title: Multiple spatiotemporal patterns of dendritic Ca2+ signals in goldfish retinal amacrine cells.
abstract: Although it has been reported that dendritic neurotransmitter releases from amacrine cells are regulated by the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)), their spatiotemporal patterns are not well explained. Fast Ca(2+) imagings of amacrine cells in the horizontal slice preparation of goldfish retinas under whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were undertaken to better investigate the spatiotemporal patterns of dendritic [Ca(2+)](i). We found that amacrine cell dendrites showed inhomogeneous [Ca(2+)](i) increases in both Na(+) spiking cells and cells without Na(+) spikes. The spatiotemporal properties of inhomogeneous [Ca(2+)](i) increases were classified into three patterns: local, regional and global. Local [Ca(2+)](i) increases were observed in very discrete regions and appeared as discontinuous patches, presumably evoked by local excitatory postsynaptic potentials. Regional [Ca(2+)](i) increases were observed in either a single or a small number of dendrites, presumably reflecting the result of dendritic action potentials. Global [Ca(2+)](i) increases were observed in the entire dendrites of a cell and were mediated by Na(+) action potentials or multiple Na(+) action potentials riding on slow depolarization. Ca(2+)-mediated potentials also evoked global [Ca(2+)](i) increase in cells without Na(+) spikes. These spatiotemporal dynamics of dendritic Ca(2+) signals may reflect multiple modes of synaptic integration on the dendrites of amacrine cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinanomachi, Shinjyuku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Taro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Azuma
authors.forename: Ryosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Enoki
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwamuro
authors.forename: Akimichi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Amane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koizumi
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D025042:Amacrine Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D006054:Goldfish / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors