title: Voltage-dependent calcium currents in dissociated granule cells from rat cerebellum.
abstract: Voltage-dependent calcium currents were investigated by the patch-clamp technique in whole-cell recording configuration in cultures from 8-day-old rat cerebella, which contained greater than or equal to 90% granule cells. In solutions designed to minimize the sodium and potassium conductances and in 20 mM barium, an inward current activated around -25 mV, reached a peak amplitude at +20 mV and reversed around +80 mV. In 20 mM calcium, this current was approximately 50% of that in barium. From one to three days in vitro only 16% of the cells tested (n = 20) had a current exceeding 50 pA in maximum amplitude, while after four days in vitro the current reached 100 pA in all neurons tested (n greater than 70). Verapamil (50-100 microM) reversibly depressed this current. The dihydropyridine agonist Bay K 8644 (1 microM) enhanced the maximum conductance by 25 +/- 8% (n = 4), caused a negative shift in the activation of 21 +/- 5 mV and a prolongation of the deactivation time course as the voltage was stepped back from +20 to -80 mV. The GABAB agonist baclofen (50 microM) reversibly depressed the current by 27 +/- 8% in 80% of the cells. The effect was similar to that of GABA (10 microM), when the GABAA response (chloride current) was partially blocked by bicucculine. This current can be classified as a dihydropyridine-sensitive high-voltage-activated calcium current. The modulation by GABAB agonists is likely to be significant for presynaptic inhibition.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Cibernetica e Biofisica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marchetti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carignani
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robello
mesh_terms: D001498:3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001418:Baclofen / Q000494:pharmacology; D001640:Bicuculline / Q000494:pharmacology; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014700:Verapamil / Q000494:pharmacology; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D001498:3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester; D014700:Verapamil; D001418:Baclofen; D001640:Bicuculline