal compartments, we studied where mycobacterial glycolipids intersect with CD1 molecules in infected APC. CD1b and CD1c, but not CD1a, localized to late endosomes/lysosomes. CD1a and CD1c were predominantly expressed ... More
Short-term synaptic plasticity compensates for variability in number of motor neurons at a neuromuscular junction.
AuthorsDaur N, Bryan AS, Garcia VJ, Bucher D,
JournalJ Neurosci
PubMed ID23136437
'We studied how similar postsynaptic responses are maintained in the face of interindividual variability in the number of presynaptic neurons. In the stomatogastric ganglion of the lobster, Homarus americanus, the pyloric (PY) neurons exist in variable numbers across animals. We show that each individual fiber of the stomach muscles innervated ... More
Automated cell-specific laser detection and ablation of neural circuits in neonatal brain tissue.
AuthorsWang X, Hayes JA, Picardo MC, Del Negro CA,
JournalJ Physiol
PubMed ID23440965
'Abstract A key feature of neurodegenerative disease is the pathological loss of neurons that participate in generating behaviour. To investigate network properties of neural circuits and provide a complementary tool to study neurodegeneration in vitro or in situ, we developed an automated cell-specific laser detection and ablation system. The ... More
Parallel processing via a dual olfactory pathway in the honeybee.
'In their natural environment, animals face complex and highly dynamic olfactory input. Thus vertebrates as well as invertebrates require fast and reliable processing of olfactory information. Parallel processing has been shown to improve processing speed and power in other sensory systems and is characterized by extraction of different stimulus parameters ... More
Transformation of olfactory representations in the Drosophila antennal lobe.
AuthorsWilson RI, Turner GC, Laurent G
JournalScience
PubMed ID14684826
Molecular genetics has revealed a precise stereotypy in the projection of primary olfactory sensory neurons onto secondary neurons. A major challenge is to understand how this mapping translates into odor responses in these second-order neurons. We investigated this question in Drosophila using whole-cell recordings in vivo. We observe that monomolecular ... More
Eye-specific retinogeniculate segregation independent of normal neuronal activity.
The segregation of initially intermingled left and right eye inputs to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (DLGN) during development is thought to be in response to precise spatial and temporal patterns of spontaneous ganglion cell activity. To test this hypothesis, we disrupted the correlated activity of neighboring ganglion cells in ... More
Monitoring presynaptic calcium dynamics in projection fibers by in vivo loading of a novel calcium indicator.
AuthorsKreitzer AC, Gee KR, Archer EA, Regehr WG
JournalNeuron
PubMed ID10939328
Fluorometric calcium measurements have revealed presynaptic residual calcium (Ca(res)) to be an important regulator of synaptic strength. However, in the mammalian brain, it has not been possible to monitor Ca(res) in fibers that project from one brain region to another. Here, we label neuronal projections by injecting dextran-conjugated calcium indicators ... More
Development of Layer 1 Neurons in the Mouse Neocortex.
AuthorsMa J, Yao XH, Fu Y, Yu YC,
Journal
PubMed ID23680842
Layer 1 of the neocortex harbors a unique group of neurons that play crucial roles in synaptic integration and information processing. Although extensive studies have characterized the properties of layer 1 neurons in the mature neocortex, it remains unclear how these neurons progressively acquire their distinct morphological, neurochemical, and physiological ... More
Tonic NMDA receptor-mediated current in prefrontal cortical pyramidal cells and fast-spiking interneurons.
AuthorsPovysheva NV, Johnson JW,
JournalJ Neurophysiol
PubMed ID22236713
Tonically activated neuronal currents mediated by N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) have been hypothesized to contribute to normal neuronal function as well as to neuronal pathology resulting from excessive activation of glutamate receptors (e.g., excitotoxicity). Whereas cortical excitatory cells are very vulnerable to excitotoxic insult, the data regarding resistance of inhibitory cells ... More
Intraglomerular inhibition: signaling mechanisms of an olfactory microcircuit.
AuthorsMurphy GJ, Darcy DP, Isaacson JS
JournalNat Neurosci
PubMed ID15696160
Microcircuits composed of principal neuron and interneuron dendrites have an important role in shaping the representation of sensory information in the olfactory bulb. Here we establish the physiological features governing synaptic signaling in dendrodendritic microcircuits of olfactory bulb glomeruli. We show that dendritic gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) release from periglomerular neurons ... More
Redefining the concept of reactive astrocytes as cells that remain within their unique domains upon reaction to injury.
AuthorsWilhelmsson U, Bushong EA, Price DL, Smarr BL, Phung V, Terada M, Ellisman MH, Pekny M
JournalProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
PubMed ID17090684
Reactive astrocytes in neurotrauma, stroke, or neurodegeneration are thought to undergo cellular hypertrophy, based on their morphological appearance revealed by immunohistochemical detection of glial fibrillary acidic protein, vimentin, or nestin, all of them forming intermediate filaments, a part of the cytoskeleton. Here, we used a recently established dye-filling method to ... More
Uptake of a fluorescent marker in plant cells is sensitive to brefeldin A and wortmannin.
AuthorsEmans N, Zimmermann S, Fischer R
JournalPlant Cell
PubMed ID11826300
We assessed FM1-43 [N-(3-triethylammoniumpropyl)-4-(4-[dibutylamino]styryl)pyridinium dibromide] as a fluorescent endocytosis marker in intact, walled plant cells. At 4 degrees C, FM1-43 stained the plasma membrane, and after 30 to 120 min of incubation at 26 degrees C, FM1-43 labeled cytoplasmic vesicles and then the vacuole. Fluorimetric quantitation demonstrated dye uptake temperature ... More
GABAergic excitation promotes neuronal differentiation in adult hippocampal progenitor cells.
AuthorsTozuka Y, Fukuda S, Namba T, Seki T, Hisatsune T
JournalNeuron
PubMed ID16157276
Hippocampal activity influences neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus; however, little is known about the involvement of the hippocampal circuitry in this process. In the subgranular zone of the adult dentate gyrus, neurogenesis involves a series of differentiation steps from radial glia-like stem/progenitor (type-1) cells, to transiently amplifying neuronal progenitor ... More
Selective stimulation of astrocyte calcium in situ does not affect neuronal excitatory synaptic activity.
Astrocytes are considered the third component of the synapse, responding to neurotransmitter release from synaptic terminals and releasing gliotransmitters--including glutamate--in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner to affect neuronal synaptic activity. Many studies reporting astrocyte-driven neuronal activity have evoked astrocyte Ca(2+) increases by application of endogenous ligands that directly activate neuronal receptors, making ... More
Input organization of multifunctional motion-sensitive neurons in the blowfly.
AuthorsFarrow K, Haag J, Borst A
JournalJ Neurosci
PubMed ID14586008
Flies rely heavily on visual motion cues for course control. This is mediated by a small set of motion-sensitive neurons called lobula plate tangential cells. A single class of these, the centrifugal horizontal (CH) neurons, play an important role in two pathways: figure-ground discrimination and flow-field selectivity. As was recently ... More
Mutation of a conserved threonine in the third transmembrane helix of alpha- and beta-connexins creates a dominant-negative closed gap junction channel.
AuthorsBeahm DL, Oshima A, Gaietta GM, Hand GM, Smock AE, Zucker SN, Toloue MM, Chandrasekhar A, Nicholson BJ, Sosinsky GE
JournalJ Biol Chem
PubMed ID16407179
Single site mutations in connexins have provided insights about the influence specific amino acids have on gap junction synthesis, assembly, trafficking, and functionality. We have discovered a single point mutation that eliminates functionality without interfering with gap junction formation. The mutation occurs at a threonine residue located near the cytoplasmic ... More
PSD-95 regulates synaptic transmission and plasticity in rat cerebral cortex.
AuthorsBéïque JC, Andrade R
JournalJ Physiol
PubMed ID12563010
PSD-95 is one of the most abundant proteins found in the postsynaptic density of excitatory synapses. However, the precise functional role played by PSD-95 in regulating synaptic transmission and plasticity remains undefined. To address this issue, we have overexpressed PSD-95 in cortical pyramidal neurons in organotypic brain slices using particle-mediated ... More
Calcium influx into dendrites of the leech Retzius neuron evoked by 5-hydroxytryptamine.
AuthorsBeck A, Lohr C, Berthold H, Deitmer JW
JournalCell Calcium
PubMed ID12027387
5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a ubiquitous neurotransmitter and neuromodulator that affects neural circuits and behaviours in vertebrates and invertebrates. In the present study, we have investigated 5-HT-induced Ca(2+) transients in subcellular compartments of Retzius neurons in the leech central nervous system using confocal laser scanning microscopy, and studied the effect of ... More