Effects of short-duration transients on cardiac rhythm

Cardiac stimulation thresholds of short-duration large-amplitude electrical transients were studied. An isolated rabbit heart model was used and transients were applied directly to the heart through electrodes of 1 mm² and 1 cm² surface area. A variety of oscillatory waveforms and pulse configurations were studied and indicated that, for transients shorter than 100 μs, stimulation thresholds approach a constant charge-transfer density of 3·4 μC cm⁻².     

Regulation of GABA release by depolarisation-evoked Ca2+ transients at a single hippocampal terminal

We correlated dynamic changes in free cytosolic [Ca²⁺] ([Ca²⁺]_i) within single presynaptic terminals of cultured hippocampal neurones with the postsynaptic GABA-mediated currents. The local changes in [Ca²⁺]_i and evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents (eIPSCs) were recorded simultaneously using Fura-2 fluorescence and whole-cell patch-clamp respectively. The Ca²⁺ signals and eIPSCs were evoked by direct extracellular electrical stimulation of a single presynaptic terminal by short depolarising pulses. The presynaptic Ca²⁺ transient was graded by varying the amplitude of extracellular stimulating pulses. The probability of the release event, P, estimated for each stimulation strength, reached a maximum (P=1) when the Ca²⁺ signal became maximal and remained at this level at higher stimulation strength, despite the subsequent decrease in the amplitude of the Ca²⁺ transient. A gradual, linear increase in stimulation amplitude (V_stim) resulted in a bell-shaped dependence of the averaged amplitudes of Ca²⁺ signals and corresponding averaged amplitudes of eIPSCs. Analysis of the eIPSC demonstrated that the decrease in both the mean eIPSC amplitude and the mean quantal content of release resulted from a reduction in the probability of multivesicular release, i.e. in the disappearance of failures and in the decrease of individual eIPSC amplitude. The Ca²⁺ signals of similar amplitude resulted in both random and determinate (non-random) neurotransmitter release. We conclude that depolarisation-induced elevation of [Ca²⁺]_i within the terminal is necessary but not sufficient for activation of vesicular release of neurotransmitter.     

Modelling the dynamic ventilatory response to hypoxia in humans

A two-component dynamic model was used to describe the ventilatory response to sustained hypoxia in humans. One component (X_s) represents the stimulating effects of hypoxia and the other component (X_d), the hypoxic ventilatory decline. The total ventilatory response to hypoxia is represented by the sum of the two components. A nonlinearity is included to account for the nonlinear steady-state ventilatory response to hypoxia. A sensitivity analysis of the model indicates that, with a step change in as the input, all the parameters can be estimated from the data except for the nonlinearity. The relative sensitivity of the parameters from the model analysis was confirmed in an experimental study. However, comparing steps into hypoxia versus steps out of hypoxia we found a decrease in the gains of both components. The most likely explanation for the decrease in the gains is that the combination of X_s and X_d is not entirely additive. Other models may be required to completely describe the ventilatory response to inputs more complex than steps.     

多非替利衍生物CPU 228(V03)对大鼠心室肌细胞钙瞬变的调节

目的在β-受体激动情况下,研究多非替利衍生物CPU 228对电刺激触发心肌细胞的胞浆Ca2+浓度([Ca2+]i)变化及钙瞬变动力学参数的影响.方法游离单个大鼠心室肌细胞,Fluo-3/AM负载,电刺激诱发心室肌细胞钙瞬变,定量测定心室肌细胞内Ca2+浓度变化,异丙肾上腺素(isoproterenol, ISO)100nmol·L-1激动β-受体,观察CPU 228 1 μmol·L-1对钙瞬变动力学参数、[Ca2+]i及钙负荷水平的影响.结果CPU 228 1 μmol·L-1对大鼠心室肌细胞[Ca2+]i的影响不明显(P>0.05);ISO 100 nmol·L-1显著升高大鼠心室肌细胞[Ca2+]i和细胞内钙负荷水平,缩短钙瞬变时程,并且增加钙瞬变的消除速率.CPU 228 1 μmol·L-1显著抑制ISO的上述作用.结论在β-受体激动情况下,CPU 228可以降低心肌细胞[Ca2+]i,使ISO改变的钙瞬变动力学参数恢复到正常水平.     

