1. The extracellular patch clamp method, which first allowed the detection of single channel currents in biological membranes, has been further refined to enable higher current resolution, direct membrane patch potential control, and physical isolation of membrane patches. 2. A description of a convenient method for the fabrication of patch recording pipettes is given together with procedures followed to achieve giga-seals i.e. pipette-membrane seals with resistances of 10(9) - 10(11) omega. 3. The basic patch clamp recording circuit, and designs for improved frequency response are described along with the present limitations in recording the currents from single channels. 4. Procedures for preparation and recording from three representative cell types are given. Some properties of single acetylcholine-activated channels in muscle membrane are described to illustrate the improved current and time resolution achieved with giga-seals. 5. A description is given of the various ways that patches of membrane can be physically isolated from cells. This isolation enables the recording of single channel currents with well-defined solutions on both sides of the membrane. Two types of isolated cell-free patch configurations can be formed: an inside-out patch with its cytoplasmic membrane face exposed to the bath solution, and an outside-out patch with its extracellular membrane face exposed to the bath solution. 6. The application of the method for the recording of ionic currents and internal dialysis of small cells is considered. Single channel resolution can be achieved when recording from whole cells, if the cell diameter is small (less than 20 micrometer). 7. The wide range of cell types amenable to giga-seal formation is discussed.

/pdf/improved-patch-clamp-techniques-for-high-resolution-current-tmno572o60.pdf

Improved patch-clamp techniques for high-resolution current recording from cells and cell-free membrane patches.

▪ Abstract Synaptic transmission is a dynamic process. Postsynaptic responses wax and wane as presynaptic activity evolves. This prominent characteristic of chemical synaptic transmission is a crucial determinant of the response properties of synapses and, in turn, of the stimulus properties selected by neural networks and of the patterns of activity generated by those networks. This review focuses on synaptic changes that result from prior activity in the synapse under study, and is restricted to short-term effects that last for at most a few minutes. Forms of synaptic enhancement, such as facilitation, augmentation, and post-tetanic potentiation, are usually attributed to effects of a residual elevation in presynaptic [Ca2+]i, acting on one or more molecular targets that appear to be distinct from the secretory trigger responsible for fast exocytosis and phasic release of transmitter to single action potentials. We discuss the evidence for this hypothesis, and the origins of the different kinetic phases...

/pdf/short-term-synaptic-plasticity-5d4dx79319.pdf

Short-Term Synaptic Plasticity

In cultures of dissociated rat hippocampal neurons, persistent potentiation and depression of glutamatergic synapses were induced by correlated spiking of presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons. The relative timing between the presynaptic and postsynaptic spiking determined the direction and the extent of synaptic changes. Repetitive postsynaptic spiking within a time window of 20 msec after presynaptic activation resulted in long-term potentiation (LTP), whereas postsynaptic spiking within a window of 20 msec before the repetitive presynaptic activation led to long-term depression (LTD). Significant LTP occurred only at synapses with relatively low initial strength, whereas the extent of LTD did not show obvious dependence on the initial synaptic strength. Both LTP and LTD depended on the activation of NMDA receptors and were absent in cases in which the postsynaptic neurons were GABAergic in nature. Blockade of L-type calcium channels with nimodipine abolished the induction of LTD and reduced the extent of LTP. These results underscore the importance of precise spike timing, synaptic strength, and postsynaptic cell type in the activity-induced modification of central synapses and suggest that Hebb’s rule may need to incorporate a quantitative consideration of spike timing that reflects the narrow and asymmetric window for the induction of synaptic modification.

https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/18/24/10464.full.pdf

Synaptic Modifications in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons: Dependence on Spike Timing, Synaptic Strength, and Postsynaptic Cell Type

The ionotropic glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate the vast majority of excitatory neurotransmission in the brain. The cloning of cDNAs encoding glutamate receptor subunits, which occurred mainly between 1989 and 1992 ([Hollmann and Heinemann, 1994][1]), stimulated this

/pdf/the-glutamate-receptor-ion-channels-560mntczdb.pdf

The glutamate receptor ion channels

The responses of vertebrate neurones to glutamate involve at least three receptor types. One of these, the NMDA receptor (so called because of its specific activation by N-methyl-D-aspartate), induces responses presenting a peculiar voltage sensitivity. Above resting potential, the current induced by a given dose of glutamate (or NMDA) increases when the cell is depolarized. This is contrary to what is observed at classical excitatory synapses, and recalls the properties of 'regenerative' systems like the Na+ conductance of the action potential. Indeed, recent studies of L-glutamate, L-aspartate and NMDA-induced currents have indicated that the current-voltage (I-V) relationship can show a region of 'negative conductance' and that the application of these agonists can lead to a regenerative depolarization. Furthermore, the NMDA response is greatly potentiated by reducing the extracellular Mg2+ concentration [( Mg2+]o) below the physiological level (approximately 1 mM). By analysing the responses of mouse central neurones to glutamate using the patch-clamp technique, we have now found a link between voltage sensitivity and Mg2+ sensitivity. In Mg2+-free solutions, L-glutamate, L-aspartate and NMDA open cation channels, the properties of which are voltage independent. In the presence of Mg2+, the single-channel currents measured at resting potential are chopped in bursts and the probability of opening of the channels is reduced. Both effects increase steeply with hyperpolarization, thereby accounting for the negative slope of the I-V relationship of the glutamate response. Thus, the voltage dependence of the NMDA receptor-linked conductance appears to be a consequence of the voltage dependence of the Mg2+ block and its interpretation does not require the implication of an intramembrane voltage-dependent 'gate'.

Magnesium gates glutamate-activated channels in mouse central neurones

https://www.cell.com/neuron/pdf/S0896-6273(00)80504-8.pdf

Cytosolic Ca2+ acts by two separate pathways to modulate the supply of release-competent vesicles in chromaffin cells.

1. Mast cells, isolated from rat peritoneum, were studied under tight-seal, whole-cell recording conditions. Membrane conductance, membrane capacitance and the concentration of free intracellular Ca2+, [Ca2+]i, were measured simultaneously. 2. [Ca2+]i could be accurately buffered to values between 0 and 1.5 microM only if relatively high concentrations of calcium buffers (in the millimolar range) were added to the pipette filling solution against which the cytoplasm was dialysed. At lower buffer concentrations [Ca2+]i was markedly increased by hyperpolarizing the membrane. 3. When added to the pipette, guanosine-3-thio-triphosphate (GTP-gamma-S), a nonhydrolysable analogue of guanosine triphosphate, stimulated a 3.3-fold increase in membrane capacitance, which is indicative of mast cell degranulation (Fernandez, Neher & Gomperts, 1984). 4. In weakly buffered cells, GTP-gamma-S also induced a transient increase in [Ca2+]i which, usually, preceded degranulation. Calcium buffers at 1-5 mM concentration suppressed this transient. 5. High [Ca2+]i alone did not induce degranulation. However, it markedly accelerated GTP-gamma-S-induced degranulation. When [Ca2+]i was buffered to zero, an appreciable fraction of cells degranulated in response to GTP-gamma-S, but very slowly, and only after a long lag phase. 6. Transient increases in [Ca2+]i, evoked either by GTP-gamma-S, or by voltage changes, did not elicit capacitance changes during the lag phase, but accelerated the GTP-gamma-S-induced degranulation response at later times. 7. Internally applied inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) also induced transient increases in [Ca2+]i which did not lead to secretion in the absence of GTP-gamma-S. 8. It is concluded that an increase in [Ca2+]i is neither necessary nor sufficient for secretion from dialysed mast cells. [Ca2+]i, however, acts synergistically with other stimuli to promote secretion. It is the more efficient the more time the other stimulus had been allowed for priming the cell.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1113/jphysiol.1988.sp016914

The influence of intracellular calcium concentration on degranulation of dialysed mast cells from rat peritoneum.

During exocytosis, certain phospholipids may act as regulators of secretion. Here, we used several independent approaches to perturb the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] level in bovine chromaffin cells to investigate how changes of plasmalemmal PI(4,5)P2 affect secretion. Membrane levels of PI(4,5)P2 were estimated by analyzing images of lawns of plasma membranes labeled with fluorescent probes specific for PI(4,5)P2. The specific PI(4,5)P2 signal was enriched in submicrometer-sized clusters. In parallel patch-clamp experiments on intact cells, we measured the secretion of catecholamines. Overexpression of phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate-5-kinase I, or infusion of PI(4,5)P2 through the patch pipette, increased the PI(4,5)P2 level in the plasma membrane and potentiated secretion. Expression of a membrane-targeted inositol 5-phosphatase domain of synaptojanin 1 eliminated PI(4,5)P2 from the membrane and abolished secretion. An inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, 2-(4-morpholinyl)-8-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one, led to a transient increase in the PI(4,5)P2 level that was associated with a potentiation of secretion. After prolonged incubation, the level of PI(4,5)P2 decreased and secretion was inhibited. Kinetic analysis showed that changes in PI(4,5)P2 levels led to correlated changes in the size of two releasable vesicle pools, whereas their fusion kinetics remained unaffected. We conclude that during both short- and long-term manipulations of PI(4,5)P2 level secretion scales with plasma membrane PI(4,5)P2 content and that PI(4,5)P2 has an early effect on secretion by regulating the number of vesicles ready for release.

https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/25/10/2557.full.pdf

Plasmalemmal phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate level regulates the releasable vesicle pool size in chromaffin cells.

https://www.cell.com/neuron/pdf/S0896-6273(04)00038-8.pdf

Regulation of Releasable Vesicle Pool Sizes by Protein Kinase A-Dependent Phosphorylation of SNAP-25

1. Voltage clamp currents were recorded during iontophoretic application of steady doses of acetylcholine (ACh), carbachol or suberyldicholine to hyperpersensitive extrasynaptic regions of chronically denervated frog muscle fibers. Autocorrelation functions of drug induced current fluctuations were calculated and estimates of conductance gamma and average open time tau of the extrasynaptic ion channels were derived. 2. The average open time of an extrajunctional channel induced by acetylcholine is tauACh = 11 +/- 1-6 msec (+/- S.E.) at -80 mV and 8 degrees C. Carbachol and suberyldicholine open channels of tauCarb = 3-9 +/- 0-4 msec and tauSubCh = 19 +/- 2-5 msec (+/- S.E.) duration under the same conditions. The average open time of the extrasynaptic channel produced by each drug is three to five times longer than the value found for junctional channels in normal fibres. 3. The average open time of the extrajunctional channel is dependent on temperature and membrane potential. Lowering the temperature or increasing the membrane potential increases the average open time of the channels induced by any one of the drugs. 4. The conductance of a single extrajunctional channel opened by the action of acetylcholine is estimated to be gammaextra = 15 +/- 1-8 pmho (+/- S.E.). This is somewhat lower than the value of gammaep = 23 +/- 2 pmho (+/- S.E.) found for the conductance of a single open channel in the junctional membrane of normal fibres. The extrasynaptic channels opened by the action of carbachol and suberyldicholine have similar conductances to those produced by ACh. 5. The autocorrelation function of drug-induced current fluctuations, recorded at the former end-plate region of chronically denervated fibres often shows both a fast and a slow time constant. They correspond in value to the time constant of the autocorrelation function obtained from end-plate currents in normal fibres and from extrasynaptic currents in denervated fibres respectively. This could indicate that two populations of channels exist at the former end-plate region of denervated muscle fibres.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1113/jphysiol.1976.sp011442

Erwin Neher

Papers

Cytosolic Ca2+ acts by two separate pathways to modulate the supply of release-competent vesicles in chromaffin cells.

The influence of intracellular calcium concentration on degranulation of dialysed mast cells from rat peritoneum.

Plasmalemmal phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate level regulates the releasable vesicle pool size in chromaffin cells.

Regulation of Releasable Vesicle Pool Sizes by Protein Kinase A-Dependent Phosphorylation of SNAP-25

Noise analysis of drug induced voltage clamp currents in denervated frog muscle fibres.