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The Journal of Neuroscience, June 7, 2006, 26(23):6238-6248; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0862-06.2006

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Cellular/Molecular
Distinct Frequency-Dependent Regulation of Nerve Terminal Excitability and Synaptic Transmission by I_A and I_K Potassium Channels Revealed by Drosophila Shaker and Shab Mutations

Atsushi Ueda and Chun-Fang Wu

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Chun-Fang Wu, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242. Email: hun-fang-wu{at}uiowa.edu

Regulation of synaptic efficacy by nerve terminal excitability has not been extensively studied. We performed genetic and pharmacological dissections for presynaptic actions of K⁺ channels in Drosophila neuromuscular transmission by using electrophysiological and optical imaging techniques. Current understanding of the roles of the Shab I_K channel and its mammalian Kv2 counterparts is relatively poor, as compared with that for Shaker I_A channels and their Kv1 homologues. Our results revealed the striking effect of Shab mutations during high-frequency synaptic activity, as well as a functional division in synaptic regulation between the Shaker and Shab channels. Shaker channels control the basal level of release, indicated by a response to single nerve stimulation, whereas Shab channels regulate repetitive synaptic activities. These observations highlight the crucial control of nerve terminal excitability by Shaker and Shab channels to confer temporal patterns of synaptic transmission and suggest the potential participation of these channels, along with the transmitter release machinery, in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity.

Key words: cumulative inactivation; terminal action potential backfiring; presynaptic Ca²⁺ dynamics; frequency-dependent enhancement; basal transmitter release; motor pattern generation

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Received Feb. 25, 2006; revised April 29, 2006; accepted May 1, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Chun-Fang Wu, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242. Email: hun-fang-wu{at}uiowa.edu

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W. Liu, R. Gnanasambandam, J. Benjamin, G. Kaur, P. B. Getman, A. J. Siegel, R. D. Shortridge, and S. Singh Mutations in Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit VIa Cause Neurodegeneration and Motor Dysfunction in Drosophila Genetics, June 1, 2007; 176(2): 937 - 946. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				I-F. Peng and C.-F. Wu Differential Contributions of Shaker and Shab K+ Currents to Neuronal Firing Patterns in Drosophila J Neurophysiol, January 1, 2007; 97(1): 780 - 794. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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