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Predicate | Object |
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rdf:type | |
lifeskim:mentions | |
pubmed:issue |
17
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pubmed:dateCreated |
1998-9-9
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pubmed:abstractText |
Dopaminergic interplexiform amacrine cells were labeled in transgenic mice with human placental alkaline phosphatase and could therefore be identified after dissociation of the retina and used for whole-cell current and voltage clamp. In absence of synaptic inputs, dopaminergic amacrines spontaneously fired action potentials in a rhythmic pattern. This activity was remarkably robust in the face of inhibition of various voltage-dependent ion channels. It was minimally affected by external cesium or cobalt, suggesting no involvement of either the hyperpolarization-activated cation current Ih or voltage-dependent calcium channels. Inhibiting calcium-activated potassium channels by charybdotoxin or tetraethylammonium slowed the repolarizing phase of the action potentials and eliminated a slow afterhyperpolarization but had a scarce effect on the frequency of spontaneous firing. Voltage-clamp experiments showed that the interspike depolarization leading to threshold results from tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium channels active at the interspike voltages of -60 to -40 mV. Because dopamine acts on distant targets in the retina, the pacemaker activity of dopaminergic amacrines may be necessary to ensure a tonic release of the modulator from their dendritic tree. Pacemaking is a property that this type of retinal amacrine cell shares with the dopaminergic mesencephalic neurons, but the ionic mechanisms responsible for the spontaneous firing are apparently different.
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pubmed:grant | |
pubmed:language |
eng
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pubmed:journal | |
pubmed:citationSubset |
IM
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pubmed:chemical | |
pubmed:status |
MEDLINE
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pubmed:month |
Sep
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pubmed:issn |
0270-6474
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pubmed:author | |
pubmed:issnType |
Print
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pubmed:day |
1
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pubmed:volume |
18
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pubmed:owner |
NLM
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pubmed:authorsComplete |
Y
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pubmed:pagination |
6776-89
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pubmed:dateRevised |
2007-11-14
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pubmed:meshHeading |
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Animals,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Calcium Channels,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Dopamine,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Membrane Potentials,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Mice,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Mice, Transgenic,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Patch-Clamp Techniques,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Potassium Channels,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Retina,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Sodium Channels,
pubmed-meshheading:9712649-Tetrodotoxin
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pubmed:year |
1998
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pubmed:articleTitle |
Spontaneous activity of solitary dopaminergic cells of the retina.
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pubmed:affiliation |
Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
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pubmed:publicationType |
Journal Article,
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.,
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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