title: Quantal secretion recorded from visualized boutons.
abstract: A method is described for recording the electrical signs of transmission at single boutons. Monopolar rat pelvic ganglion cells are electrically compact and receive an innervation from either single hypogastric or pelvic nerves that consists of a set of boutons which innervate the soma of the cells; each bouton possesses an active zone and can be observed with the confocal microscope after dextran-rhodamine orthograde labelling of the hypogastric nerves. Extracellular electrodes of about 8 microns diameter can be positioned in the loose-patch configuration over visualized boutons following their fluorescence with the vital dye, 3,3-diethyloxardicarbocyanine iodide (DiOC2(5)). Excitatory post-synaptic currents (EPSCs), due to stimulation of the hypogastric nerve, can be recorded from boutons in this way, provided that [Ca2+]o is lowered sufficiently to ensure failure of the initiation of the soma action potential by the EPSCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology F13, University of Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Lavidis
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bennett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004594:Electrophysiology; D008297:Male; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology*; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar