Quantitative immunostaining, electrophysiology and modeling show that two sodium channel isoforms are asymmetrically distributed in the axon initial segment. Their polarized distribution explains many of the unique properties of the axon initial segment, including its ability to both initiate spikes and guarantee subsequent backpropagation.
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Dulla, C., Huguenard, J. Who let the spikes out?. Nat Neurosci 12, 959–960 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0809-959
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0809-959