title: Zinc modulation of a transient potassium current and histochemical localization of the metal in neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
abstract: The effect of Zn2+ on a voltage-dependent, transient potassium current (IA) in acutely dissociated neurons from the suprachiasmatic nucleus was studied with the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. At micromolar concentrations, Zn2+ markedly potentiated IA activated from a holding potential of -60 mV, which is the resting potential of these neurons. This potentiation occurred at a Zn2+ concentration as low as 2 microM and increased with higher Zn2+ concentrations. The Zn2+ action appears to arise from a shift in the steady-state inactivation of IA to more positive voltages. At 30 microM, Zn2+ shifted the half-inactivation voltage by +20 mV (from -80 mV to -60 mV), and 200 microM Zn2+ shifted this voltage by +45 mV (from -80 mV to -35 mV). Histochemically, we have also observed Zn2+ staining throughout the suprachiasmatic nucleus; the staining is particularly intense in the ventrolateral region of the nucleus, which receives the major fiber inputs. Our findings suggest that Zn2+, presumably synaptically released, may modulate the electrical activity of suprachiasmatic nucleus neurons through IA. Because vesicular Zn2+ is fairly widespread in the central nervous system, it is conceivable that this kind of Zn2+ modulation on IA, and possibly on other voltage-activated currents, exists elsewhere in the brain.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Y W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Yau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013493:Suprachiasmatic Nucleus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D015221:Potassium Channels; D015032:Zinc