The lateral giant (LG) tail-flip escape system of crayfish is organized to provide a massive convergence of mechanosensory inputs onto the LG command neuron through electrical synapses from both mechanosensory afferents and interneurons. We used electrophysiological techniques to show that the connections between three major mechanosensory interneurons and LG rectify, and that their inputs to L...

A diversity of ion channels contributes to the active properties of neuronal dendrites. From the apical dendrites of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons, we recorded inwardly rectifying K+ channels with a single-channel conductance of 33 pS. The inwardly rectifying K+ channels were constitutively active at the resting membrane potential. The amount of constitutive channel activity was significant...

The voltage- and K(+)-dependent properties of Müller cell currents and channels were characterized in freshly dissociated salamander Müller cells. In whole-cell voltage-clamp experiments, cells with endfeet intact and cells missing endfeet both displayed strong inward rectification. The rectification was similar in shape in both groups of cells but currents were 9.2 times larger in cells with e...

The phenotypic differentiation between oxytocin (OT)- and vasopressin (VP)-secreting magnocellular neurosecretory cells (MNCs) from the supraoptic nucleus is relevant to understanding how several physiological and pharmacological challenges affect their electrical activity. Although the firing patterns of OT and VP neurons, both in vivo and in vitro, may appear different from each other, much i...

OF THESIS Structural Analysis of the Drosophila Innexin ShakB: Role of the N-Terminus in Rectifying Electrical Synapses Gap junction channels mediate direct intercellular communication in all multicellular animals. They are comprised of the connexin family of proteins in vertebrates and the innexin family in prechordates. Connexins and innexins share many functional and structural similarities ...

The molecular mechanisms by which higher plant cells take up K+ across the plasma membrane (plasmalemma) remain unknown. Physiological transport studies in a large number of higher plant cell types, including guard cells, have suggested that at least two distinct types of K(+)-uptake mechanisms exist, permitting low-affinity and high-affinity K+ accumulation, respectively. Recent patch clamp st...

The mechanisms underlying the recruitment, differentiation, and sustained activation of mast cells in disease are likely to include modulation of ion channels. Specific Ca(2+), K(+), and Cl(-) conductances have been identified in rodent mast cells, but there are no equivalent data on human mast cells. We have used the whole-cell patch-clamp technique to characterize macroscopic ion currents in ...