Role of persistent sodium and calcium currents in motoneuron firing and spasticity in chronic spinal rats

Serotonin facilitates a persistent calcium current in motoneurons of rats with and without chronic spinal cord injury

In the months after spinal cord transection, motoneurons in the rat spinal cord develop large persistent inward currents (PICs) that are responsible for muscle spasticity. These PICs are mediated by low-threshold TTX-sensitive sodium currents (Na PIC) and L-type calcium currents (Ca PIC). Recently, the Na PIC was shown to become supersensitive to serotonin (5-HT) after chronic injury. In the present paper, a similar change in the sensitivity of the Ca PIC to 5-HT was investigated after injury. The whole sacrocaudal spinal cord from acute spinal rats and spastic chronic spinal rats (S2 level transection 2 mo previously) was studied in vitro. Intracellular recordings were made from motoneurons and slow voltages ramps were applied to measure PICs. TTX was used to block the Na PIC. For motoneurons of chronic spinal rats, a low dose of 5-HT (1 microM) significantly lowered the threshold of the Ca PIC from -56.7 +/- 6.0 to -63.1 +/- 7.1 mV and increased the amplitude of the Ca PIC from 2.4 +/- 1.0 to 3.0 +/- 0.73 nA. Higher doses of 5-HT acted similarly. For motoneurons of acute spinal rats, low doses of 5-HT had no significant effects, whereas a high dose (about 30 microM) significantly lowered the threshold of the L-Ca PIC from -58.5 +/- 14.8 to -62.5 +/- 3.6 mV and increased the amplitude of the Ca PIC from 0.69 +/- 1.05 to 1.27 +/- 1.1 nA. Thus Ca PICs in motoneurons are about 30-fold supersensitive to 5-HT in chronic spinal rats. The 5-HT-induced facilitation of the Ca PIC was blocked by nimodipine, not by the I(h) current blocker Cs(+) (3 mM) or the SK current blocker apamin (0.15 microM), and it lasted for hours after the removal of 5-HT from the nCSF, even increasing initially after removing 5-HT. The effects of 5-HT make motoneurons more excitable and ultimately lead to larger, more easily activated plateaus and self-sustained firing. The supersensitivity to 5-HT suggests the small amounts of endogenous 5-HT below the injury in a chronic spinal rat may act on supersensitive receptors to produce large Ca PICs and ultimately enable muscle spasms.

Fast Amplification of Dynamic Synaptic Inputs in Spinal Motoneurons In Vivo

The ability of voltage-dependent inward currents (likely Na+) of the adult cat lumbar motoneurons to amplify rapidly changing (i.e., dynamic) synaptic inputs was investigated using in vivo intracellular recording techniques. Fast amplification was assessed by measuring the magnitude of the high-frequency (180 Hz) component of the Ia synaptic input due to tendon vibration as a function of somatic voltage and was compared with the previously observed amplification of steady inputs (steady state response of PICs to slow inputs). Data from 17 experiments show that amplification of the dynamic input indeed occurred and was directly linked to neuromodulatory drive (standard state: decerebrate with intact descending neuromodulatory systems vs. minimal state: pentobarbital with said systems significantly inhibited). Fast amplification factors averaged 2.0 ± 0.7 (mean ± SD) in the standard neuromodulatory state. That is, the effective synaptic current was nearly twice as large at its peak as it was at hyperpolarized levels, ranging as high as 2.6. Although fast amplification was often smaller than the amplification of steady inputs, the difference was not statistically significant. However, the voltage at which fast amplification began was ∼10 mV more depolarized ( P < 0.01). It is concluded that both dynamic and steady inputs can be amplified, but there may be differences in mechanism.

Role of voltage-gated L-type Ca2+ channel isoforms for brain function

Voltage-gated LTCCs (L-type Ca2+ channels) are established drug targets for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. LTCCs are also expressed outside the cardiovascular system. In the brain, LTCCs control synaptic plasticity in neurons, and DHP (dihydropyridine) LTCC blockers such as nifedipine modulate brain function (such as fear memory extinction and depression-like behaviour). Voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 are the predominant brain LTCCs. As DHPs and other classes of organic LTCC blockers inhibit both isoforms, their pharmacological distinction is impossible and their individual contributions to defined brain functions remain largely unknown. Here, we summarize our recent experiments with two genetically modified mouse strains, which we generated to explore the individual biophysical features of Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 LTCCs and to determine their relative contributions to various physiological peripheral and neuronal functions. The results described here also allow predictions about the pharmacotherapeutic potential of isoform-selective LTCC modulators.

Plasticity of connections underlying locomotor recovery after central and/or peripheral lesions in the adult mammals

This review discusses some aspects of plasticity of connections after spinal injury in adult animal models as a basis for functional recovery of locomotion. After reviewing some pitfalls that must be avoided when claiming functional recovery and the importance of a conceptual framework for the control of locomotion, locomotor recovery after spinal lesions, mainly in cats, is summarized. It is concluded that recovery is partly due to plastic changes within the existing spinal locomotor networks. Locomotor training appears to change the excitability of simple reflex pathways as well as more complex circuitry. The spinal cord possesses an intrinsic capacity to adapt to lesions of central tracts or peripheral nerves but, as a rule, adaptation to lesions entails changes at both spinal and supraspinal levels. A brief summary of the spinal capacity of the rat, mouse and human to express spinal locomotor patterns is given, indicating that the concepts derived mainly from work in the cat extend to other adult mammals. It is hoped that some of the issues presented will help to evaluate how plasticity of existing connections may combine with and potentiate treatments designed to promote regeneration to optimize remaining motor functions.

In vitro sacral cord preparation and motoneuron recording from adult mice

We report the development of an intracellular recording technique for adult mouse motoneurons in sacral spinal cord. Based on a similar preparation for adult rat, we modified the cord preparation solution and filled the sharp electrode with a solution that has physiological osmolarity and pH. The viability of the preparation was examined by recording root reflexes. Short-latency reflexes mediated through monosynaptic transmission between S1 and S3 ventral root were reliably produced by dorsal root electrical stimuli and were stably recorded for more than eight hours. Long-lasting potentiation of the root reflex was observed by bath application of methoxamine, a noradrenergic alpha1 receptor agonist. Bath application of strychnine and picrotoxin, antagonists for glycine and GABA(A) receptors respectively, unmasked long-lasting reflexes that may contain polysynaptic components. In addition, on the background of strychnine and picrotoxin, adding methoxamine induced spontaneous ventral root activity. For intracellular recording, the motoneurons could be reliably penetrated and held for up to 30 min. In all 16 motoneurons recorded, resting membrane potential, input resistance, action potentials and repetitive firing were comparable to those of rat motoneurons. Thus, this preparation is viable and provides a new method for combined electrophysiological and genetic studies of the adult mouse spinal cord.

Tenascin-R restricts posttraumatic remodeling of motoneuron innervation and functional recovery after spinal cord injury in adult mice

Tenascin-R (TNR) is an extracellular glycoprotein in the CNS implicated in neural development and plasticity. Its repellent properties for growing axons in a choice situation with a conducive substrate in vitro have indicated that TNR may impede regeneration in the adult mammalian CNS. Here we tested whether constitutive lack of TNR has beneficial impacts on recovery from spinal cord injury in adult mice. Using the Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating scale, we found that open-field locomotion in TNR-deficient (TNR-/-) mice recovered better that in wild-type (TNR+/+) littermates after compression of the thoracic spinal cord. We also designed, validated, and applied a motion analysis approach allowing numerical assessment of motor functions. We found, in agreement with the BBB score, that functions requiring low levels of supraspinal control such as plantar stepping improved more in TNR-/- mice. This was not the case for motor tasks demanding precision such as ladder climbing. Morphological analyses revealed no evidence that improved recovery of some functions in the mutant mice were attributable to enhanced tissue sparing or axonal regrowth. Estimates of perisomatic puncta revealed reduced innervation by cholinergic and GABAergic terminals around motoneurons in intact TNR-/- compared with TNR+/+ mice. Relative to nonlesioned animals, spinal cord repair was associated with increase in GABAergic and decrease of glutamatergic puncta in TNR-/- but not in TNR+/+ mice. Our results suggest that TNR restricts functional recovery by limiting posttraumatic remodeling of synapses around motoneuronal cell bodies where TNR is normally expressed in perineuronal nets.

Frequency-current relationships of rat hindlimb alpha-motoneurones

The purpose of this study was to describe the frequency-current (f-I) relationships of hindlimb alpha-motoneurones (MNs) in both anaesthetized and decerebrate rats in situ. Sprague-Dawley rats (250-350 g) were anaesthetized with ketamine and xylazine (KX) or subjected to a precollicular decerebration prior to recording electrophysiological properties from sciatic nerve MNs. Motoneurones from KX-anaesthetized rats had a significantly (P < 0.01) hyperpolarized resting membrane potential and voltage threshold (Vth), increased rheobase current, and a trend (P = 0.06) for a smaller after-hyperpolarization (AHP) amplitude compared to MNs from decerebrate rats. In response to 5 s ramp current injections, MNs could be categorized into four f-I relationship types: (1) linear; (2) adapting; (3) linear + sustained; and (4) late acceleration. Types 3 and 4 demonstrated self-sustained firing owing to activation of persistent inward current (PIC). We estimated the PIC amplitude by subtracting the current at spike derecruitment from the current at spike recruitment. Neither estimated PIC nor f-I slopes differed between fast and slow MNs (slow MNs exhibited AHP half-decay times > 20 ms) or between MNs from KX-anaesthetized and decerebrate rats. Motoneurones from KX-anaesthetized rats had significantly (P < 0.02) hyperpolarized ramp Vth values and smaller and shorter AHP amplitudes and decay times compared to MNs from decerebrate rats. Pentobarbitone decreased the estimated PIC amplitude and almost converted the f-I relationship from type 3 to type 1. In summary, MNs of animals subjected to KX anaesthesia required more current for spike initiation and rhythmic discharge but retained large PICs and self-sustained firing. The KX-anaesthestized preparation enables direct recording of PICs in MNs from intact animals.

Endogenous monoamine receptor activation is essential for enabling persistent sodium currents and repetitive firing in rat spinal motoneurons

The spinal cord and spinal motoneurons are densely innervated by terminals of serotonin (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) neurons arising mostly from the brain stem, but also from intrinsic spinal neurons. Even after long-term spinal transection (chronic spinal), significant amounts (10%) of 5-HT and NE (monoamines) remain caudal to the injury. To determine the role of such endogenous monoamines, we blocked their action with monoamine receptor antagonists and measured changes in the sodium currents and firing in motoneurons. We focused on persistent sodium currents (Na PIC) and sodium spike properties because they are critical for enabling repetitive firing in motoneurons and are facilitated by monoamines. Intracellular recordings were made from motoneurons in the sacrocaudal spinal cord of normal and chronic spinal rats (2 mo postsacral transection) with the whole sacrocaudal cord acutely removed and maintained in vitro (cords from normal rats termed acute spinal). Acute and chronic spinal rats had TTX-sensitive Na PICs that were respectively 0.62 +/- 0.76 and 1.60 +/- 1.04 nA, with mean onset voltages of -63.0 +/- 5.6 and -64.1 +/- 5.4 mV, measured with slow voltage ramps. Application of 5-HT2A, 5-HT2C, and alpha1-NE receptor antagonists (ketanserin, RS 102221, and WB 4101, respectively) significantly reduced the Na PICs, and a combined application of these three monoamine antagonists completely eliminated the Na PIC, in both acute and chronic spinal rats. Likewise, reduction of presynaptic transmitter release (including 5-HT and NE) with long-term application of cadmium also eliminated the Na PIC. Associated with the elimination of the Na PIC in monoamine antagonists, the motoneurons lost their ability to fire during slow current ramps. At this point, the spike evoked by antidromic stimulation was not affected, suggesting that activation of the transient sodium current was not impaired. However, the spike evoked after a slow ramp depolarization was slightly reduced in height and rate-of-rise, suggesting decreased sodium channel availability as a result of increased channel inactivation. These results suggest that endogenous monoamine receptor activation is critical for enabling the Na PIC and decreasing sodium channel inactivation, ultimately enabling steady repetitive firing in both normal and chronic spinal rats.

Essential role of the persistent sodium current in spike initiation during slowly rising inputs in mouse spinal neurones

Spinal motoneurons, like many neurons, respond with repetitive spiking to sustained inputs. The afterhyperpolarization (AHP) that follows each spike, however, decays relatively slowly in motoneurons. The slow depolarization during this decay should allow sodium (Na+) channel inactivation to keep up with its activation and thus should prevent initiation of the next spike. We hypothesized that the persistent component of the total Na+ current provides the mechanism that generates a rate of rise sufficiently rapid to generate a spike. In large cultured spinal neurons, presumed to be primarily motoneurons, inhibition of persistent sodium current (NaP) by the drug riluzole at low concentrations resulted in a loss of repetitive firing. However, cells remained fully capable of producing spikes to transient inputs. These effects of riluzole were not due to insufficient depolarization, enhancement of the AHP, or sustained Na+ channel inactivation. To further test this hypothesis, computer simulations were performed with a kinetic Na+ channel model that provided greater independent control of NaP relative to transient Na+ current (NaT) than that provided by riluzole administration. The model was tuned to generate substantial NaP and exhibited good repetitive firing to slowly rising inputs. When NaP was sharply reduced without significantly altering NaT, the model reproduced the effects of riluzole administration, inducing failure of repetitive firing but allowing single spikes in response to sharp transients. These results strongly support the essential role of NaP in spike initiation to slow inputs in spinal neurons. NaP may play a fundamental role in determining how a neuron responds to sustained inputs.

5-HT2 receptor activation facilitates a persistent sodium current and repetitive firing in spinal motoneurons of rats with and without chronic spinal cord injury

We examined the modulation of persistent inward currents (PICs) by serotonin (5-HT) in spinal motoneurons of normal and chronic spinal rats. PICs are composed of both a TTX-sensitive persistent sodium current (Na PIC) and a nimodipine-sensitive persistent calcium current (Ca PIC), and we focused on quantifying the Na PIC (and its action on the total PIC), which is known to be critical in enabling repetitive firing. Intracellular recordings were made from motoneurons of the whole sacrocaudal spinal cord of normal adult rats after the cord was acutely transected at the S2 spinal level (acute spinal rat condition), removed from the animal, and then maintained in vitro. In vitro motoneuron recordings were likewise made from rats that had a sacral spinal transection 2 mo previously (chronic spinal rats). In motoneurons from acute spinal rats, moderately high doses of 5-HT (> or = 10 microM), or the 5-HT2 receptor agonist DOI (> or = 30 microM), significantly increased the total PIC, hyperpolarized the PIC onset voltage, and hyperpolarized the spike threshold, whereas lower doses had no effect. Both 5-HT and DOI specifically increased the Na PIC portion of the total PIC (tested with nimodipine blocking the Ca PIC). Additionally, 5-HT, but not DOI, depolarized the resting membrane potential (Vm) and increased the input resistance (Rm) in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore 5-HT2 receptor activation facilitated the Na PIC, whereas other 5-HT receptors modulated Vm and Rm. Motoneurons of chronic spinal rats responded to 5-HT and DOI in the same way, but with larger responses and at much lower doses (0.3-1 microM), thus exhibiting a 30-fold supersensitivity to 5-HT. Specifically the Na PIC was supersensitive to 5-HT2 receptor activation with DOI. Also, Rm and Vm were supersensitive to 5-HT. Consistent with the known critical role of the Na PIC in repetitive firing, enhancement of the Na PIC by DOI or 5-HT facilitated the repetitive firing evoked by steady current injection and enabled repetitive firing in a subpopulation of motoneurons of acute spinal rats that were initially unable to produce sustained repetitive firing. We suggest that after spinal transection, residual endogenous spinal sources of 5-HT help facilitate the Na PIC and repetitive firing. With chronic injury, the developed 5-HT supersensitivity more than compensates for lost brain stem 5-HT, so that the Na PIC is large and motoneurons are very excitable, thus contributing to spasticity.

Measuring dendritic distribution of membrane proteins

Neurons perform much of their integrative work in the dendritic tree, and spinal motoneurons have the largest tree of any cell. Electrical excitability is strongly influenced by dendrite membrane properties, which are difficult to measure directly. We describe a method to measure the distribution of ion channel membrane densities along dendritic trajectories. The method combines standard immunohistochemistry with reconstruction procedures for both large-scale and small-scale optical microscopy. Software written for Matlab then extracts the colocalization of the target ion channel with the target dye injected cell, and calculates the relative channel density per square micron of cell surface area, as a function of distance from the cell body. The technique can be used to quantify the localization and distribution of any immunoreactive moiety, and the software provides a flexible vehicle for sensitivity analysis, to validate heuristics for selecting thresholds.

Spasticity-assessment: a review

STUDY DESIGN

Review of the literature on the validity and reliability of assessment of spasticity and spasms.

OBJECTIVES

Evaluate the most frequently used methods for assessment of spasticity and spasms, with particular focus on individuals with spinal cord lesions.

SETTING

Clinic for Spinal Cord Injuries, Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen, and Department of Medical Physiology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

METHODS

The assessment methods are grouped into clinical, biomechanical and electrophysiological, and the correlation between these is evaluated.

RESULTS

Clinical methods: For assessment of spasticity, the Ashworth and the modified Ashworth scales are commonly used. They provide a semiquantitative measure of the resistance to passive movement, but have limited interrater reliability. Guidelines for the testing procedures should be adhered to. Spasm frequency scales seem not to have been tested for reliability. Biomechanical methods such as isokinetic dynamometers are of value when an objective quantitative measure of the resistance to passive movement is necessary. They play a minor role in the daily clinical evaluation of spasticity. Electrophysiological methods: These techniques have provided valuable insight to the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in spasticity, but none of these techniques provide an easy and reliable assessment of spasticity for use in the daily clinic.

CONCLUSION

A combination of electrophysiological and biomechanical techniques shows some promise for a full characterization of the spastic syndrome. There is a need of simple instruments, which provide a reliable quantitative measure with a low interrater variability.

Temporal sequence of changes in electrophysiological properties of oculomotor motoneurons during postnatal development

The temporal sequence of changes in electrophysiological properties during postnatal development in different neuronal populations has been the subject of previous studies. Those studies demonstrated major physiological modifications with age, and postnatal periods in which such changes are more pronounced. Until now, no similar systematic study has been performed in motoneurons of the oculomotor nucleus. This work has two main aims: first, to determine whether the physiological changes in oculomotor nucleus motoneurons follow a similar time course for different parameters; and second, to compare the temporal sequence with that in other neuronal populations. We recorded the electrophysiological properties of 134 identified oculomotor nucleus motoneurons from 1 to 40 days postnatal in brain slices of rats. The resting membrane potential did not significantly change with postnatal development, and it had a mean value of -61.8 mV. The input resistance and time constant diminished from 82.9-53.1 M omega and from 9.4-4.9 ms respectively with age. These decrements occurred drastically in a short time after birth (1-5 days postnatally). The motoneurons' rheobase gradually decayed from 0.29-0.11 nA along postnatal development. From birth until postnatal day 15 and postnatal day 20 respectively, the action potential shortened from 2.3-1.2 ms, and the medium afterhyperpolarization from 184.8-94.4 ms. The firing gain and the maximum discharge increased with age. The former rose continuously, while the increase in maximum discharge was most pronounced between postnatal day 16 and postnatal day 20. We conclude that the developmental sequence was not similar for all electrophysiological properties, and was unique for each neuronal population.

Functional plasticity following spinal cord lesions

Spinal cord injury results in marked modification and reorganization of several reflex pathways caudal to the injury. The sudden loss or disruption of descending input engenders substantial changes at the level of primary afferents, interneurons, and motoneurons thus dramatically influencing sensorimotor interactions in the spinal cord. As a general rule reflexes are initially depressed following spinal cord injury due to severe reductions in motoneuron excitability but recover and in some instances become exaggerated. It is thought that modified inhibitory connections and/or altered transmission in some of these reflex pathways after spinal injury as well as the recovery and enhancement of membrane properties in motoneurons underlie several symptoms such as spasticity and may explain some characteristics of spinal locomotion observed in spinally transected animals. Indeed, after partial or complete spinal lesions at the last thoracic vertebra cats recover locomotion when the hindlimbs are placed on a treadmill. Although some deficits in spinal locomotion are related to lesion of specific descending motor pathways, other characteristics can also be explained by changes in the excitability of reflex pathways mentioned above. Consequently it may be the case that to reestablish a stable walking pattern that modified afferent inflow to the spinal cord incurred after injury must be normalized to enable a more normal re-expression of locomotor rhythm generating networks. Indeed, recent evidence demonstrates that step training, which has extensively been shown to facilitate and ameliorate locomotor recovery in spinal animals, directly influences transmission in simple reflex pathways after complete spinal lesions.

Computational Estimation of the Distribution of L-type Ca2+Channels in Motoneurons Based on Variable Threshold of Activation of Persistent Inward Currents

In the presence of neuromodulators such as serotonin and noradrenaline, motoneurons exhibit persistent inward currents (PICs) that serve to amplify synaptic inputs. A major component of these PICs is mediated by L-type Ca(2+) channels. Estimates based on electrophysiological studies indicate that these channels are located on the dendrites, but immunohistochemical studies of their precise distribution have yielded different results. Our goal was to determine the distribution of these channels using computational methods. A theoretical analysis of the activation of PICs by a somatic current injection in the absence or presence of synaptic activity suggests that L-type Ca(2+) channels may be segregated to discrete hot spots 25-200 microm long and centered 100-400 microm from the soma in the dendritic tree. Compartmental models based on detailed anatomical measurements of the structure of feline neck motoneurons with L-type Ca(2+) channels incorporated in these regions produced plateau potentials resulting from PIC activation. Furthermore, we replicated the experimental observation that the somatic threshold at which PICs were activated was depolarized by tonic activation of inhibitory synapses and hyperpolarized by tonic activation of excitatory synapses. Models with L-type Ca(2+) channels distributed uniformly were unable to replicate the change in somatic threshold of PIC activation. Therefore we conclude that the set of L-type Ca(2+) channels mediating plateau potentials is restricted to discrete regions in the dendritic tree. Furthermore, this distribution leads to the compartmentalization of the dendritic tree of motoneurons into subunits whose sequential activation lead to the graded amplification of synaptic inputs.

Simulation of Ca2+ persistent inward currents in spinal motoneurones: mode of activation and integration of synaptic inputs

The goal of this study was to investigate the nature of activation of the dendritic calcium persistent inward current (Ca(2+) PIC) and its contribution to the enhancement and summation of synaptic inputs in spinal motoneurones. A compartmental cable model of a cat alpha-motoneurone was developed comprising the realistic dendritic distribution of Ia-afferent synapses and low-voltage-activated L-type calcium (Ca(v)1.3) channels distributed over the dendrites in a manner that was previously shown to match a wide set of experimental measurements. The level of synaptic activation was systematically increased and the resulting firing rate, somatic and dendritic membrane potentials, dendritic Ca(v)1.3 channel conductance, and dendritic Ca(2+) PIC were measured. Our simulation results suggest that during cell firing the dendritic Ca(2+) PIC is not activated in an all-or-none manner. Instead, it is initially activated in a graded manner with increasing synaptic input until it reaches its full activation level, after which additional increases in synaptic input result in minimal changes in the Ca(2+) PIC (PIC saturated). The range of graded activation of Ca(2+) PIC occurs when the cell is recruited and causes a steep increase in the firing frequency as the synaptic current is increased, coinciding with the secondary range of the synaptic frequency-current (F-I) relationship. Once the Ca(2+) PIC is saturated the slope of the F-I relationship is reduced, corresponding to the tertiary range of firing. When the post-spike afterhyperpolarization (AHP) is blocked, either directly by blocking the calcium-activated potassium channels, or indirectly by blocking the sodium spikes, the PIC is activated in an all-or-none manner with increasing synaptic input. Thus, the AHP serves to limit the depolarization of the cell during firing and enables graded, rather than all-or-none, activation of the Ca(2+) PIC. The graded activation of the Ca(2+) PIC with increasing synaptic input results in a graded (linear) enhancement and linear summation of synaptic inputs. In contrast, the saturated Ca(2+) PIC enhances synaptic inputs by a constant amount (constant current), and leads to less-than linear summation of multiple synaptic inputs. These model predictions improve our understanding of the mode of activation of the dendritic Ca(2+) PIC and its role in the enhancement and integration of synaptic inputs.

Systematic variation in effects of serotonin and norepinephrine on repetitive firing properties of ventral horn neurons

Spinal interneurons are essential integrators of descending and peripheral input that receive profuse monoaminergic influence from brainstem nuclei. In this study, the effects of the monoamines serotonin and norepinephrine on the intrinsic properties of ventral horn interneurons were investigated in a slice preparation of the lumbar cord of 7-19 day old rats. Three cell groups with distinct firing patterns in response to steps of injected current were observed and classified as repetitive-firing, initial-burst or single-spiking. Input conductance tended to be largest in single-spiking cells whereas repetitive-firing cells showed the greatest tendency for spontaneous firing and had the fastest rate of rise for the action potential. Rhythmic firing behaviors were defined by the frequency-current relation evoked by linearly increasing current ramps. The monoaminergic modulation of firing patterns and frequency-current relations was primarily studied in repetitive-firing cells. The frequency-current threshold current was decreased in cells with high pre-drug values and increased in cells with low pre-drug values. Therefore, monoamine administration decreased the input-output heterogeneity of the repetitive-firing cells by compressing the range of frequency-current threshold currents. This action of monoamines may have a key role in the suppression of sensory-evoked reflexes and the production of coordinated movement.

Persistent sodium currents and repetitive firing in motoneurons of the sacrocaudal spinal cord of adult rats

Months after sacral spinal transection in rats (chronic spinal rats), motoneurons below the injury exhibit large, low-threshold persistent inward currents (PICs), composed of persistent sodium currents (Na PICs) and persistent calcium currents (Ca PICs). Here, we studied whether motoneurons of normal adult rats also exhibited Na and Ca PICs when the spinal cord was acutely transected at the sacral level (acute spinal rats) and examined the role of the Na PIC in firing behavior. Intracellular recordings were obtained from motoneurons of acute and chronic spinal rats while the whole sacrocaudal spinal cord was maintained in vitro. Compared with chronic spinal rats, motoneurons of acute spinal rats were more difficult to activate because the input resistance was 22% lower and resting membrane potential was hyperpolarized 4.1 mV further below firing threshold (-50.9 +/- 6.2 mV). In acute spinal rats, during a slow voltage ramp, a PIC was activated subthreshold to the spike (at -57.2 +/- 5.0 mV) and reached a peak current of 1.11 +/- 1.21 nA. This PIC was less than one-half the size of that in chronic spinal rats (2.79 +/- 0.94 nA) and usually was not large enough to produce bistable behavior (plateau potentials and self-sustained firing not present), unlike in chronic spinal rats. The PIC was composed of two components: a TTX-sensitive Na PIC (0.44 +/- 0.36 nA) and a nimodipine-sensitive Ca PIC (0.78 +/- 0.82 nA). Both were smaller than in chronic spinal rats (but with similar Na/Ca ratio). The presence of the Na PIC was critical for normal repetitive firing, because no detectable Na PIC was found in the few motoneurons that could not fire repetitively during a slow ramp current injection and motoneurons that had large Na PICs more readily produced repetitive firing and had lower minimum firing rates compared with neurons with small Na PICs. Furthermore, when the Na PIC was selectively blocked with riluzole, steady repetitive firing was eliminated, even though transient firing could be evoked on a rapid current step and the spike itself was unaffected. In summary, only small Ca and Na PICs occur in acute spinal motoneurons, but the Na PIC is essential for steady repetitive firing. We discuss how availability of monoamines may explain the variability in Na PICs and firing in the normal and spinal animals.

Tolperisone-type drugs inhibit spinal reflexes via blockade of voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels

The spinal reflex depressant mechanism of tolperisone and some of its structural analogs with central muscle relaxant action was investigated. Tolperisone (50-400 microM), eperisone, lanperisone, inaperisone, and silperisone (25-200 microM) dose dependently depressed the ventral root potential of isolated hemisected spinal cord of 6-day-old rats. The local anesthetic lidocaine (100-800 microM) produced qualitatively similar depression of spinal functions in the hemicord preparation, whereas its blocking effect on afferent nerve conduction was clearly stronger. In vivo, tolperisone and silperisone as well as lidocaine (10 mg/kg intravenously) depressed ventral root reflexes and excitability of motoneurons. However, in contrast with lidocaine, the muscle relaxant drugs seemed to have a more pronounced action on the synaptic responses than on the excitability of motoneurons. Whole-cell measurements in dorsal root ganglion cells revealed that tolperisone and silperisone depressed voltage-gated sodium channel conductance at concentrations that inhibited spinal reflexes. Results obtained with tolperisone and its analogs in the [3H]batrachotoxinin A 20-alpha-benzoate binding in cortical neurons and in a fluorimetric membrane potential assay in cerebellar neurons further supported the view that blockade of sodium channels may be a major component of the action of tolperisone-type centrally acting muscle relaxant drugs. Furthermore, tolperisone, eperisone, and especially silperisone had a marked effect on voltage-gated calcium channels, whereas calcium currents were hardly influenced by lidocaine. These data suggest that tolperisone-type muscle relaxants exert their spinal reflex inhibitory action predominantly via a presynaptic inhibition of the transmitter release from the primary afferent endings via a combined action on voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels.

Motor unit behavior during clonus

Medial gastrocnemius surface electromyographic activity and intramuscular electromyographic activity were recorded from six individuals with chronic cervical spinal cord injury to document the recruitment order of motor units during clonus. Four subjects induced clonus that lasted up to 30 s while two subjects induced clonus that they actively stopped after 1 min. Mean clonus frequency in different subjects ranged from 4.7 to 7.0 Hz. Most of the 166 motor units recorded during clonus (98%) fired once during each contraction but at slightly different times during each cycle. Other motor units fired during some clonus cycles (1%) or in bursts (1%). When 59 pairs of units were monitored over consecutive clonus cycles (n = 5-89 cycles), only 8 pairs of units altered their recruitment order in some cycles. Recruitment reversals only occurred in units that fired close together in the clonus cycle. These data demonstrate that orderly motor unit recruitment occurs during involuntary contractions of muscles paralyzed chronically by cervical spinal cord injury, providing further support for the importance of spinal mechanisms in the control of human motor unit behavior.

Measurement and nature of firing rate adaptation in turtle spinal neurons

There is sparse literature on the profile of action potential firing rate (spike-frequency) adaptation of vertebrate spinal motoneurons, with most of the work undertaken on cells of the adult cat and young rat. Here, we provide such information on adult turtle motoneurons and spinal ventral-horn interneurons. We compared adaptation in response to intracellular injection of 30-s, constant-current stimuli into high-threshold versus low-threshold motoneurons and spontaneously firing versus non-spontaneously-firing interneurons. The latter were shown to possess some adaptive properties that differed from those of motoneurons, including a delayed initial adaptation and more predominant reversal of adaptation attributable to plateau potentials. Issues were raised concerning the interpretation of changes in the action potentials' afterhyperpolarization shape parameters throughout spike-frequency adaptation. No important differences were demonstrated in the adaptation of the two motoneuron and two interneuron groups. Each of these groups, however, was modeled by its own unique combination of action potential shape parameters for the simulation of its 30-s duration of spike-frequency adaptation. Also, for a small sample of the very highest-threshold versus lowest-threshold motoneurons, the former group had significantly more adaptation than the latter. This finding was like that shown previously for cat motoneurons supplying fast- versus slow twitch motor units.

Motor neuron firing dysfunction in spastic patients with primary lateral sclerosis

Patients with corticospinal tract dysfunction have slow voluntary movements with brisk stretch reflexes and spasticity. Previous studies reported reduced firing rates of motor units during voluntary contraction. To assess whether this firing behavior occurs because motor neurons do not respond normally to excitatory inputs, we studied motor units in patients with primary lateral sclerosis, a degenerative syndrome of progressive spasticity. Firing rates were measured from motor units in the wrist extensor muscles at varying levels of voluntary contraction < or =10% maximal force. At each force level, the firing rate was measured with and without added muscle vibration, a maneuver that repetitively activates muscle spindles. In motor units from age-matched control subjects, the firing rate increased with successively stronger contractions as well as with the addition of vibration at each force level. In patients with primary lateral sclerosis, motor-unit firing rates remained stable, or in some cases declined, with progressively stronger contractions or with muscle vibration. We conclude that excitatory inputs produce a blunted response in motor neurons in patients with primary lateral sclerosis compared with age-matched controls. The potential explanations include abnormal activation of voltage-activated channels that produce stable membrane plateaus at low voltages, abnormal recruitment of the motor pool, or tonic inhibition of motor neurons.

Regulation of neuronal excitability through pumilio-dependent control of a sodium channel gene

Dynamic changes in synaptic connectivity and strength, which occur during both embryonic development and learning, have the tendency to destabilize neural circuits. To overcome this, neurons have developed a diversity of homeostatic mechanisms to maintain firing within physiologically defined limits. In this study, we show that activity-dependent control of mRNA for a specific voltage-gated Na+ channel [encoded by paralytic (para)] contributes to the regulation of membrane excitability in Drosophila motoneurons. Quantification of para mRNA, by real-time reverse-transcription PCR, shows that levels are significantly decreased in CNSs in which synaptic excitation is elevated, whereas, conversely, they are significantly increased when synaptic vesicle release is blocked. Quantification of mRNA encoding the translational repressor pumilio (pum) reveals a reciprocal regulation to that seen for para. Pumilio is sufficient to influence para mRNA. Thus, para mRNA is significantly elevated in a loss-of-function allele of pum (pum(bemused)), whereas expression of a full-length pum transgene is sufficient to reduce para mRNA. In the absence of pum, increased synaptic excitation fails to reduce para mRNA, showing that Pum is also necessary for activity-dependent regulation of para mRNA. Analysis of voltage-gated Na+ current (I(Na)) mediated by para in two identified motoneurons (termed aCC and RP2) reveals that removal of pum is sufficient to increase one of two separable I(Na) components (persistent I(Na)), whereas overexpression of a pum transgene is sufficient to suppress both components (transient and persistent). We show, through use of anemone toxin (ATX II), that alteration in persistent I(Na) is sufficient to regulate membrane excitability in these two motoneurons.

Changes during the postnatal development in physiological and anatomical characteristics of rat motoneurons studied in vitro

The postnatal maturation of rat brainstem (oculomotor and hypoglossal nuclei) and spinal motoneurons, based on data collected from in vitro studies, is reviewed here. Membrane input resistance diminishes with age, but to a greater extent for hypoglossal than for oculomotor motoneurons. The time constant of the membrane diminishes with age in a similar fashion for both oculomotor and hypoglossal motoneurons. The current required to reach threshold (rheobase) decreases in oculomotor motoneurons, in contrast with the increase observed in hypoglossal motoneurons. The depolarization voltage required to generate an action potential also diminishes in oculomotor motoneurons, whereas it remains constant in hypoglossal motoneurons. A membrane potential rectification (sag) appears in response to negative current steps, hyperpolarizing brainstem motoneurons more than 20 mV relative to the rest. This membrane response is more frequent in adult motoneurons. The durations of the action potential and its medium afterhyperpolarization (mAHP) decrease with postnatal development in all motoneurons studied, although the shortening of mAHP is more evident in oculomotor motoneurons. A rise in firing rate for all motoneurons with age is universal; this trend is also more pronounced in oculomotor motoneurons. Developing motoneurons exhibit a postinhibitory rebound depolarization that is capable of triggering an action potential or a short burst of spikes. This phenomenon is voltage-dependent and requires less of a membrane hyperpolarization to elicit an action potential in adult than in neonatal cells. In all developing brainstem and spinal motoneurons, the adult somal size is reached within the newborn period, although their dendrites continue to elongate. In summary, input resistance, time constant, and durations of action potential and mAHP decrease, while the frequency of sag and postinhibitory rebound, as well as the motoneuron firing rate and dendritic length, increase with postnatal age. These trends are universal to all the motoneuronal populations studied; however, the extent of these changes differs for each motoneuronal pool. A further distinction is evident in the inconsistent age-dependent change in rheobase and depolarization voltage for the two brainstem motoneuron nuclei.

Persistent inward currents in motoneuron dendrites: implications for motor output

The dendrites of motoneurons are not, as once thought, passive conduits for synaptic inputs. Instead they have voltage-dependent channels that provide the capacity to generate a very strong persistent inward current (PIC). The amplitude of the PIC is proportional to the level of neuromodulatory input from the brainstem, which is mediated primarily by the monoamines serotonin and norepinephrine. During normal motor behavior, monoaminergic drive is likely to be moderately strong and the dendritic PIC generates many of the characteristic features of motor unit firing patterns. Most of the PIC activates at or below recruitment threshold and thus motor unit firing patterns exhibit a linear increase just above recruitment. The dendritic PIC allows motor unit derecruitment to occur at a lower input level than recruitment, thus providing sustained tonic firing with little or no synaptic input, especially in low-threshold units. However the dendritic PIC can be readily deactivated by synaptic inhibition. The overall amplification due to the dendritic PIC and other effects of monoamines on motoneurons greatly increases the input-output gain of the motor pool. Thus the brainstem neuromodulatory input provides a mechanism by which the excitability of motoneurons can be varied for different motor behaviors. This control system is lost in spinal cord injury but PICs nonetheless recover near-normal amplitudes in the months following the initial injury. The relationship of these findings to the cause of the spasticity syndrome developing after spinal cord injury is discussed.

Effects of baclofen on spinal reflexes and persistent inward currents in motoneurons of chronic spinal rats with spasticity

In the months after spinal cord injury, motoneurons develop large voltage-dependent persistent inward currents (PICs) that cause sustained reflexes and associated muscle spasms. These muscle spasms are triggered by any excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) that is long enough to activate the PICs, which take > 100 ms to activate. The PICs are composed of a persistent sodium current (Na PIC) and a persistent calcium current (Ca PIC). Considering that Ca PICs have been shown in other neurons to be inhibited by baclofen, we tested whether part of the antispastic action of baclofen was to reduce the motoneuron PICs as opposed to EPSPs. The whole sacrocaudal spinal cord from acute spinal rats and spastic chronic spinal rats (with sacral spinal transection 2 mo previously) was studied in vitro. Ventral root reflexes were recorded in response to dorsal root stimulation. Intracellular recordings were made from motoneurons, and slow voltage ramps were used to measure PICs. Chronic spinal rats exhibited large monosynaptic and long-lasting polysynaptic ventral root reflexes, and motoneurons had associated large EPSPs and PICs. Baclofen inhibited these reflexes at very low doses with a 50% inhibition (EC50) of the mono- and polysynaptic reflexes at 0.26 +/- 0.07 and 0.25 +/- 0.09 (SD) microM, respectively. Baclofen inhibited the monosynaptic reflex in acute spinal rats at even lower doses (EC50 = 0.18 +/- 0.02 microM). In chronic (and acute) spinal rats, all reflexes and EPSPs were eliminated with 1 microM baclofen with little change in motoneuron properties (PICs, input resistance, etc), suggesting that baclofen's antispastic action is presynaptic to the motoneuron. Unexpectedly, in chronic spinal rats higher doses of baclofen (20-30 microM) significantly increased the total motoneuron PIC by 31.6 +/- 12.4%. However, the Ca PIC component (measured in TTX to block the Na PIC) was significantly reduced by baclofen. Thus baclofen increased the Na PIC and decreased the Ca PIC with a net increase in total PIC. By contrast, when a PIC was induced by 5-HT (10-30 microM) in motoneurons of acute spinal rats, baclofen (20-30 microM) significantly decreased the PIC by 38.8 +/- 25.8%, primarily due to a reduction in the Ca PIC (measured in TTX), which dominated the total PIC in these acute spinal neurons. In summary, baclofen does not exert its antispastic action postsynaptically at clinically achievable doses (< 1 microM), and at higher doses (10-30 microM), baclofen unexpectedly increases motoneuron excitability (Na PIC) in chronic spinal rats.

Spastic long-lasting reflexes of the chronic spinal rat studied in vitro

Over the months following sacral spinal cord transection in adult rats, a pronounced spasticity syndrome emerges in the affected tail musculature, where long-lasting muscle spasms can be evoked by low-threshold afferent stimulation (termed long-lasting reflex). To develop an in vitro preparation to examine the neuronal mechanisms underlying spasticity, we removed the whole sacrocaudal spinal cord of these spastic chronic spinal rats (>1 mo after S(2) sacral spinal transection) and maintained it in artificial cerebral spinal fluid in a recording chamber. The ventral roots were mounted on monopolar recording electrodes in grease, and the reflex responses to dorsal root stimulation were recorded and compared with the reflexes seen in the awake chronic spinal rat. When the dorsal roots were stimulated with a single pulse, a long-lasting reflex occurred in the ventral roots, with identical characteristics to the long-lasting reflex in the awake spastic rat tail. The reflex response was low threshold (T), short latency, long duration ( approximately 2 s), and enhanced by repeated stimulation. Brief high-frequency stimulation trains (0.5 s, 100 Hz, 1.5 x T) evoked even longer duration responses (5-10 s), with repeated bursts of activity that were similar to the repeated muscle spasms evoked in awake rats with stimulation trains or manual skin stimulation. Stimulation of a given dorsal root evoked long-lasting reflexes in both the ipsilateral and contralateral ventral roots. Long-lasting reflexes did not occur in the sacrocaudal spinal cord of acute spinal rats (S(2) transection), which is similar to the areflexia seen in awake acute spinal rats. However, long-lasting reflexes could be made to occur in the acute spinal rat by altering K(+) (7 mM) or Mg(2+) (0 mM) concentrations, or by application of high doses of the neuromodulators norepinephrine (NE, >20 microM) or serotonin (5-HT, >20 microM). In chronic spinal rats, much lower doses of these neuromodulators (0.1 microM) enhanced the long-lasting reflexes, suggesting a denervation supersensitivity to 5-HT and NE following injury. Higher doses of NE or 5-HT produced a paradoxical inhibition of the long-lasting reflexes. The high dose inhibition by NE was mimicked by the alpha(2)-adrenergic receptor agonist clonidine but not the alpha(1)-adrenergic receptor agonist methoxamine. In summary, the sacral spinal in vitro preparation offers a new approach to the study of spinal cord injury and analysis of antispastic drugs.

Spastic Long-Lasting Reflexes in the Awake Rat After Sacral Spinal Cord Injury

Following chronic sacral spinal cord transection in rats the affected tail muscles exhibit marked spasticity, with characteristic long-lasting tail spasms evoked by mild stimulation. The purpose of the present paper was to characterize the long-lasting reflex seen in tail muscles in response to electrical stimulation of the tail nerves in the awake spastic rat, including its development with time and relation to spasticity. Before and after sacral spinal transection, surface electrodes were placed on the tail for electrical stimulation of the caudal nerve trunk (mixed nerve) and for recording EMG from segmental tail muscles. In normal and acute spinal rats caudal nerve trunk stimulation evoked little or no EMG reflex. By 2 wk after injury, the same stimulation evoked long-lasting reflexes that were 1) very low threshold, 2) evoked from rest without prior EMG activity, 3) of polysynaptic latency with >6 ms central delay, 4) about 2 s long, and 5) enhanced by repeated stimulation (windup). These reflexes produced powerful whole tail contractions (spasms) and developed gradually over the weeks after the injury (≤52 wk tested), in close parallel to the development of spasticity. Pure low-threshold cutaneous stimulation, from electrical stimulation of the tip of the tail, also evoked long-lasting spastic reflexes, not seen in acute spinal or normal rats. In acute spinal rats a strong C-fiber stimulation of the tip of the tail (20 × T) could evoke a weak EMG response lasting about 1 s. Interestingly, when this C-fiber stimulation was used as a conditioning stimulation to depolarize the motoneuron pool in acute spinal rats, a subsequent low-threshold stimulation of the caudal nerve trunk evoked a 300–500 ms long reflex, similar to the onset of the long-lasting reflex in chronic spinal rats. A similar conditioned reflex was not seen in normal rats. Thus there is an unusually long low-threshold polysynaptic input to the motoneurons (pEPSP) that is normally inhibited by descending control. This pEPSP is released from inhibition immediately after injury but does not produce a long-lasting reflex because of a lack of motoneuron excitability. With chronic injury the motoneuron excitability is increased markedly, and the pEPSP then triggers sustained motoneuron discharges associated with long-lasting reflexes and muscle spasms.

The excitability of lumbar motoneurones in the neonatal rat is increased by a hyperpolarization of their voltage threshold for activation by descending serotonergic fibres

Previous work has shown there is an increase in motoneurone excitability produced by hyperpolarization of the threshold potential at which an action potential is elicited (Vth) at the onset, and throughout brainstem-induced fictive locomotion in the decerebrate cat. This represents a transient facilitation in the membrane potential for activation dependent on the presence of fictive locomotion. The present study tests the hypothesis that a similar neuromodulatory mechanism facilitating neuronal recruitment also exists in the neonatal rat, and the endogenous pathway mediating the Vth hyperpolarization can be activated by electrical stimulation of the neonatal brainstem. Isolated brainstem-spinal cord preparations from 1- to 5-day-old neonatal rats, and whole-cell recording techniques were used to examine the patterns of ventral root (VR) activity produced, and the effect of electrical stimulation of the ventromedial medulla on lumbar spinal neurones. Hyperpolarization of Vth was seen in 10/11 (range -2 to -18 mV) neurones recorded during locomotor-like VR activity, and appeared analogous to the locomotor-dependent Vth hyperpolarization previously described in the cat. However, in the present study, Vth hyperpolarization was also seen during electrical brainstem stimulation that evoked alternating, rhythmic, or tonic VR activity, or failed to evoke VR activity. Thirty-six of 71 neurones were antidromically identified as lumbar motoneurones and 33/36 showed a hyperpolarization of Vth (-2 to -14 mV) during electrical brainstem stimulation. Of the unidentified lumbar ventral horn neurones, 31/35 also showed hyperpolarization of Vth (-2 to -20 mV) during brainstem stimulation. The hyperpolarization of Vth and VR activity induced by brainstem stimulation was reversibly blocked by cooling of the cervical cord, indicating it is mediated by descending fibres, and application of the serotonergic antagonist ketanserin to the spinal cord was effectively able to block the brainstem-evoked hyperpolarization of Vth. These results demonstrate a previously unknown action of the endogenous descending serotonergic system to facilitate spinal motoneuronal recruitment and firing by inducing a hyperpolarization of Vth. This modulatory process can be examined in the neonatal rat brainstem-spinal cord preparation without the requirement for ongoing locomotor activity.

Monoamines increase the excitability of spinal neurones in the neonatal rat by hyperpolarizing the threshold for action potential production

During fictive locomotion in the adult decerebrate cat, motoneurone excitability is increased by a hyperpolarization of the threshold potential at which an action potential is elicited (V(th)). This lowering of V(th) occurs at the onset of fictive locomotion, is evident for the first action potential elicited and is presumably caused by a neuromodulatory process. The present study tests the hypothesis that the monoamines serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline (NA) can hyperpolarize neuronal V(th). The neonatal rat isolated spinal cord preparation and whole-cell recording techniques were used to examine the effects of bath-applied 5-HT and NA on the V(th) of spinal ventral horn neurones. In the majority of lumbar ventral horn neurones, 5-HT (13/26) and NA (10/16) induced a hyperpolarization of V(th) ranging from -2 to -8 mV. 5-HT and NA had similar effects on V(th) for individual neurones. This hyperpolarization of V(th) was not due to a reduction of an accommodative process, and could be seen without changes in membrane potential or membrane resistance. These data reveal a previously unknown action of 5-HT and NA, hyperpolarization of V(th) of spinal neurones, a process that would facilitate both neuronal recruitment and firing.