title: Effects of muscle electrical activity on the transmission of developing neuromuscular junction.
abstract: Miniature endplate potentials (MEPPS) caused by the spontaneous release of ACh from the growth cone of cholinergic neurons, are recorded by the whole-cell patch-clamp technique on a large number of 1-day cultured myoballs which have contact neurites of co-cultured neurons. Both muscle cell and neuron are dissociated from the 1-day-old (about stage 20) Xenopus embryo. Frequency and/or amplitude of MEPPs can obviously increase after the repetitive high-level depolarization caused by the stimuli on muscle cells. No detectable changes of single ACh receptor channel property are observed by using the single-channel recording technique. These results suggest that the mechanism of the increase of MEPPs after electrical activity of postsynaptic muscle cells probably involve some alteration of presynaptic membrane.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, PRC.
authors.forename: Y G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Z P
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Z Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism; D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D009045:Motor Endplate / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000378:metabolism; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D000109:Acetylcholine