Nature Neuroscience 9, 356 - 362 (2006)
Published online: 29 January 2006; | doi:10.1038/nn1639
Variable channel expression in identified single and electrically coupled neurons in different animalsDavid J Schulz1, 2, Jean-Marc Goaillard1
& Eve Marder11
Volen Center and Biology Department, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454, USA. 2
Present address: Biological Sciences, University of Missouri at Columbia, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA.
Correspondence should be addressed to David J Schulz SchulzD@missouri.edu It is often assumed that all neurons of the same cell type have identical intrinsic properties, both within an animal and between animals. We exploited the large size and small number of unambiguously identifiable neurons in the crab stomatogastric ganglion to test this assumption at the level of channel mRNA expression and membrane currents (measured in voltage-clamp experiments). In lateral pyloric (LP) neurons, we saw strong correlations between measured current and the abundance of Shal and BK-KCa mRNAs (encoding the Shal-family voltage-gated potassium channel and large-conductance calcium-activated potassium channel, respectively). We also saw two- to fourfold interanimal variability for three potassium currents and their mRNA expression. Measurements of channel expression in the two electrically coupled pyloric dilator (PD) neurons showed significant interanimal variability, but copy numbers for IH (encoding the hyperpolarization-activated, inward-current channel) and Shal mRNA in the two PD neurons from the same crab were similar, suggesting that the regulation of some currents may be shared in electrically coupled neurons.Note: The PDF version of this article was corrected on 05 February 2006. Please see the PDF for details.
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