Subcellular distribution of persistent sodium conductance in cortical pyramidal neurons.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Arik ShvartsmanI A Fleidervish

Abstract

Cortical pyramidal neurons possess a persistent Na+ current (INaP) which, in contrast to the larger transient current, does not undergo rapid inactivation. Although relatively quite small, INaP is active at subthreshold voltages and therefore plays an important role in neuronal input-output processing. The subcellular distribution of channels responsible for INaP and the mechanisms which render them persistent are not known. Using high-speed fluorescence Na+ imaging and whole-cell recordings in brain slices obtained from mice of either sex, we reconstructed the INaP elicited by slow voltage ramps in soma and processes of cortical pyramidal neurons. We found that in all neuronal compartments, the relationship between persistent Na+ conductance and membrane voltage has the shape of a Boltzmann function. Although the density of channels underlying INaP was about twofold lower in the axon initial segment (AIS) than in the soma, the axonal channels were activated by about 10 mV less depolarization than were somatic channels. This difference in voltage dependence explains why, at functionally critical subthreshold voltages, most INaP originates in the AIS. Finally, we show that endogenous polyamines constrain INaP availability in bot...Continue Reading

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