Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 2, 1052-1061, Copyright © 1982 by Society for Neuroscience
Electrical development in spinal cord cell culture
MB Jackson, H Lecar, DE Brenneman, S Fitzgerald and PG Nelson
Parallel electrophysiological and neurochemical studies of development are
reported for mouse spinal cord cell cultures. The time course of electrical
activity and the stage-dependent effects of tetrodotoxin on levels of the
neuronal enzyme choline acetyltransferase were compared to establish the
presence of spontaneous electrical activity at a time when tetrodotoxin
adversely affects development. The extracellular patch electrode makes it
possible to examine the ongoing electrical activity of the small cells
present in young cultures. A rapid increase in spontaneous electrical
activity during the first 2 weeks in culture was found to correlate closely
with the onset of tetrodotoxin-induced depression of choline
acetyltransferase activity, supporting the idea that ongoing electrical
activity plays a role in neuronal development. The development of
inhibitory synaptic activity occurs gradually throughout the period of
culture, whereas excitatory synaptic activity and action potentials develop
in unison, reaching maximal levels during the 2nd week in culture. For all
cultures tested, ranging in age from 9 to 45 days old, acute bath
application of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) abolished spontaneous
electrical activity. Glycine is relatively ineffective in abolishing
spontaneous activity in young cultures which have few inhibitory
postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs), but glycine becomes as effective as GABA
at a later stage of development. This suggests rather different timetables
of development for GABA and glycine receptors, with glycine receptors
developing in parallel with IPSPs.
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