Spontaneous atrial fibrillation initiated by tyramine in canine atria with increased sympathetic nerve sprouting

Sympathetic Activation and Atrial Fibrillation. Background: Chronic left ventricular myocardial infarction (LVMI) promotes atrial and pulmonary veins (PV) sympathetic nerve sprouting. Objectives: To test the hypothesis that sympathetic stimulation with tyramine initiates atrial fibrillation (AF) by early afterdepolarization (EAD)‐mediated triggered activity at the left atrial PV (LAPV) junction. Methods: LVMI was created in 6 dogs and 6 dogs served as controls. Six to 8 weeks later the activation pattern of the isolated LAPV was optically mapped using dual voltage and intracellular Ca⁺² (Ca_i²⁺)‐sensitive epifluorescent dyes before and after tyramine (5 μM) perfusion. Results: Tyramine initiated spontaneous AF in 5 of 6 atria but none in the control group (P < 0.01). The AF was initiated by late phase 3 EAD‐mediated triggered activity that arose from the LAPV junction causing functional conduction block in LA, reentry, and AF. The AF was subsequently maintained by mixed reentrant and focal mechanisms. The EADs arose during the late phase 3, when the Ca_i²⁺ level was 64 ± 12% of the peak systolic Ca_i²⁺ transient amplitude, a property caused by tyramine's simultaneous shortening of the action potential duration and lengthening of the Ca_i²⁺ transient duration in the LVMI group but not in the control. Tyrosine hydroxylase and growth associated protein 43 positive nerve sprouts were significantly increased in the sinus node, LAA, and the LSPV in the LVMI group compared to control (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Increased atrial sympathetic nerve sprouts after LVMI makes the LAPV junction susceptible to late phase 3 EAD‐mediated triggered and AF during sympathetic stimulation with tyramine.     

Differential inhibition by the Rho kinase inhibitor Y-27632 of the increases in contractility and Ca<Superscript>2+</Superscript> transients induced by endothelin-1 in rabbit ventricular myocytes

The role of Rho kinase activation in the regulation of cardiac contractility and Ca²⁺ signaling remains unclear, whereas its role in smooth muscle regulation has been well documented. To study the potential role of Rho kinase in the regulation of cardiac contractility and Ca²⁺ transients induced by endothelin-1 (ET-1) and isoproterenol, we used the Rho kinase inhibitor Y-27632 in rabbit ventricular myocardium and myocytes loaded with indo-1/AM. Y-27632 (3–30 M) inhibited significantly the baseline contractility and Ca²⁺ transients. Furthermore, Y-27632 suppressed the increase in contractility and Ca²⁺ transients induced by ET-1 in a concentration-dependent manner, when it was used in a concentration at which it did not affect the effects of isoproterenol via -adrenoceptors. In the presence of Y-27632, ET-1 increased cell shortening in the absence of an increase in Ca²⁺ transients. This is an indication that the increase in myofilament Ca²⁺ sensitivity induced by ET-1 is less susceptible to the inhibitory action of Y-27632. These findings imply that the Rho kinase activation may partially contribute to the ET-1-induced regulation of contractility, primarily due to an ET-1-induced increase in Ca²⁺ transients in rabbit ventricular myocardium.     

Constitutive neuronal expression of CCR2 chemokine receptor and its colocalization with neurotransmitters in normal rat brain: functional effect of MCP-1/CCL2 on calcium mobilization in primary cultured neurons

Chemokines and their receptors are well described in the immune system, where they promote cell migration and activation. In the central nervous system, chemokine has been implicated in neuroinflammatory processes. However, an increasing number of evidence suggests that they have regulatory functions in the normal nervous system, where they could participate in cell communication. In this work, using a semiquantitative immunohistochemistry approach, we provide the first neuroanatomical mapping of constitutive neuronal CCR2 localization. Neuronal expression of CCR2 was observed in the anterior olfactory nucleus, cerebral cortex, hippocampal formation, caudate putamen, globus pallidus, supraoptic and paraventricular hypothalamic nuclei, amygdala, substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, and in the brainstem and cerebellum. These data are largely in accordance with results obtained using quantitative autoradiography with [(125)I]MCP-1/CCL2 and RT-PCR CCR2 mRNA analysis. Furthermore, using dual fluorescent immunohistochemistry we studied the chemical phenotype of labeled neurons and demonstrated the coexistence of CCR2 with classical neurotransmitters. Indeed, localization of CCR2 immunostaining is observed in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and in the ventral tegmental area as well as in cholinergic neurons in the substantia innominata and caudate putamen. Finally, we show that the preferential CCR2 ligand, MCP-1/CCL2, elicits Ca(2+) transients in primary cultured neurons from various rat brain regions including the cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and mesencephalon. In conclusion, the constitutive neuronal CCR2 expression in selective brain structures suggests that this receptor could be involved in neuronal communication and possibly associated with cholinergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission and related disorders.     

The role of the magnocellular and parvocellular systems in the redundant target effect

The redundant target effect (RTE) consists in the speeding of reaction time with single versus multiple targets and can be explained either by a neural coactivation or by a race model. To try to understand the role of the magnocellular and parvocellular systems in the determination of the RTE we carried out three experiments using onset or feature singletons. The former are likely to be mainly processed by the magnocellular system while the latter are mainly processed by the parvocellular system. In experiment 1 we found an RTE both when the target (red disk) was presented in isolation and when it was surrounded by equiluminant green distractors. Thus, the RTE occurred both with onset and feature singletons. However, with the former, the RTE could be accounted for by neural coactivation while with the latter it could be accounted for by a probabilistic explanation. In experiment 2 we tried to ascertain the role of distractors in yielding a probabilistic RTE: we used either targets in isolation or surrounded by distractors of lower luminance and found an RTE that could be explained by neural coactivation for both kinds of targets. This ruled out an effect of distractors per se in determining a probabilistic RTE. Finally, in experiment 3 we used targets of lower luminance than either the background or the distractors. We found that the RTE could be accounted for by neural coactivation with targets alone while it was probabilistic with distractors. Overall, these results show that stimuli presumably processed by the magnocellular system yield redundancy gains that result from a neural coactivation mechanism. In contrast, stimuli presumably processed by the parvocellular system are compatible with a probabilistic redundancy gain.     

Multiple injury approach and its use for toxicity studies

We present an experimental approach that allows exposure of cells plated on a single coverslip to multiple distinct environments. The original chamber design created a small region of injury using geometrically defined flows of the control and ischemic solutions. Modifications of the original chamber design presented in this article produce a range of flow patterns that can be advantageous for a variety of imaging applications. These applications include: experiments that address effects of different treatments applied to a cell network, parallel testing of negative and positive controls using a single coverslip, border effect studies, evaluation of the treatment’s reversibility, and simultaneous monitoring of a cell layer loaded with different fluorescent indicators. The method also can be used to reveal both micro- and macroscopic features of propagation, conduction, and cell coupling in a normal or altered cardia cell network. These possibilities are illustrated in cultures of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes using oxidant-and calcium-sensitive fluorescent indicators.     

Cajal-Retzius cells in early postnatal mouse cortex selectively express functional metabotropic glutamate receptors

Glutamate receptors have been linked to the regulation of several developmental events in the CNS. By using cortical slices of early postnatal mice, we show that in layer I cells, glutamate produces intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)](i)) elevations mediated by ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). The contribution of mGluRs to these responses was demonstrated by application of tACPD, an agonist to groups I and II mGluRs, which evoked [Ca(2+)](i) increases that could be reversibly blocked by MCPG, an antagonist to groups I and II mGluRs. In the absence of extracellular Ca(2+), repetitive applications of tACPD or quisqualate, an agonist to group I mGluRs, elicited decreasing [Ca(2+)](i) responses that were restored by refilling a thapsigargin-sensitive Ca(2+) store. The use of specific group I mGluR agonists CHPG and DHPG indicated that the functional mGluR in layer I was of the mGluR1 subtype. Subtype specific antibodies confirmed the presence of mGlur1 alpha, but not mGluR5, in Cajal-Retzius (Reelin-immunoreactive) neurons.