Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 8, 1273-1285, Copyright © 1988 by Society for Neuroscience
Three serotonin responses in cultured mouse hippocampal and striatal neurons
JL Yakel, LO Trussell and MB Jackson
Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles 90024.
Serotonin (5-HT) produced 3 different types of responses in neurons of
mouse hippocampal and striatal cell cultures. These 3 responses have been
characterized in terms of their pharmacological specificity, physiological
mechanism, and dependence on cytoplasmic components. The most frequently
observed response was inhibitory and was the result of a receptor-mediated
activation of an inwardly rectifying potassium conductance. Typically, the
response peaked within 1-3 sec of agonist application and did not exhibit
desensitization. 5-Methoxy-N,N- dimethyltryptamine also produced this
response in both striatal and hippocampal cultures and had no effect on the
other 5-HT currents observed in this study. The selective 5-HT
agonists--8-hydroxy-2-(di-n- propylamino)-tetralin, 1-(m-chlorophenyl)
piperazine, and 1-(2- methoxyphenyl) piperazine--did not activate this
outward current response. Methysergide did not block the 5-HT-activated
outward current and often acted as an agonist. The response was lost in
low-series- resistance recordings which facilitate solution exchange
between the patch electrode and the cell. The loss of this response was
prevented by using high-resistance patch electrodes, which retard this
exchange. The 2 other responses described in this study were excitatory.
They were seen less often than the inhibitory response. One of the
excitatory responses was fast, with a time to peak of approximately 200
msec and a duration of 2-4 sec. The other was slow, with a time to peak of
7-10 sec and a duration of approximately 30-40 sec. Both of these responses
were accompanied by a conductance increase. The fast excitatory response
reversed at depolarized potentials and desensitized with a rate that varied
with voltage. Metoclopramide and d-tubocurarine completely and reversibly
blocked this fast excitatory response, while methysergide had no effect.
The fast excitatory response was not lost during intracellular dialysis of
cells in cultures from either striatum or hippocampus. In cultures from
both brain regions, the slow excitatory response was blocked by
methysergide. The slow excitatory response was lost even in patch-clamp
recordings with high-resistance electrodes. This response was similar to
responses to dopamine, norepinephrine, and forskolin, all of which are
known to activate adenylate cyclase in the CNS.