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The Journal of Neuroscience, September 1, 2002, 22(17):7373-7379

Selective Electrical Silencing of Mammalian Neurons In Vitro by the Use of Invertebrate Ligand-Gated Chloride Channels

Eric M. Slimko¹, Sheri McKinney², David J. Anderson², Norman Davidson², and Henry A. Lester²

¹ Computation and Neural Systems Program and ² Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125

Selectively reducing the excitability of specific neurons will (1) allow for the creation of animal models of human neurological disorders and (2) provide insight into the global function of specific sets of neurons. We focus on a combined genetic and pharmacological approach to silence neurons electrically. We express invertebrate ivermectin (IVM)-sensitive chloride channels (Caenorhabditis elegans GluCl  and ) with a Sindbis virus and then activate these channels with IVM to produce inhibition via a Cl conductance. We constructed a three-cistron Sindbis virus that expresses the  and  subunits of a glutamate-gated chloride channel (GluCl) along with the green fluorescent protein (EGFP) marker. Expression of the C. elegans channel does not affect the normal spike activity or GABA/glutamate postsynaptic currents of cultured embryonic day 18 hippocampal neurons. At concentrations as low as 5 nM, IVM activates a Cl current large enough to silence infected neurons effectively. This conductance reverses in 8 hr. These low concentrations of IVM do not potentiate GABA responses. Comparable results are observed with plasmid transfection of yellow fluorescent protein-tagged (EYFP) GluCl  and cyan fluorescent protein-tagged (ECFP) GluCl . The present study provides an in vitro model mimicking conditions that can be obtained in transgenic mice and in viral-mediated gene therapy. These experiments demonstrate the feasibility of using invertebrate ligand-activated Cl channels as an approach to modulate excitability.

Key words: silencing; excitability; hippocampal neurons; chloride channel; Sindbis virus; transfection of neurons; EGFP; EYFP; ECFP

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Copyright © 2002 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/02/22177373-07$05.00/0

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