Neuronal T-type Calcium Channel Kinetics and Burst Firing

1 of 1 10/28/2005 3:00 PM Abstract View NEURONAL T-TYPE CALCIUM CHANNEL KINETICS AND BURST FIRING M.T. Neubig*; T.J. Sejnowski Computational Neurobiology Lab, Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA The low-threshold Ca2+ channels that mediate regenerative Ca2+ currents in central neurons are responsible for generating bursts of Na+/K+ action potentials. In this modeling study we explored kinetic parameters of T-channels for their impact on burst latency and strength. The figure below shows a tradeoff occurring between latency and strength across the ranges of time constants for 1G, H, and I subtypes. We propose alternative assays of bursting that may bear directly on the organization of the encoding gene, with implications for the evolution of these channels. Supported by: NIH HHMI