title: Purinergic synapses formed between rat sensory neurons in primary culture.
abstract: Though there is some evidence to the contrary, dogma claims that primary sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglion do not interact, that the ganglion serves as a through-station in which no signal processing occurs. Here we use patch clamp and immunocytochemistry to show that sensory neurons in primary culture can form chemical synapses on each other. The resulting neurotransmitter release is calcium dependent and uses synaptotagmin-containing vesicles. On many cells studied, the postsynaptic receptor for the neurotransmitter is a P2X receptor, an ion channel activated by extracellular ATP. This shows that sensory neurons have the machinery to form purinergic synapses on each other and that they do so when placed in short-term tissue culture.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Studies, The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA. mzarei@utb.edu
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Zarei
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Toro
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: McCleskey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2 / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2