title: The firing properties of vestibular ganglion cells in heterozygous BDNF null mice.
abstract: We examined the firing properties of vestibular ganglion cells (VGCs) acutely isolated from wild or heterozygous brain-derived neurotrophic factor null mice, using the patch-clamp technique. VGCs obtained from wild-type mice showed diverse firing properties during sustained membrane depolarization; approximately half of the neurons exhibited strong adaptation, generating just a single spike or a few spikes (phasic type), whereas approximately one-fourth of the neurons showed moderate adaptation or tonic firing (tonic type). In heterozygous mice, the majority of VGCs belonged to the tonic type, the rate of which was significantly different from that of wild-type. These results suggest that brain-derived neurotrophic factor not only contributes to the survival of the VGCs but also affects their firing properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. y-chihara@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chihara
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamasoba
authors.forename: Shun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sahara
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology; D048429:Cell Size; D025802:Electric Capacitance; D017950:Ganglia, Sensory / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D013997:Time Factors; D014725:Vestibular Nerve / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor