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Ganglion Neurones (ganglion + neurone)
Selected AbstractsThe action of high K+ and aglycaemia on the electrical properties and synaptic transmission in rat intracardiac ganglion neurones in vitroEXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Jhansi Dyavanapalli We have investigated the action of two elements of acute ischaemia, high potassium and aglycaemia, on the electrophysiological properties and ganglionic transmission of adult rat intracardiac ganglion (ICG) neurones. We used a whole-mount ganglion preparation of the right atrial ganglion plexus and sharp microelectrode recording techniques. Increasing extracellular K+ from its normal value of 4.7 mm to 10 mm decreased membrane potential and action potential after-hyperpolarization amplitude but otherwise had no effect on postganglionic membrane properties. It did, however, reduce the ability of synaptically evoked action potentials to follow high-frequency (100 Hz) repetitive stimulation. A further increase in K+ changed both the passive and the active membrane properties of the postganglionic neurone: time constant, membrane resistance and action potential overshoot were all decreased in high K+ (20 mm). The ICG neurones display a predominantly phasic discharge in response to prolonged depolarizing current pulses. High K+ had no impact on this behaviour but reduced the time-dependent rectification response to hyperpolarizing currents. At 20 mm, K+ practically blocked ganglionic transmission in most neurones at all frequencies tested. Aglycaemia, nominally glucose-free physiological saline solution (PSS), increased the time constant and membrane resistance of ICG neurones but otherwise had no action on their passive or active properties or ganglionic transmission. However, the combination of aglycaemia and 20 mm K+ displayed an improvement in passive properties and ganglionic transmission when compared with 20 mm K+ PSS. These data indicate that the presynaptic terminal is the primary target of high extracellular potassium and that aglycaemia may have protective actions against this challenge. [source] Phenotype and Function of Somatic Primary Afferent Nociceptive Neurones with C-, A,- or A,/,-FibresEXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 2 2002S. N. Lawson Nociceptive dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurones have fibres that conduct in the C, A, and A,/, conduction velocity range. The properties of nociceptive compared with non-nociceptive somatic afferent dorsal root ganglion neurones appear to fall into two patterns, A and B. Pattern A properties of nociceptive neurones, the more common type, include longer action potential duration and slower maximum rate of fibre firing, as well as a greater expression of substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide immunoreactivity. The values of pattern A properties appear to be graded according to the conduction velocity group (C, A, or A,/,) of the fibres. The most pronounced forms of A-type properties are expressed by nociceptive neurones with C-fibres, and these become less pronounced in nociceptive neurones with A,-fibres and least pronounced in those with A,/, fibres (C > A, > A,/,). Some of these properties are also expressed in a less extreme but similarly graded manner through C, A, and A,/, groups of non-nociceptive low threshold mechanoreceptive (LTM) neurone. The less common pattern B properties of nociceptive neurones have similar values in C-, A,- and A,/,-fibre nociceptive neurones but these clearly differ from LTM units with C-, A,- and A,/,-fibre conduction velocities. These features of nociceptive neurones include consistently larger action potential overshoots and longer after-hyperpolarisation durations in nociceptive than in LTM neurones. [source] Haem oxygenase in enteric nervous system of human stomach and jejunum and co-localization with nitric oxide synthaseNEUROGASTROENTEROLOGY & MOTILITY, Issue 2 2001S. M. Miller Recent evidence suggests that carbon monoxide (CO) may be a neurotransmitter, similar to nitric oxide (NO) in the enteric nervous system. The distribution of haem oxygenase (HO), the biosynthetic enzyme for CO, has been determined in the enteric nervous system of animals, but little is known about the distribution of HO in human gastrointestinal tract. The present study investigated the expression of HO and its colocalization with NO synthase (NOS), the biosynthetic enzyme for NO, in human antrum and jejunum. HO isoforms were identified using immunohistochemistry and NOS was identified by immunohistochemistry or NADPH-d histochemistry. HO-2 immunoreactive (IR) cell bodies in enteric ganglia and nerve fibres in longitudinal and circular muscle were found in both antrum and jejunum. Co-localization of HO-2 and NOS was about 40% in HO-2 containing cell bodies of myenteric ganglia and only 10% or less in cell bodies of submucous ganglia. HO-1 immunoreactivity was not detected in antrum or jejunum. The results suggest that CO is produced in human enteric ganglion neurones and indicate a possible role of CO as a neurotransmitter and possible interaction between HO and NOS pathways in inhibitory neurotransmission in the human gastrointestinal