A single episode of status epilepticus (SE) causes numerous structural and functional changes in the brain that can lead to the development of a chronic epileptic condition. Most studies of this plasticity have focused on changes in excitatory and inhibitory synaptic properties. However, the intrinsic firing properties that shape the output of the neuron to a given synaptic input may also be pe...

We have examined the ability of BI (class A) Ca2+ channels, cloned from rabbit brain, to mediate excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling in skeletal muscle. Expression plasmids carrying cDNA encoding BI channels were microinjected into the nuclei of dysgenic mouse myotubes grown in primary culture. Ionic currents and intramembrane charge movements produced by the BI channels were recorded using t...

Han, Chunlei, Pasi Tavi, and Matti Weckström. Modulation of action potential by [Ca2 ]i in modeled rat atrial and guinea pig ventricular myocytes. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 282: H1047–H1054, 2002; 10.1152/ajpheart.00573. 2001.—We simulated mechanisms that increase Ca2 transients with two models: the Luo-Rudy II model for guinea pig (GP) ventricle (GP model) representing long action potent...

Extracellular nucleotide-activated purinergic receptors (P2XRs) are a family of cation-permeable channels that conduct small cations, including Ca2+, leading to the depolarization of cells and subsequent stimulation of voltage-gated Ca2+ influx in excitable cells. Here, we studied the spatiotemporal characteristics of intracellular Ca2+ signaling and its dependence on current signaling in excit...

Glutamate responses in cultured rat astrocytes from cerebella of neonatal rats were investigated using the perforated-patch configuration to record membrane currents without rundown of intracellular messenger cascades, and microfluorometric measurements to measure the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and intracellular pH (pHi) with fura-2 AM and 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5,6-carboxyf...

The inhibition of Ca2+ channel currents by endogenous brain steroids was examined in freshly dissociated pyramidal neurons from the adult guinea pig hippocampal CA1 region. The steady-state inhibition of the peak Ca2+ channel current evoked by depolarizing steps from -80 to -10 mV occurred in a concentration-dependent manner with the following IC50 values: pregnenolone sulfate (PES), 11 nM; pre...

A mathematical model of the cardiac ventricular action potential is presented. In our previous work, the membrane Na+ current and K+ currents were formulated. The present article focuses on processes that regulate intracellular Ca2+ and depend on its concentration. The model presented here for the mammalian ventricular action potential is based mostly on the guinea pig ventricular cell. However...

Inhibitions and antagonists of L-type Ca2+ channels are important to both research and therapeutics. Here, we report C-terminus mediated inhibition (CMI) for CaV1.3 that multiple motifs coordinate to tune down Ca2+ current and Ca2+ influx toward the lower limits determined by end-stage CDI (Ca2+-dependent inactivation). Among IQV (preIQ3-IQ domain), PCRD and DCRD (proximal or distal C-terminal ...

The negative chronotropic effects of eight Vaughan Williams Class I antiarrhythmic drugs were examined in guinea pig right atrial tissue preparations. decreased the spontaneous beating rate at concentrations overlapping with their therapeutic blood levels. Cibenzoline, aprindine, flecainide, and propafenone showed stronger effects; 10 µM each drug to about 75% initial values. Disopyramide, mexi...