Topic: whole-cell patch-clamp recordings

When confronted with immediate threats, selecting the appropriate behavior at the right moment is essential for survival. Animals must constantly process information from the environment to accurately identify potential danger and respond by escaping to safety. While escape is largely instinctive, it is also adaptable, allowing animals to adjust to changing environmental conditions and internal states. The superior colliculus and dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG) play a crucial role in the neural circuitry responsible for processing threatening cues and triggering escape responses. However, th

The concept of homeostasis is a central principle in many biological systems, and aims at maintaining systems in a functional state. In the brain homeostatic synaptic plasticity is a well-known mechanism to maintain neuronal networks in a functional homeostasis. Despite there has been a lot of research and characterization of this form of plasticity in animal models, it remains unknown, whether it is also expressed in the human brain. In this study, we investigated the impact of treatment with antiepileptic drugs on neurotransmission and functional properties of layer 2/3 pyramidal cells in th

Myelin, produced by oligodendrocytes (OLs), is a lipid-rich structure that wraps axons, facilitating the saltatory conduction and providing metabolic support to neurons. Myelin is a highly adaptable structure whose role in regulating synaptic transmission in the healthy and diseased brain have not been extensively examined and may be relevant for understanding neuronal dysfunctions associated with myelin-related disorders. Here, we investigated excitatory (EPSCs) and inhibitory (IPSCs) post-synaptic currents in layer IV of the somatosensory (barrel) cortex using a cuprizone-induced demyelinati

The deep layers (V/VI) of the entorhinal cortex constitute a major relay station for routing neuronal activity from the hippocampus to downstream networks. To identify contributing pathways, we recently investigated the structural and functional organization of hippocampal projections to layer V (LV) of the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) (Ohara, Rannap et al., Cell Rep. 2023). Here, we performed whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from MEC-LVI neurons combined with field potential recordings from hippocampal area CA1 in horizontal mouse brain slices. We found that a spontaneously occurring hippo

The brain undergoes constant activity fluctuations related to processes like learning, development, and sleep. Neuronal plasticity enables information storage relevant to those changes but also serves to regulate stable neuronal firing. Homeostatic plasticity mechanisms protect neurons from activity extremes that are associated with pathological conditions such as mood disorders, epilepsy, and dementia. Our aim is to assess how targeted human brain neurons and the synaptic connections between them adapt to prolonged elevation of activity. To assess plasticity, we perform whole-cell patch-clamp

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are neurodevelopmental disorders affecting ~0.6% of the total population. Although the full etiology of these disorders remains largely unknown, there are severe cases of TS and OCD known to be caused by a nonsense mutation in the Hdc gene coding for the enzyme responsible for histamine production with patients exhibiting lowered histamine levels. Both TS and OCD show strong social components where both stress and anxiety can facilitate as well as exacerbate symptoms, with an underlying cause remaining largely unknown. Therefore,

Ribbon synapses in the retina provide sustained glutamatergic transmitter release that is controlled by Cav1.4 L-type calcium channels in photoreceptors. In bipolar cells the voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCC) responsible for release are less conclusive. We therefore addressed the VGCCs expressed in mouse rod bipolar cells (RBC). We enriched RBCs by FACS-sorting and quantified mRNA expression levels of Cav1, Cav2 and auxiliary VGCC subunit isoforms, including selected splice variants. Transcript variants of candidate VGCC genes were confirmed in RT-PCR and through screening of RNAseq datase

The perirhinal cortex (PER) integrates and transfers information from cortical areas to the hippocampus, which is crucial for memory-related tasks, particularly novel object recognition. However, how the PER gates information transfer is largely unknown. During learning and novelty-induced exploration, the locus coeruleus releases noradrenaline, a candidate for modulating synaptic plasticity within the PER. We explored the hypothesis that noradrenaline could transiently increase the excitability of the PER network, enhancing information transfer toward the hippocampus and ultimately leading to

GABAergic neurotransmission generates two types of inhibitions: the transient activation of synaptic GABA receptors, or phasic inhibition, which elicits inhibitory postsynaptic currents, and the activation of extrasynaptic GABA receptors by “ambient” GABA which causes a persistent, “tonic”, inhibition that finely tunes cellular excitability of target neurons. Change in GABA synaptic efficacy is a crucial mechanism that underlies experience-dependent modifications of brain function. Several forms of GABA synaptic plasticity require retrograde signaling by endocannabinoids (eCB) through the acti

The initiation of somatic touch sensation begins with direct pressure stimulation of mechanically activated (MA) channels located in the nerve endings of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. PIEZO1 has been identified as a rapidly adapting MA channel, yet its involvement in mechanical pain remains unknown. Here, we employed fluorescence in situ hybridization, calcium imaging, whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, and behavioral assays in mice to elucidate the pivotal role of PIEZO1 in mechanical pain transmission. Our findings reveal the expression of PIEZO1 in a subset of DRG neurons associated w

DYT1 is an autosomal dominant form of dystonia, linked to a deletion (ΔGAG) in the TOR1A gene. The basal ganglia have been found to play a crucial role in the development of dystonia in the TOR1AΔGAG murine model. Experimental evidence has also indicated that the cerebellar cortex is likely to play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of this disorder. We investigated cerebellar cortex activity and synaptic plasticity by performing extracellular recordings in acute parasagittal cerebellar slices with a high-density multielectrode array (HD-MEA) that allows to simultaneously record the activit

Neuronal activation throughout the cortex correlates strongly with the animal’s movement. Movement-related cortical activity in the sensory areas is thought to function as corollary discharge and to modulate sensory processing during self-generated motor activity. However, the exact role, neuronal circuits, and cortical computations associated with the cortex-wide motor signals are not fully elucidated. Here, we investigated the active neuronal properties during spontaneous movement episodes in the primary somatosensory (S1) and the primary motor (M1) cortices of awake mice. Whole-cell patch-c