title: Low-threshold calcium current in dendrites of the adult rat hippocampus.
abstract: The patch-clamp technique was employed in hippocampal slices to examine the characteristics of a low-threshold Ca current in adult CA1 pyramidal neurons. We found that adult CA1 pyramidal neurons possess a distinct transient low-threshold Ca current, located predominantly in the distal dendrites. Surgical cuts that separated the dendrites from the soma and left a dendritic length of 150 microns, completely abolished the low-threshold Ca current while a transient K current persisted even in cells with dendrites as short as 50 microns. The transient low-threshold Ca current in dendrites may represent a voltage-dependent Ca entry pathway which contributes to the regulation of cellular excitability, plasticity and pathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Zoology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karst
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joëls
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wadman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004594:Electrophysiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000502:physiology; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D015221:Potassium Channels