Muscarinic control of the excitability of hindlimb motoneurons in chronic spinal-transected salamanders.
The excitability of spinal motoneurons (MNs) is regulated by acetylcholine via the activation of muscarinic receptors. The objective of the present study was to determine whether this cholinergic modulation of MN excitability is altered following a chronic spinal cord transection. Juvenile salamanders (Pleurodeles waltlii) were spinally transected at the mid-trunk level, and patch-clamp recordings from hindlimb MNs in spinal cord slices were performed 9-30 days after transection, with and without bath application of muscarine (20 mum). Our results showed that the input-output relationship was larger in MNs recorded 2 weeks after spinal transection than in MNs recorded 3-4 weeks after spinal transection. They further revealed that muscarine increased both the gain of MNs and the proportion of MNs that could exhibit plateau potentials and afterdischarges, whereas it decreased the amplitude of the medium afterhypolarizing potential. Moreover, muscarine had no effect on the hyperpolarization-activated cation current (I(h)), whereas it increased the inward rectifying K(+) current (I(Kir)) in MNs recorded > or = 2 weeks after spinal transection. We conclude that following chronic spinal cord injury, the muscarinic modulation of some intrinsic properties of MNs previously reported in acute spinal-transected animals [S. Chevallier et al. (2006)The Journal of Physiology, 570, 525-540] was preserved, whereas that of other intrinsic properties of MNs was suppressed, either transiently (I(Kir)) or definitively (I(h)). These alterations in muscarinic modulation of MN excitability may contribute to the spontaneous recovery of locomotion displayed in long-term chronic spinal-transected salamanders.
Chevallier
Stéphanie
S
'Pathophysiology of Spinal Networks' Group, INSERM U862, Neurocentre Magendie, 146 rue Léo Saignat, Bordeaux F-33077, France.
Nagy
Frédéric
F
Cabelguen
Jean-Marie
JM
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism; D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000294:innervation* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D009116:Muscarine / Q000494:pharmacology; D018721:Muscarinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010243:Paralysis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D010999:Pleurodeles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology
D018721:Muscarinic Agonists; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic; D009116:Muscarine; D000109:Acetylcholine