Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0043167 (pertussis)
 19,595 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We used whole cell current- and voltage-clamp recording in neonatal rat brain stem slices to characterize firing properties and effects of serotonin (5-HT) on neurons (n = 225) in raphe pallidus (RPa) and raphe obscurus (ROb). Of a sample of 51 Lucifer yellow-filled neurons recovered after immunohistochemical processing to detect tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), 34 were found to be TPH immunoreactive (i.e., serotonergic). Serotonergic neurons had long-duration action potentials and fired spontaneously at low frequency (approximately 1 Hz) in a pattern that was often irregular; at higher firing frequencies the discharge became more regular. These neurons displayed spike frequency adaptation, with maximal steady-state firing rates of < 4 Hz. The overwhelming majority of identified serotonergic neurons was hyperpolarized by bath-applied 5-HT (94%; n = 32 of 34); conversely, most cells in this sample that were hyperpolarized by 5-HT were serotonergic (78%; n= 32 of 41). TPH-immunonegative neurons were separated into two populations. One group had properties that were indistinguishable from those of serotonergic caudal raphe neurons. The other group was truly distinct; those neurons had more hyperpolarized resting membrane potentials, were not spontaneously active, had shorter-duration action potentials, and were depolarized by 5-HT. Caudal raphe neurons responded to 5-HT (1-5 microM) with membrane hyperpolarization in current clamp (-13.4 +/- 1.1 mV, mean +/- SE) or with outward current in voltage clamp (16.0 +/- 1.4 pA). The current induced by 5-HT was inwardly rectifying and associated with an increase in peak conductance and was highly selective for K+. It was completely blocked by 0.2 mM Ba2+ but not by glibenclamide, an inhibitor of ATP-sensitive K+ channels. Effects of 5-HT were dose dependent, with an EC50 of 0.1-0.3 microM. The 5-HT1A agonist 8-OH-DPAT mimicked, and the 5-HT1A antagonists (+)WAY 10,0135 and NAN 190 blocked, effects of 5-HT. The 5-HT2A/C antagonist ketanserin did not inhibit the effects of 5-HT. Fewer 5-HT-responsive neurons were encountered in slices exposed acutely to pertussis toxin (approximately 13%) than in adjacent control slices not exposed to pertussis toxin (approximately 85%). In addition, in neurons recorded with pipettes containing GTP gamma S (0.1 mM), 5-HT induced an inwardly rectifying current that did not reverse on washing. In many cells recorded with GTP gamma S, a current developed in the absence of agonist that had properties identical to those of the 5-HT-sensitive current; when followed for extended periods, the agonist-independent GTP gamma S-induced conductance desensitized, returning toward control levels with a time constant of approximately 18 min. Together these results indicate that serotonergic neurons of ROb and RPa are spontaneously active in a neonatal rat brain stem slice preparation and that hyperpolarization of those neurons by 5-HT1A receptor stimulation is due to pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein-mediated activation of an inwardly rectifying K+ conductance. In addition, we identified a group of nonserotonergic medullary raphe neurons that had distinct electrophysiological properties and that was depolarized by 5-HT.
