title: Tonic inhibition of neuronal calcium channels by G proteins removed during whole-cell patch-clamp experiments.
abstract: The barium current through voltage-dependent calcium channels was recorded from cultured rat cortical neurons with the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. The maximal current evoked by depolarising pulses from -80 mV to 0 mV was divided into inactivating and non-inactivating fractions. During the first minutes of whole-cell recording, the amplitude of the inactivating fraction increased from less than 0.1 nA to an average value of 1 nA, whereas the amplitude of the non-inactivating component remained essentially the same. This increase in amplitude was prevented when the "perforated-patch technique" was used, suggesting that some intracellular factor that inhibited the barium current was lost or destroyed during conventional whole-cell experiments. When GTP[gamma-S] or GTP was added to the pipette solution, no increase or only a weak rise of the inactivating current was seen, whereas GDP[beta-S] accelerated its increase. The results suggest that some of the calcium channels expressed in cultured cortical neurons are inhibited by a G protein even in the absence of added neurotransmitter. The current increase observed during whole-cell recordings may be due to a loss of intracellular GTP and the subsequent inactivation of an inhibitory G protein.
authors.affiliation: Pharma Division, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Netzer
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pflimlin
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trube
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001464:Barium / Q000378:metabolism; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004594:Electrophysiology; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D016244:Guanosine 5'-O-(3-Thiotriphosphate) / Q000494:pharmacology; D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D013873:Thionucleotides / Q000494:pharmacology; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D015220:Calcium Channels; D013873:Thionucleotides; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella; D006153:Guanosine Diphosphate; D001464:Barium; D016244:Guanosine 5'-O-(3-Thiotriphosphate); C023427:guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate); D006160:Guanosine Triphosphate; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins