Voltage-dependent calcium currents in dissociated granule cells from rat cerebellum

• Published in: Neuroscience Vol. 43; no. 1; p. 121
• Main Authors: Marchetti, C, Carignani, C, Robello, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 1991
• Subjects: 3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester - pharmacology; Animals; Baclofen - pharmacology; Bicuculline - pharmacology; Calcium Channels - metabolism; Cerebellum - cytology; Cerebellum - enzymology; Electrophysiology; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - pharmacology; Membrane Potentials - physiology; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Verapamil - pharmacology
• ISSN: 0306-4522
• DOI: 10.1016/0306-4522(91)90422-K

Voltage-dependent calcium currents were investigated by the patch-clamp technique in whole-cell recording configuration in cultures from 8-day-old rat cerebella, which contained greater than or equal to 90% granule cells. In solutions designed to minimize the sodium and potassium conductances and in 20 mM barium, an inward current activated around -25 mV, reached a peak amplitude at +20 mV and reversed around +80 mV. In 20 mM calcium, this current was approximately 50% of that in barium. From one to three days in vitro only 16% of the cells tested (n = 20) had a current exceeding 50 pA in maximum amplitude, while after four days in vitro the current reached 100 pA in all neurons tested (n greater than 70). Verapamil (50-100 microM) reversibly depressed this current. The dihydropyridine agonist Bay K 8644 (1 microM) enhanced the maximum conductance by 25 +/- 8% (n = 4), caused a negative shift in the activation of 21 +/- 5 mV and a prolongation of the deactivation time course as the voltage was stepped back from +20 to -80 mV. The GABAB agonist baclofen (50 microM) reversibly depressed the current by 27 +/- 8% in 80% of the cells. The effect was similar to that of GABA (10 microM), when the GABAA response (chloride current) was partially blocked by bicucculine. This current can be classified as a dihydropyridine-sensitive high-voltage-activated calcium current. The modulation by GABAB agonists is likely to be significant for presynaptic inhibition.