scholarly journals Primary and secondary motoneurons use different calcium channel types to control escape and swimming behaviors in zebrafish

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Wen ◽  
Kazumi Eckenstein ◽  
Vivien Weihrauch ◽  
Christian Stigloher ◽  
Paul Brehm

AbstractThe escape response and rhythmic swimming in zebrafish are distinct behaviors mediated by two functionally distinct motoneuron (Mn) types. The primary (1°Mn) type depresses, has a large quantal content (Qc), and a high release probability (Pr). Conversely, the secondary (2°Mn) type facilitates and has low and variable Qc and Pr. This functional duality matches well the distinct associated behaviors, with the 1°Mn providing the strong, singular C-bend initiating escape and the 2°Mn confers weaker, rhythmic contractions. Contributing to these functional distinctions is our identification of P/Q type calcium channels mediating transmitter release in 1°Mns and N type channels in 2°Mns. Remarkably, despite these functional and behavioral distinctions, all ~15 individual synapses on each muscle cell are shared by a 1°Mn bouton and at least one 2°Mn bouton. This novel blueprint of synaptic sharing provides an efficient way of controlling two different behaviors at the level of a single postsynaptic cell.

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (42) ◽  
pp. 26429-26437
Author(s):  
Hua Wen ◽  
Kazumi Eckenstein ◽  
Vivien Weihrauch ◽  
Christian Stigloher ◽  
Paul Brehm

The escape response and rhythmic swimming in zebrafish are distinct behaviors mediated by two functionally distinct motoneuron (Mn) types. The primary (1°Mn) type depresses and has a large quantal content (Qc) and a high release probability (Pr). Conversely, the secondary (2°Mn) type facilitates and has low and variable Qc and Pr. This functional duality matches well the distinct associated behaviors, with the 1°Mn providing the strong, singular C bend initiating escape and the 2°Mn conferring weaker, rhythmic contractions. Contributing to these functional distinctions is our identification of P/Q-type calcium channels mediating transmitter release in 1°Mns and N-type channels in 2°Mns. Remarkably, despite these functional and behavioral distinctions, all ∼15 individual synapses on each muscle cell are shared by a 1°Mn bouton and at least one 2°Mn bouton. This blueprint of synaptic sharing provides an efficient way of controlling two different behaviors at the level of a single postsynaptic cell.


2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (7) ◽  
pp. 2480-2489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fujun Luo ◽  
Markus Dittrich ◽  
Soyoun Cho ◽  
Joel R. Stiles ◽  
Stephen D. Meriney

The quantitative relationship between presynaptic calcium influx and transmitter release critically depends on the spatial coupling of presynaptic calcium channels to synaptic vesicles. When there is a close association between calcium channels and synaptic vesicles, the flux through a single open calcium channel may be sufficient to trigger transmitter release. With increasing spatial distance, however, a larger number of open calcium channels might be required to contribute sufficient calcium ions to trigger vesicle fusion. Here we used a combination of pharmacological calcium channel block, high-resolution calcium imaging, postsynaptic recording, and 3D Monte Carlo reaction-diffusion simulations in the adult frog neuromuscular junction, to show that release of individual synaptic vesicles is predominately triggered by calcium ions entering the nerve terminal through the nearest open calcium channel. Furthermore, calcium ion flux through this channel has a low probability of triggering synaptic vesicle fusion (∼6%), even when multiple channels open in a single active zone. These mechanisms work to control the rare triggering of vesicle fusion in the frog neuromuscular junction from each of the tens of thousands of individual release sites at this large model synapse.


Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A Piggott ◽  
Zilu Wu ◽  
Stephen Nurrish ◽  
Suhong Xu ◽  
Joshua M Kaplan ◽  
...  

Abstract The junctophilin family of proteins tether together plasma membrane (PM) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes, and couple PM- and ER-localized calcium channels. Understanding in vivo functions of junctophilins is of great interest for dissecting the physiological roles of ER-PM contact sites. Here, we show that the sole C. elegans junctophilin JPH-1 localizes to discrete membrane contact sites in neurons and muscles and has important tissue-specific functions. jph-1 null mutants display slow growth and development due to weaker contraction of pharyngeal muscles, leading to reduced feeding. In the body wall muscle, JPH-1 co-localizes with the PM-localized EGL-19 voltage-gated calcium channel and ER-localized UNC-68/RyR calcium channel, and is required for animal movement. In neurons, JPH-1 co-localizes with the membrane contact site protein Extended-SYnaptoTagmin 2 (ESYT-2) in soma, and is present near presynaptic release sites. Interestingly, jph-1 and esyt-2 null mutants display mutual suppression in their response to aldicarb, suggesting that JPH-1 and ESYT-2 have antagonistic roles in neuromuscular synaptic transmission. Additionally, we find an unexpected cell non-autonomous effect of jph-1 in axon regrowth after injury. Genetic double mutant analysis suggests that jph-1 functions in overlapping pathways with two PM-localized voltage-gated calcium channels, egl-19 and unc-2, and unc-68/RyR for animal health and development. Finally, we show that jph-1 regulates the colocalization of EGL-19 and UNC-68 and that unc-68/RyR is required for JPH-1 localization to ER-PM puncta. Our data demonstrate important roles for junctophilin in cellular physiology, and also provide insights into how junctophilin functions together with other calcium channels in vivo.


2019 ◽  
Vol 216 (5) ◽  
pp. 250-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J. Harrison ◽  
Elizabeth M. Tunbridge ◽  
Annette C. Dolphin ◽  
Jeremy Hall

SummaryWe reappraise the psychiatric potential of calcium channel blockers (CCBs). First, voltage-gated calcium channels are risk genes for several disorders. Second, use of CCBs is associated with altered psychiatric risks and outcomes. Third, research shows there is an opportunity for brain-selective CCBs, which are better suited to psychiatric indications.


Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 149 (3) ◽  
pp. 1407-1426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee A Smith ◽  
Alexandre A Peixoto ◽  
Elena M Kramer ◽  
Adriana Villella ◽  
Jeffrey C Hall

Abstract We show by molecular analysis of behavioral and physiological mutants that the Drosophila Dmca1A calcium-channel α1 subunit is encoded by the cacophony (cac) gene and that nightblind-A and lethal(1)L13 mutations are allelic to cac with respect to an expanded array of behavioral and physiological phenotypes associated with this gene. The cacS mutant, which exhibits defects in the patterning of courtship lovesong and a newly revealed but subtle abnormality in visual physiology, is mutated such that a highly conserved phenylalanine (in one of the quasi-homologous intrapolypeptide regions called IIIS6) is replaced by isoleucine. The cacH18 mutant exhibits defects in visual physiology (including complete unresponsiveness to light in certain genetic combinations) and visually mediated behaviors; this mutant (originally nbAH18) has a stop codon in an alternative exon (within the cac ORF), which is differentially expressed in the eye. Analysis ofthe various courtship and visual phenotypes associated with this array ofcac mutants demonstrates that Dmca1A calcium channels mediate multiple, separable biological functions; these correlate in part with transcript diversity generated via alternative splicing.


2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 631-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce R. Johnson ◽  
Peter Kloppenburg ◽  
Ronald M. Harris-Warrick

We examined the dopamine (DA) modulation of calcium currents (ICa) that could contribute to the plasticity of the pyloric network in the lobster stomatogastric ganglion. Pyloric somata were voltage-clamped under conditions designed to block voltage-gated Na+, K+, and H currents. Depolarizing steps from –60 mV generated voltage-dependent, inward currents that appeared to originate in electrotonically distal, imperfectly clamped regions of the cell. These currents were blocked by Cd2+ and enhanced by Ba2+ but unaffected by Ni2+. Dopamine enhanced the peak ICa in the pyloric constrictor (PY), lateral pyloric (LP), and inferior cardiac (IC) neurons and reduced peak ICa in the ventricular dilator (VD), pyloric dilator (PD), and anterior burster (AB) neurons. All of these effects, except for the AB, are consistent with DA's excitation or inhibition of firing in the pyloric neurons. Enhancement of ICa in PY and LP neurons and reduction of ICa in VD and PD neurons are also consistent with DA-induced synaptic strength changes via modulation of presynaptic ICa. However, the reduction of ICa in AB suggests that DA's enhancement of AB transmitter release is not directly mediated through presynaptic ICa. ICa in PY and PD neurons was more sensitive to nifedipine block than in AB neurons. In addition, nifedipine blocked DA's effects on ICa in the PY and PD neurons but not in the AB neuron. Thus the contribution of specific calcium channel subtypes carrying the total ICa may vary between pyloric neuron classes, and DA may act on different calcium channel subtypes in the different pyloric neurons.


