title: Development of skeletal muscle sodium and potassium currents in zebrafish sofa potato mutants.
abstract: In some cells, the development of voltage-gated channels requires synaptic input, while in others it does not. Here we investigate whether the sodium and potassium currents in the skeletal muscle of zebrafish sofa potato (sop(-/-)) mutants develop normally. Zebrafish sop(-/-) mutants do not express nicotinic acetylcholine receptors at neuromuscular junctions, and therefore do not exhibit synaptic activity in muscle. We find that in both red and white muscle fibers, sop(-/-) mutants are able to support normal potassium current development during early stages of development [1-3 days post fertilization (dpf)], but at 6 dpf the potassium current density is significantly smaller than that in their phenotypically wild-type siblings (sop(+/?)). In contrast, sodium current density is unaffected. The steady-state properties of potassium currents are unaltered in the sop(-/-) mutants, but there is a significant difference in the V(50) of inactivation of sodium currents. This is the first study in zebrafish to investigate activity-dependent mechanisms of ion channel development and our results indicate that some aspects of ion current development in skeletal muscle require synaptic activity, whereas others do not.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Coutts
authors.forename: Marcus E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: Declan W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Ali
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D009154:Mutation; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015221:Potassium Channels; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D015222:Sodium Channels; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins