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The Journal of Neuroscience, July 1, 2000, 20(13):4930-4943
Intracellular Ca2+ Dynamics During Spontaneous and
Evoked Activity of Leech Heart Interneurons: Low-Threshold Ca Currents
and Graded Synaptic Transmission
Andrei I.
Ivanov and
Ronald L.
Calabrese
Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322
In oscillatory neuronal networks that pace rhythmic behavior,
Ca2+ entry through voltage-gated Ca channels often
supports bursting activity and mediates graded transmitter release. We
monitored simultaneously membrane potential and/or ionic currents and
changes of Ca fluorescence (using the fluorescence indicator Ca Orange) in spontaneously active and experimentally manipulated oscillator heart
interneurons in the leech. We show that changes in Ca fluorescence in
these interneurons during spontaneous bursting and evoked activity reflect the slow wave of that activity and that these changes in Ca
fluorescence are mediated by Ca2+ entry primarily
through low-threshold Ca channels. Spatial and temporal maps of changes
in Ca fluorescence indicate that these channels are widely distributed
over the neuritic tree of these neurons. We establish a correlation
between the amount of transmitter released, as estimated by the
integral of the postsynaptic current, and the change in Ca
fluorescence. In experiments in which we were able to record
presynaptic low-threshold Ca currents, associated IPSCs, and
presynaptic changes in Ca fluorescence from fine neuritic branches of
heart interneurons near their region of synaptic contact with their
contralateral partner, there was a close association between the rise
in Ca fluorescence and the rise of the postsynaptic conductance. The
changes in Ca fluorescence that we record at the end of fine neuritic
branches appear to reflect changes in [Ca2+]i that mediate graded synaptic
release in leech heart interneurons. These results indicate that widely
distributed low-threshold Ca currents play an important role in
generating rhythmic activity and in mediating graded transmitter release.
Key words:
leech heart interneurons; Ca currents, Ca Orange; intracellular Ca2+; graded synaptic transmission; spatial and temporal pattern of changes in intracellular
Ca2+
Copyright © 2000 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/00/20134930-14$05.00/0
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