Transistor probes local potassium conductances in the adhesion region of cultured rat hippocampal neurons.
Adhesion interactions of neurons in a tissue may affect the ion conductance of the plasma membrane, inducing selective localization and modulation of channels. We studied the adhesion region of cultured neurons from rat hippocampus as a defined model where such effects could be observed electrophysiologically, taking advantage of extracellular recording by a transistor integrated in the substrate. We observed the K(+) current through the region of soma adhesion under voltage-clamp and compared it with the current through the whole cell. We found that the specific A-type conductance was depleted, even completely, in the region of adhesion, whereas the specific K-type conductance was enhanced up to a factor of 12. The electrophysiological approach opens a new way to investigate targeting of ion channels in the cell membrane as a function of adhesion processes.
Vassanelli
S
S
Department of Membrane and Neurophysics, Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry, D-82152 Martinsried/München, Germany.
Fromherz
P
P
D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014173:Transistors, Electronic
D015221:Potassium Channels