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The Journal of Neuroscience, September 1, 1998, 18(17):6650-6661
Inwardly Rectifying Potassium (IRK) Currents Are Correlated
with IRK Subunit Expression in Rat Nucleus Accumbens Medium Spiny
Neurons
Paul G.
Mermelstein,
Wen-Jie
Song,
Tatiana
Tkatch,
Zhen
Yan, and
D. James
Surmeier
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, College of Medicine,
University of Tennessee, Memphis Tennessee 38163
Inwardly rectifying K+ (IRK) channels are
critical for shaping cell excitability. Whole-cell patch-clamp and
single-cell RT-PCR techniques were used to characterize the inwardly
rectifying K+ currents found in projection neurons
of the rat nucleus accumbens. Inwardly rectifying currents were highly
selective for K+ and blocked by low millimolar
concentrations of Cs+ or Ba2+. In
a subset of neurons, the inwardly rectifying current appeared to
inactivate at hyperpolarized membrane potentials. In an attempt to
identify this subset, neurons were profiled using single-cell RT-PCR.
Neurons expressing substance P mRNA exhibited noninactivating inward
rectifier currents, whereas neurons expressing enkephalin mRNA
exhibited inactivating inward rectifier currents. The inactivation of
the inward rectifier was correlated with the expression of IRK1
mRNA. These results demonstrate a clear physiological difference in the
properties of medium spiny neurons and suggest that this difference
could influence active state transitions driven by cortical and
hippocampal excitatory input.
Key words:
ventral striatum; medium spiny neurons; single-cell
RT-PCR; voltage clamp; potassium channels; inward rectifier; enkephalin; substance P
Copyright © 1998 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/98/18176650-12$05.00/0
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