1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (5) ◽  
pp. R925-R930
Author(s):  
M. Haass ◽  
C. Forster ◽  
G. Richardt ◽  
R. Kranzhofer ◽  
A. Schomig

The role of calcium for the release of norepinephrine (NE, determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography) and neuropeptide Y (NPY, determined by radioimmunoassay) was investigated in guinea pig perfused hearts with intact sympathetic innervation. In the presence of extracellular calcium (1.85 mM), electrical stimulation of the left stellate ganglion (12 Hz, 1 min) induced a closely related release of NE and NPY with the molar ratio of approximately 400-600 (NE) to 1 (NPY). The stimulation-evoked overflow of both transmitters was dependent from the extracellular calcium concentration and was almost completely suppressed by calcium-free perfusion. The corelease of both transmitters was not affected by the L-type calcium channel blocker felodipine (1-10 microM). However, the overflow of NE and NPY was markedly attenuated by the unselective calcium antagonist flunarizine (1-10 microM) and completely prevented by the neuronal (N-type) calcium channel blockers omega-conotoxin (1-100 nM) and cadmium chloride (10-100 microM), indicating a key role for N-type calcium channels in the exocytotic release of transmitters from cardiac sympathetic nerve fibers. Possibly due to unspecific actions, such as interference with sodium channels or uptake1-blocking properties, the phenylalkylamines verapamil (0.01-10 microM) and gallopamil (1-10 microM) reduced NPY overflow with only a minor effect on NE overflow. The stimulation-induced transmitter release was increased up to twofold by activation of protein kinase C (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, 3 nM-3 microM) and completely suppressed by inhibition of protein kinase C (polymyxin B, 100 microM).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1986 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 933-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Coronado ◽  
H Affolter

Functional calcium channels present in purified skeletal muscle transverse tubules were inserted into planar phospholipid bilayers composed of the neutral lipid phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), the negatively charged lipid phosphatidylserine (PS), and mixtures of both. The lengthening of the mean open time and stabilization of single channel fluctuations under constant holding potentials was accomplished by the use of the agonist Bay K8644. It was found that the barium current carried through the channel saturates as a function of the BaCl2 concentration at a maximum current of 0.6 pA (at a holding potential of 0 mV) and a half-saturation value of 40 mM. Under saturation, the slope conductance of the channel is 20 pS at voltages more negative than -50 mV and 13 pS at a holding potential of 0 mV. At barium concentrations above and below the half-saturation point, the open channel currents were independent of the bilayer mole fraction of PS from XPS = 0 (pure PE) to XPS = 1.0 (pure PS). It is shown that in the absence of barium, the calcium channel transports sodium or potassium ions (P Na/PK = 1.4) at saturating rates higher than those for barium alone. The sodium conductance in pure PE bilayers saturates as a function of NaCl concentration, following a curve that can be described as a rectangular hyperbola with a half-saturation value of 200 mM and a maximum conductance of 68 pS (slope conductance at a holding potential of 0 mV). In pure PS bilayers, the sodium conductance is about twice that measured in PE at concentrations below 100 mM NaCl. The maximum channel conductance at high ionic strength is unaffected by the lipid charge. This effect at low ionic strength was analyzed according to J. Bell and C. Miller (1984. Biophysical Journal. 45:279-287) and interpreted as if the conduction pathway of the calcium channel were separated from the bilayer lipid by approximately 20 A. This distance thereby effectively insulates the ion entry to the channel from the bulk of the bilayer lipid surface charge. Current vs. voltage curves measured in NaCl in pure PE and pure PS show that similarly small surface charge effects are present in both inward and outward currents. This suggests that the same conduction insulation is present at both ends of the calcium channel.


1996 ◽  
Vol 270 (2) ◽  
pp. G287-G290 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. W. Mangel ◽  
L. Scott ◽  
R. A. Liddle

To examine the role of calcium channels in depolarization-activated cholecystokinin (CCK) release, studies were performed in an intestinal CCK-secreting cell line, STC-1. Blockade of potassium channels with barium chloride (5 mM) increased the release of CCK by 374.6 +/- 46.6% of control levels. Barium-induced secretion was inhibited by the L-type calcium-channel blocker, nicardipine. Nicardipine (10(-9)-10(-5) M) produced a dose-dependent inhibition in barium-stimulated secretion with a half-maximal inhibition (IC50) value of 0.1 microM. A second L-type calcium-channel blocker, diltiazem (10(-9)-10(-4) M), also inhibited barium-induced CCK secretion with an IC50 value of 5.1 microM. By contrast, the T-type calcium-channel blocker, nickel chloride (10(-7)-10(-8) M), failed to significantly inhibit barium-induced CCK secretion. To further evaluate a role for L-type calcium channels in the secretion of CCK, the effects of the L-type calcium channel opener, BAY K 8644, were examined. BAY K 8644 (10(-8)-10(-4) M) produced a dose-dependent stimulation in CCK release with a mean effective concentration value of 0.2 microM. Recordings of single-channel currents from inside-out membrane patches showed activation of calcium channels by BAY K 8644 (1 microM), with a primary channel conductance of 26.0 +/- 1.2 pS. It is concluded that inhibition of potassium channel activity depolarizes the plasma membrane, thereby activating L-type, but not T-type, calcium channels. The corresponding influx of calcium serves to trigger secretion of CCK.


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