title: GABAergic tonic inhibition of substantia gelatinosa neurons in mouse spinal cord.
abstract: We used whole-cell recording to identify, for the first time, GABAergic tonic current in subpopulations of substantia gelatinosa neurons in mouse spinal cord slices. Application of the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor antagonist bicuculline revealed tonic currents in 49 of 73 substantia gelatinosa neurons. These tonic currents were dissected into three groups according to their diverse pharmacological properties. In the first group, furosemide failed to block the tonic current while midazolam and propofol potentiated it. In the second group, furosemide blocked the tonic current but midazolam and propofol failed to enhance the current. In the third group, furosemide blocked and 3alpha, 21-dihydroxy-5alpha-pregnan-20-one enhanced the tonic current. The presence of mRNAs for alpha4, alpha5, delta and epsilon subunits in the substantia gelatinosa (reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) suggest that gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptors comprising alpha5betaxgamma2, alphaxbetaxepsilon and alpha4betaxdelta subunits are responsible for tonic currents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mashimo
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Uchida
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001640:Bicuculline / Q000494:pharmacology; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D004347:Drug Interactions; D005665:Furosemide / Q000494:pharmacology; D018756:GABA Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000379:methods; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D049994:Sodium Potassium Chloride Symporter Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology; D013376:Substantia Gelatinosa / Q000166:cytology*; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics; D018756:GABA Antagonists; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D049994:Sodium Potassium Chloride Symporter Inhibitors; D003900:Desoxycorticosterone; C009413:tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D005665:Furosemide; D001640:Bicuculline