In the vertebrate CNS, fast synaptic inhibition is mediated by GABA and glycine receptors. We recently reported that the time course of these synaptic currents is slower when intracellular chloride is high. Here we extend these findings to measure the effects of both extracellular and intracellular chloride on the deactivation of glycine and GABA currents at both negative and positive holding p...

Calmodulin (CaM) is a calcium-sensing protein that binds to Na(+) channels, with unknown functional consequences. Wild-type CaM produced a hyperpolarizing shift in the steady-state availability of expressed skeletal muscle (micro1) but not cardiac (hH1) Na(+) channels. Mutant CaM(1234) did not alter the voltage dependence or the kinetics of gating of either micro1 or hH1. Mutation of the highly...

PURPOSE Hippocampal CA3 neurons of spontaneously epileptic rats (SER; zi/zi, tm/tm), which show both absence-like seizures and tonic convulsions, exhibit a long-lasting depolarization shift with repetitive firing with a single stimulation of mossy fibers. Therefore a whole-cell patch-clamp study using temporarily dissociated hippocampal CA3 neurons from SER was performed to elucidate whether su...

KEY POINTS Ca leak from the sarcoplasmic reticulum through the ryanodine receptor (RyR) reduces the amplitude of the Ca transient and slows its rate of decay. In the presence of β-adrenergic stimulation, RyR-mediated Ca leak produces a biphasic decay of the Ca transient with a fast early phase and a slow late phase. Two forms of Ca leak have been studied, Ca-sensitising (induced by caffeine) an...

We studied a molecular junction with arylalkane self-assembled monolayers sandwiched between two graphene contacts. The arrangement of graphene-based junctions provides stable device structure high yield and allows for extensive transport measurements at 78 K. observed temperature-independent current density–voltage (J–V) characteristic the exponential dependency density on length, proving that...

I. The degree of electrotonic coupling between a given synapse located on a dendrite and the spike trigger zone is a major determinant of the relative influence of that synapse on neuronal firing. The degree of electrotonic coupling between a synapse and the recording site also influences the measurement of the biophysical properties of that synapse. We present theoretical justification for a p...

Experiments are described that elucidate the quantum mechanical origins of the free induction decay voltage and of spin noise. It is shown that the experimentally measured FID voltage induced in a Hertzian loop receiving coil following a 90 degrees pulse is typically two orders of magnitude too large to be accounted for by the current quantum theory of signal reception-coherent spontaneous emis...

Synaptic transmission at the inner hair cell (IHC) afferent synapse, the first synapse in the auditory pathway, is specialized for rapid and reliable signaling. Here we investigated the properties of a hyperpolarization-activated current (I(h)), expressed in the afferent dendrite of auditory nerve fibers, and its role in shaping postsynaptic activity. We used whole cell patch-clamp recordings f...

Spinal cord neurons is dissociated cell culture were loaded with the calcium indicator arsenazo III using the whole-cell patch-clamp recording technique. Under voltage-clamp, depolarizing voltage steps evoked transient increases in absorbance at 660 nm, with no change at 570 nm, the isosbestic wavelength for calcium-arsenazo III complexes. The optical response occurred with a threshold depolari...

Silicon microplasma devices with square trench cathode cavities having cross sections of s10 mmd2 or s30 mmd2 and a depth of 200 mm have been fabricated and operated successfully in the rare gases and Xe/O2 mixtures at pressures s300 Kd up to 1100 Torr. The s10 mmd2 structures exhibit electrical characteristics that contrast with the behavior of larger devices and may indicate the onset of the ...