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The Journal of Neuroscience, August 15, 1998, 18(16):6501-6511

Expression of Different Types of Inward Rectifier Currents Confers Specificity of Light and Dark Responses in Type A and B Photoreceptors of Hermissenda

Ebenezer N. Yamoah^{1, 2}, Louis Matzel³, and Terry Crow²

¹ Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267, and Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, ² Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030, and ³ Rutgers University, Department of Psychology, Busch Campus, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903

Each eye of the mollusc Hermissenda consists of five photoreceptors, two type A and three type B cells. Type A cells are quiescent, whereas B cells are spontaneously active in the dark. Differences in the intrinsic membrane properties of type A and B photoreceptors were studied using voltage- and current-clamp techniques. The current density of a Ni²⁺-sensitive, low-voltage activated Ca²⁺ current was similar in the two cell types. However, type B cells express an inward rectifier current (I_h) that has different permeation and pharmacological properties from the inward rectifier current in type A cells. The current in the B cells was time-dependent and was blocked by Cs⁺. Na⁺ and K⁺ were the charge carriers for I_h. The inward rectifier current in A cells (I_K1) was time-independent, was selectively permeable to K⁺, and was blocked by Ba²⁺. Ni²⁺ reduced the spontaneous spike activities of type A and B cells, whereas Cs⁺ produced membrane hyperpolarization and reduced the spike activities of dark-adapted B cells. The application of both Cs⁺ and Ni²⁺ completely blocked dark-adapted spontaneous activities of B cells. Moreover, Ba²⁺ increased the excitability of type A cells but not B cells. Hence, differential expression of the two distinct inward rectifiers found in type A and B cells contributes to differences in their intrinsic membrane properties. Because changes in the excitability of the two cell types are correlates of conditioning in Hermissenda, modulation of these underlying currents may play a major role during conditioning-induced plasticity.

Key words: Hermissenda; photoreceptors; calcium currents; inward rectifiers; membrane oscillation; neuronal plasticity

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Copyright © 1998 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/98/18166501-11$05.00/0

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