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PMID:Effects of serotonin on caudal raphe neurons: activation of an inwardly rectifying potassium conductance. 908 2

We characterized whole cell barium currents through calcium channels and investigated the effects of serotonin (5-HT) on calcium channel currents and firing behavior in visualized caudal raphe neurons of the neonatal rat in brain stem slices (n = 201). A subpopulation of recorded neurons was recovered after staining for tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), the 5-HT synthesizing enzyme (n = 21); of those cells, 86% were TPH immunoreactive, suggesting that the majority of recorded neurons was serotonergic. Calcium channel currents began to activate at about -40 mV in caudal raphe neurons and showed a peak amplitude of 952.2 +/- 144.2 (SE) pA at -10 mV. A small low-voltage activated current was also observed (approximately 22 pA). Calcium channel currents were potently inhibited by bath-applied 5-HT in most cells tested (approximately 90%). The EC50 for inhibition of calcium current by 5-HT was 0.1 microM; a saturating concentration (1.0 microM) blocked approximately 40% of the current evoked at 0 mV from a holding potential of -70 mV (n = 101). Current inhibition was associated with a slowing of activation kinetics and a shift in the peak of the current-voltage relationship, and was partially relieved by strong depolarizations. Current inhibition by 5-HT was mimicked by 8-OH-DPAT, a specific 5-HT1A agonist, and blocked by the 5-HT1a antagonists NAN 190 and (+) WAY 100135, but was unaffected by ketanserin, a 5-HT2A/C antagonist. omega-Conotoxin GVIA (omega-CgTx)-sensitive N-type channels and omega-agatoxin IVA (omega-AgaIVA)-sensitive P/Q-type channels together accounted for most of the calcium current (36 and 37%, respectively). Nimodipine had no effect on the calcium current, indicating that caudal raphe neurons do not express dihydropyridine-sensitive L-type currents. A substantial residual current (27%) remained after application of omega-CgTx, omega-AgaIVA, and nimodipine. Most of the 5-HT-sensitive calcium current was blocked by omega-CgTx and omega-AgaIVA; 5-HT had little effect on the residual current. Inhibition of calcium current by 5-HT was irreversible when GTP gamma S, a nonhydrolyzable guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) analogue, was substituted for GTP in the pipette. In addition, the effects of 5-HT were blocked by pretreating slices with pertussis toxin (PTX). Together these data indicate that inhibition of N- and P/Q-type calcium current in serotonergic caudal raphe neurons is mediated by a 5-HT1A receptor via PTX-sensitive G proteins. Under current clamp, calcium channel toxins (omega-CgTx and omega-AgaIVA) and 5-HT each caused a decrease in the spike afterhyperpolarization and enhanced the repetitive firing response to injected current. The similar effects of 5-HT and the calcium channel toxins on firing behavior suggest that those effects of 5-HT were secondary to inhibition of N- and P/Q-type calcium channels.
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PMID:Effects of serotonin on caudal raphe neurons: inhibition of N- and P/Q-type calcium channels and the afterhyperpolarization. 908 3

Many neurotransmitter receptors that interact with pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins, including the alpha 2-adrenergic receptor, can modulate both voltage-dependent calcium channels and G protein-coupled inwardly-rectifying K+ channels. Serotonergic neurons of the medulla oblongata (nucleus raphe obscurus and nucleus raphe pallidus), which provide a major projection to sympathetic and motor output systems, receive a catecholaminergic input and express alpha 2-adrenergic receptors. Therefore, we tested the effects of norepinephrine on voltage-dependent calcium channels and G protein-coupled inwardly-rectifying K+ channels in neonatal raphe neurons using whole-cell recording in a brainstem slice preparation. Calcium channel currents were inhibited by norepinephrine in the majority of raphe neurons tested (88%) and in all identified tryptophan hydroxylase-immunoreactive (i.e. serotonergic) neurons. When tested in the same neurons, the magnitude of calcium current inhibition by norepinephrine (approximately 25%) was less than that induced by 5-hydroxytryptamine (approximately 50%). The norepinephrine-induced calcium current inhibition was mediated by alpha 2-adrenergic receptors; it was mimicked by UK 14304, an alpha 2-adrenergic receptor agonist and blocked by idazoxan, an alpha 2-adrenergic receptor antagonist, but not affected by prazosin or propanolol (alpha 1 and beta adrenergic antagonists, respectively). Calcium current inhibition by norepinephrine was essentially eliminated following application of omega-Conotoxin GVIA and omega-Agatoxin IVA, indicating that norepinephrine modulated N- and P/Q-type calcium channels predominantly. Calcium current inhibition by norepinephrine was voltage-dependent and mediated by pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins. Thus, as expected, alpha 2-adrenergic receptor activation inhibited N- and P/Q-type calcium currents in medullary raphe neurons via pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins. In parallel experiments, however, we found that norepinephrine had no effect on G protein-coupled inwardly-rectifying K+ channels in any raphe neurons tested, despite the robust activation of those channels in the same neurons by 5-hydroxytryptamine. Together, these data indicate that alpha 2-adrenergic receptors can modulate N- and P/Q-type calcium channels in caudal medullary raphe neurons but do not couple to the G protein-coupled inwardly-rectifying K+ channels which are also present in those cells. This is in contrast to the effect of 5-hydroxytryptamine1A receptor activation in caudal raphe neurons, and indicates a degree of specificity in the signalling by different pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein-coupled receptors to voltage-dependent calcium channels and G protein-coupled inwardly-rectifying K+ channels even within the same cell system.
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PMID:Activation of alpha 2-adrenoceptors causes inhibition of calcium channels but does not modulate inwardly-rectifying K+ channels in caudal raphe neurons. 948 33