Whole-cell and single-channel recordings of GABA-gated currents in cultured chick cerebral neurons

Abstract

1. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) (10-500 microM) was applied to cultured chick cerebral neurons by pressure ejection, and the resulting currents (IGABA) were recorded using standard whole-cell voltage-clamp techniques. Plots of the peak IGABA as a function of membrane potential were nonlinear with an outwardly rectifying appearance. 2. IGABA decayed during a prolonged application of GABA. This decay was associated with a decline in the conductance of the cell, suggesting that the decline in IGABA was principally due to receptor desensitization. 3. After 5-7 days in culture, whole-cell recordings revealed the presence of spontaneous synaptic currents. These currents were presumed to be GABA-gated inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) because they reversed at the Cl- equilibrium potential (ECl-), were blocked by picrotoxin (25 microM), and were prolonged by pentobarbital (50 microM). 4. Synaptic currents were analyzed by fitting exponential functions to their decay. In normal recording saline, 68% of the decays analyzed could be adequately described by a single exponential function. Two exponentials were necessary to describe the decay of the other 32%. The time constant of the decay (for those adequately fitted by a single exponential) increased with depolarization, from an average value of 15 ms at -80 mV to 60 ms at +40 mV. 5. A relationship was noted between IPSC amplitude and decay time constant; IPSCs with larger peak amplitudes had a slower decay. One possible explanation considered for this finding was that transmitter persists in the synaptic cleft and rebinds to the receptors, thus prolonging the decay of the IPSC. 6. Consistent with the above hypothesis was the observation that the decays of miniature IPCSs (examined under conditions of reduced transmitter release) were faster, showed less variability, and were all adequately described by a single exponential function. Furthermore, the decay times were independent of the membrane potential, suggesting that the kinetic parameters of the GABA channel which shape the decay of these miniature IPSCs are independent of voltage. 7. Single-channel activity underlying whole-cell GABA responses could be recorded in isolated outside-out and inside-out patches of membrane. In isotonic choline chloride, single-channel amplitudes were linearly related to voltage and reversed at -1.8 +/- 11.0 mV (n = 12). Under these conditions, the channel had a main conductance state of 20.8 +/- 3.4 pS (n = 12). Transitions were observed from this main conductance state to other conductance states, e.g., two subconductance states of 6 and 12 pS and one supraconductance state of 30 pS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Whole‐cell and single‐channel currents activated by GABA and glycine in granule cells of the rat cerebellum.

“…While this disparity may reflect a difference in receptor properties, it could also arise from differences in the speed of GABA application and a variable extent of GABA uptake, both of which may be affected by the local density of cells, which will differ between dissociated cultures and an intact slice. In a recent study in which these problems were obviated, Maconochie et al (1994) (Weiss, Barnes & Hablitz, 1988;Edwards et al 1990) or 26-31 pS (Bormann et al 1987;Huck & Lux, 1987;Llano, Marty, Johnson, Ascher & Giihwiler, 1988;Macdonald, Rogers & Twyman, 1989;Smith, Zorec & McBurney, 1989;Mistry & Hablitz, 1990;Newland, Colquhoun & Cull-Candy, 1991;Smart, 1992;Kilic et al 1993). Our analysis of GABAactivated single-channel currents in cerebellar granule cells revealed the presence of two conductance states: 16 and 28 pS, similar to those of 18-20 and 28-31 pS observed in cerebellar interneurones (Huck & Lux, 1987), Purkinje cells (Llano et al 1988;Smart, 1992) and granule cells (Kilic et al 1993) in culture.…”

GABA and glycine channels in isolated ganglion cells from the goldfish retina.

“…Substates of the GABA channel at similar conductance levels have also been described in several other preparations (Bormann et al 1987;Taleb et al 1987;Weiss et al 1988).…”

GABA‐induced facilitation of the periodic bursting activity of oxytocin neurones in suckled rats.

“…Furthermore, GABA release within the SON did not apparently change during the milkejection reflex, whereas it increased during a large elevation of blood pressure (Voisin et al 1994). However, considering the well-known desensitization of GABAA receptors (Weiss, Barnes & Hablitz, 1988) and the necessity for oxytocin neurones to be submitted to mild but prolonged GABAergic inhibition to express bursting activity, it is probable that GABA release during suckling was pulsatile, localized to the synaptic environment and rapidly taken up so that frequent minipulses may not have been detected by the dialysis procedure, as was suggested by the authors (Voisin et al 1994). Finally, our present results again raise the problem of the functional interconnections between the four nuclei.…”