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

Using patch-clamp techniques, excitation and secretion in chromaffin cells were studied by measurement of unitary inward currents and of stimulus-evoked increments in membrane capacitance. The effect of the calmodulin inhibitor trifluoperazine (TFP) on Na, Ca and acetylcholine-induced (ACh) currents as well as on capacitance increments was investigated. TFP in concentrations up to 10 microM had no effect on Na channel currents. TFP was a potent anticholinergic agent. TFP in concentrations of 100 nM-1 microM decreased net ACh-induced currents by a slow block or allosteric modification of the channel. The effect was only partially reversible. Recovery from desensitization was retarded in direct relation to [TFP]. At the single channel level, TFP was found to slightly shorten open times in 0.5 and 20 microM-ACh. As reported previously, desensitization can be modelled by at least two desensitized states, as reflected by the bursting and clustering behaviour of single channels. TFP shortened clusters mainly by reducing the number of bursts per cluster. Whole-cell Ca currents (ICa) were reduced in 10 microM-TFP from an average of 29 microA cm-2-13 microA cm-2. Changes in capacitance of 1-200 fF were elicited in controls by maximal activation of the Ca current. We interpreted these steps to be the summed result of many exocytotic vesicular fusion events. Capacitance steps depended on ICa and were absent when extracellular Ca was removed. Application of 10 microM-TFP inhibited capacitance steps. The block of capacitance steps by TFP was shown to be independent of the reduction of ACh and Ca inward ionic currents. We conclude that the prevention of exocytosis by TFP is not completely described by its inhibition of electrical excitability but also results from intracellular actions.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1113/jphysiol.1984.sp015350

Trifluoperazine reduces inward ionic currents and secretion by separate mechanisms in bovine chromaffin cells.

Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) allows one to study interactions between two fluorescently labeled molecules (donors and acceptors) at distances on the order of 5 nm. Many studies have described methods of how to measure the efficiency of FRET. However, few have addressed the question of how fluorescence from unpaired donors and acceptors can be determined in addition to that from FRET-pairs and how the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of such estimates depends on the presence of the partner species. Such knowledge, however, is essential for many biological applications, in which-after initial characterization of the spectral properties of a well-defined donor-acceptor complex-the in vivo affinity and stoichiometry of the complex is of interest. Here, we provide a theoretical analysis on how spectral fingerprinting can be applied to separate fluorescence of FRET pairs from that originating from unpaired donors and acceptors and how to select imaging parameters to optimize the SNR of the estimates. Thereby, we uncover a fundamental problem in this application and discuss ways to evade its adverse consequences. We compare the expected resolution of traditional FRET measures with that of optimized spectral fingerprinting and analyze the resolution of a method for FRET measurements that combines spectral with fluorescence lifetime information.

Applying spectral fingerprinting to the analysis of FRET images

A method is presented that allows one to estimate transmitter release rates from fluctuations of postsynaptic current records under conditions of stationary or slowly varying release. For experimental applications, we used the calyx of Held, a glutamatergic synapse, in which “residual current,” i.e., current attributable to residual glutamate in the synaptic cleft, is present. For a characterization of synaptic transmission, several postsynaptic parameters, such as the mean amplitude of the miniature postsynaptic current and an apparent single channel conductance, have to be known. These were obtained by evaluating variance and two more higher moments of the current fluctuations. In agreement with [Fesce et al. (1986)][1], we found both by simulations and by analyzing experimental records that high-pass filtering of postsynaptic currents renders the estimates remarkably tolerant against nonstationarities. We also found that release rates and postsynaptic parameters can be reliably obtained when release rates are low (∼10 events/msec). Furthermore, during a long-lasting stimulus, the transmitter release at the calyx of Held was found to decay to a low, stationary rate of 10 events/msec after depletion of the “releasable pool” of synaptic vesicles. This stationary release rate is compatible with the expected rate of recruitment of new vesicles to the release-ready pool of vesicles. MiniatureEPSC (mEPSC) size is estimated to be similar to the value of spontaneously occurring mEPSC under this condition.

 [1]: #ref-23

https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/21/24/9638.full.pdf

Estimating Transmitter Release Rates from Postsynaptic Current Fluctuations

https://pure.mpg.de/pubman/item/item_600669_3/component/file_2240676/600669.pdf

Fast scanning and efficient photodetection in a simple two-photon microscope.

A method was developed, to measure during a voltage clamp the current which flows through a limited area (104 μ2) of the soma membrane. In addition to an intracellular voltage clamp electrode, a fire-polished glass micropipette is placed on the soma surface (with slight suction applied), and only the clamp current through the pipette is measured. This measurement excludes uncontrolled currents from the axon. Alternatively the membrane “spot” (area under the pipette) can be voltage clamped while the rest of the cell is kept in the resting state. The latter method is an advantage with bigger cells where homogeneous clamp over the whole surface cannot be achieved.

Erwin Neher

Papers

Trifluoperazine reduces inward ionic currents and secretion by separate mechanisms in bovine chromaffin cells.

Applying spectral fingerprinting to the analysis of FRET images

Estimating Transmitter Release Rates from Postsynaptic Current Fluctuations

Fast scanning and efficient photodetection in a simple two-photon microscope.

Voltage clamp on helix pomatia neuronal membrane; Current measurement over a limited area of the soma surface