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Volume 16, Number 21,
Issue of November 1, 1996
pp. 6676-6686
Copyright ©1996 Society for Neuroscience
Axonal Action-Potential Initiation and Na+ Channel
Densities in the Soma and Axon Initial Segment of Subicular Pyramidal
Neurons
Received June 19, 1996; revised Aug. 5, 1996; accepted Aug. 12, 1996.
Costa M. Colbert and
Daniel Johnston
Division of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston,
Texas 77030
A long-standing hypothesis is that action potentials initiate first
in the axon hillock/initial segment (AH-IS) region because of a
locally high density of Na+ channels. We tested this idea
in subicular pyramidal neurons by using patch-clamp recordings in
hippocampal slices. Simultaneous recordings from the soma and IS
confirmed that orthodromic action potentials initiated in the axon and
then invaded the soma. However, blocking Na+ channels in
the AH-IS with locally applied tetrodotoxin (TTX) did not raise the
somatic threshold membrane potential for orthodromic spikes. TTX
applied to the axon beyond the AH-IS (30-60 µm from the soma)
raised the apparent somatic threshold by ~8 mV. We estimated the
Na+ current density in the AH-IS and somatic membranes by
using cell-attached patch-clamp recordings and found similar magnitudes
(3-4 pA/µm2). Thus, the present results suggest that
orthodromic action potentials initiate in the axon beyond the AH-IS
and that the minimum threshold for spike initiation of the neuron is
not determined by a high density of Na+ channels in the
AH-IS region.
Key words:
action potential;
action-potential initiation;
Na+ channel;
patch-clamp recording;
hippocampus;
pyramidal
neuron;
single-channel recording;
dual-electrode recording
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