tract. [source] Reduced rates of axonal and dendritic growth in embryonic hippocampal neurones cultured from a mouse model of Sandhoff diseaseNEUROPATHOLOGY & APPLIED NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2003D. Pelled Sandhoff disease is a lysosomal storage disease in which ganglioside GM2 accumulates because of a defective ,-subunit of ,-hexosaminidase. This disease is characterized by neurological manifestations, although the pathogenic mechanisms leading from GM2 accumulation to neuropathology are largely unknown. We now examine the viability, development and rates of neurite growth of embryonic hippocampal neurones cultured from a mouse model of Sandhoff disease, the Hexb,/, mouse. GM2 was detected by metabolic labelling at low levels in wild type (Hexb+/+) neurones, and increased by approximately three-fold in Hexb,/, neurones. Hexb,/, hippocampal neurones were as viable as their wild type counterparts and, moreover, their developmental programme was unaltered because the formation of axons and of the minor processes which eventually become dendrites was similar in Hexb,/, and Hexb+/+ neurones. In contrast, once formed, a striking difference in the rate of axonal and minor process growth was observed, with changes becoming apparent after 3 days in culture and highly significant after 5 days in culture. Analysis of various parameters of axonal growth suggested that a key reason for the decreased rate of axonal growth was because of a decrease in the formation of collateral axonal branches, the major mechanism by which hippocampal axons elongate in culture. Thus, although the developmental programme with respect to axon and minor process formation and the viability of hippocampal neurones are unaltered, a significant decrease occurs in the rate of axonal and minor process growth in Hexb,/, neurones. These results appear to be in contrast to dorsal root ganglion neurones cultured from 1-month-old Sandhoff mice, in which cell survival is impaired but normal outgrowth of neurones occurs. The possible reasons for these differences are discussed. [source] In vivo recordings from rat geniculate ganglia: taste response properties of individual greater superficial petrosal and chorda tympani neuronesTHE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Suzanne I. Sollars Coding of gustatory information is complex and unique among sensory systems; information is received by multiple receptor populations located throughout the oral cavity and carried to a single central relay by four separate nerves. The geniculate ganglion is the location of the somata of two of these nerves, the greater superficial petrosal (GSP) and the chorda tympani (CT). The GSP innervates taste buds on the palate and the CT innervates taste buds on the anterior tongue. To obtain requisite taste response profiles of GSP neurones, we recorded neurophysiological responses to taste stimuli of individual geniculate ganglion neurones in vivo in the rat and compared them to those from the CT. GSP neurones had a distinct pattern of responding compared to CT neurones. For example, a small subset of GSP neurones had high response frequencies to sucrose stimulation, whereas no CT neurones had high response frequencies to sucrose. In contrast, NaCl elicited high response frequencies in a small subset of CT neurones and elicited moderate response frequencies in a relatively large proportion of GSP neurones. The robust whole-nerve response to sucrose in the GSP may be attributable to relatively few, narrowly tuned neurones, whereas the response to NaCl in the GSP may relate to proportionately more, widely tuned neurones. These results demonstrate the diversity in the initial stages of sensory coding for two separate gustatory nerves involved in the ingestion or rejection of taste solutions, and may have implications for central coding of gustatory quality and concentration as well as coding of information used in controlling energy, fluid and electrolyte homeostasis. [source] Electrophysiological and Neurochemical Evidence for Voltage-Dependent Ca2+ Channel Blockade by a Novel Neuroprotective Agent NS-7,BASIC AND CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY, Issue 3 2001Michiko Oka In rat dorsal root ganglion neurones, NS-7 (0.3,100 ,M) inhibited the whole-cell Ba2+ currents (IBa) in a voltage-dependent manner, in which the compound more potently blocked the IBa elicited from the holding potential of ,40 mV than that induced from ,80 mV. In slices of rat cerebral cortex, KCl-evoked nitric oxide synthesis was markedly inhibited by ,-conotoxin GVIA and ,-agatoxin IVA, but only slightly attenuated by nifedipine, suggesting that the response is mediated predominantly through activation of N-type and P/Q-type Ca2+ channels. NS-7 (1,100 ,M) inhibited the KCl-stimulated nitric oxide synthesis in a manner dependent on the intensity of the depolarizing stimuli. Moreover, weak but significant inhibitory effect of NS-7 was observed even after wash-out. Similar voltage-dependent inhibition of the KCl response was observed by a limited concentration (10 ,M) of verapamil. These findings indicate that NS-7 in several concentrations blocks Ca2+ channel in a voltage-dependent manner. [source] | |||||||||||||