title: Effects of resibufogenin on voltage-gated sodium channels in cultured rat hippocampal neurons.
abstract: Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) play important roles in maintaining the excitability of hippocampal neurons. The present study investigated the effects of resibufogenin (RBG, a main component of bufadienolides) on voltage-gated sodium channel currents (I(Na)) in rat hippocampal neurons using whole-cell patch clamp recording. According to the results, RBG activated I(Na) in a concentration-dependent manner. RBG at 1 μM concentration could alter some channel kinetics of I(Na), such as activation thresholds, steady-state activation and inactivation curves, time constant of recovery, and activity-dependent attenuation of I(Na). RBG influenced peak amplitude, overshoot and half-width of the evoked single action potential, and simultaneously lessened the firing rate of evoked repetitive firing. These findings suggested that I(Na) is probably a target of RBG, which may explain the mechanisms for the pathological effects of RBG on central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Dalian University of Technology, No. 2 Linggong Road, Dalian, Liaoning 116024, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Yong-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Rong-Guo
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: He-Shuang
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Li-Jia
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D002018:Bufanolides / Q000633:toxicity*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics / Q000187:drug effects; D062687:Sodium Channel Agonists; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002018:Bufanolides; D062687:Sodium Channel Agonists; D015222:Sodium Channels; C005734:bufogenin