Volume 16, Number 12,
Issue of June 15, 1996
pp. 3950-3959
Copyright ©1996 Society for Neuroscience
Modulation of a Neural Network by Physiological Levels of Oxygen
in Lobster Stomatogastric Ganglion
Received Jan. 29, 1996; revised April 1, 1996; accepted April 3, 1996.
Jean-Charles Massabuau and
Pierre Meyrand
Laboratoire de Neurobiologie et Physiologie Comparées,
Université de Bordeaux I et Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, Place du Dr Bertrand Peyneau, 33120, Arcachon, France
Although a large body of literature has been devoted to the role of
O2 in the CNS, how neural networks function
during long-term exposures to low but physiological
O2 partial pressure
(PO2) has never been
studied. We addressed this issue in crustaceans, where arterial blood
PO2 is set in the 1-3 kPa
range, a level that is similar to the most frequently measured tissue
PO2 in the vertebrate CNS.
We demonstrate that over its physiological range,
O2 can reversibly modify the activity of the
pyloric network in the lobster Homarus gammarus. This
network is composed of 12 identified neurons that spontaneously
generate a triphasic rhythmic motor output in vitro as well
as in vivo. When
PO2 decreased from 20 to 1 kPa, the pyloric cycle period increased by 30-40%, and the neuronal
pattern was modified. These effects were all dose- and state-dependent.
Specifically, we found that the single lateral pyloric (LP) neuron was
responsible for the O2-mediated changes. At low
PO2, the LP burst duration
increased without change in its intraburst firing frequency. Because LP
inhibits the pyloric pacemaker neurons, the increased LP burst duration
delayed the onset of each rhythmic pacemaker burst, thereby reducing
significantly the cycling frequency. When we deleted LP, the network
was no longer O2-sensitive.
In conclusion, we propose that (1) O2 has
specific neuromodulator-like actions in the CNS and that (2) the
physiological role of this reduction of activity and energy expenditure
could be a key adaptation for tolerating low but physiological
PO2 in sensitive neural
networks.
Key words:
respiration;
oxygen;
hypoxia;
neural network;
stomatogastric nervous system;
crustaceans