BK potassium currents contribute differently to action potential waveform and firing rate as rat hippocampal neurons mature in the first postnatal week

Large conductance voltage-and calcium-activated K+ (BK) channel in health and disease

Large Conductance Voltage- and Calcium-activated K+ (BK) channels are transmembrane pore-forming proteins that regulate cell excitability and are also expressed in non-excitable cells. They play a role in regulating vascular tone, neuronal excitability, neurotransmitter release, and muscle contraction. Dysfunction of the BK channel can lead to arterial hypertension, hearing disorders, epilepsy, and ataxia. Here, we provide an overview of BK channel functioning and the implications of its abnormal functioning in various diseases. Understanding the function of BK channels is crucial for comprehending the mechanisms involved in regulating vital physiological processes, both in normal and pathological conditions, controlled by BK. This understanding may lead to the development of therapeutic interventions to address BK channelopathies.

Hippocampome.org 2.0 is a knowledge base enabling data-driven spiking neural network simulations of rodent hippocampal circuits

Hippocampome.org is a mature open-access knowledge base of the rodent hippocampal formation focusing on neuron types and their properties. Previously, Hippocampome.org v1.0 established a foundational classification system identifying 122 hippocampal neuron types based on their axonal and dendritic morphologies, main neurotransmitter, membrane biophysics, and molecular expression (Wheeler et al., 2015). Releases v1.1 through v1.12 furthered the aggregation of literature-mined data, including among others neuron counts, spiking patterns, synaptic physiology, in vivo firing phases, and connection probabilities. Those additional properties increased the online information content of this public resource over 100-fold, enabling numerous independent discoveries by the scientific community. Hippocampome.org v2.0, introduced here, besides incorporating over 50 new neuron types, now recenters its focus on extending the functionality to build real-scale, biologically detailed, data-driven computational simulations. In all cases, the freely downloadable model parameters are directly linked to the specific peer-reviewed empirical evidence from which they were derived. Possible research applications include quantitative, multiscale analyses of circuit connectivity and spiking neural network simulations of activity dynamics. These advances can help generate precise, experimentally testable hypotheses and shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying associative memory and spatial navigation.

Hippocampome.org v2.0: a knowledge base enabling data-driven spiking neural network simulations of rodent hippocampal circuits

Hippocampome.org is a mature open-access knowledge base of the rodent hippocampal formation focusing on neuron types and their properties. Hippocampome.org v1.0 established a foundational classification system identifying 122 hippocampal neuron types based on their axonal and dendritic morphologies, main neurotransmitter, membrane biophysics, and molecular expression. Releases v1.1 through v1.12 furthered the aggregation of literature-mined data, including among others neuron counts, spiking patterns, synaptic physiology, in vivo firing phases, and connection probabilities. Those additional properties increased the online information content of this public resource over 100-fold, enabling numerous independent discoveries by the scientific community. Hippocampome.org v2.0, introduced here, besides incorporating over 50 new neuron types, now recenters its focus on extending the functionality to build real-scale, biologically detailed, data-driven computational simulations. In all cases, the freely downloadable model parameters are directly linked to the specific peer-reviewed empirical evidence from which they were derived. Possible research applications include quantitative, multiscale analyses of circuit connectivity and spiking neural network simulations of activity dynamics. These advances can help generate precise, experimentally testable hypotheses and shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying associative memory and spatial navigation.

Ca2+- and Voltage-Activated K+ (BK) Channels in the Nervous System: One Gene, a Myriad of Physiological Functions

BK channels are large conductance potassium channels characterized by four pore-forming α subunits, often co-assembled with auxiliary β and γ subunits to regulate Ca2+ sensitivity, voltage dependence and gating properties. BK channels are abundantly expressed throughout the brain and in different compartments within a single neuron, including axons, synaptic terminals, dendritic arbors, and spines. Their activation produces a massive efflux of K+ ions that hyperpolarizes the cellular membrane. Together with their ability to detect changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration, BK channels control neuronal excitability and synaptic communication through diverse mechanisms. Moreover, increasing evidence indicates that dysfunction of BK channel-mediated effects on neuronal excitability and synaptic function has been implicated in several neurological disorders, including epilepsy, fragile X syndrome, mental retardation, and autism, as well as in motor and cognitive behavior. Here, we discuss current evidence highlighting the physiological importance of this ubiquitous channel in regulating brain function and its role in the pathophysiology of different neurological disorders.

Sex-specific divergent maturational trajectories in the postnatal rat basolateral amygdala

In rodents and humans, the basolateral amygdala (BLA), essential for emotional behaviors, is profoundly reorganized during adolescence. We compared in both sexes the morphology, neuronal, and synaptic properties of BLA neurons in rats at puberty and adulthood. BLA neurons were more excitable in males than in females at adulthood. At pubescence, male action potentials were smaller and shorter than females’ while fast afterhyperpolarizations were larger in males. During postnatal maturation, spine length increased and decreased in females and males, respectively, while there was a reduction in spine head size in females. Excitatory synaptic properties, estimated from stimuli-response relationships, spontaneous post-synaptic currents, and AMPA/NMDA ratio also displayed sex-specific maturational differences. Finally, the developmental courses of long-term potentiation and depression were sexually dimorphic. These data reveal divergent maturational trajectories in the BLA of male and female rats and suggest sex-specific substrates to the BLA linked behaviors at adolescence and adulthood.

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The BLA is immature at puberty and its development toward adulthood is sex-specific

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At adulthood, neuronal excitability is lower in females than in males

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The maturation of spine morphology is more pronounced in females

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The developmental courses of LTP and LTD are sexually divergent

Estrogen-dependent KCa1.1 modulation is essential for retaining neuroexcitation of female-specific subpopulation of myelinated Ah-type baroreceptor neurons in rats

Female-specific subpopulation of myelinated Ah-type baroreceptor neurons (BRNs) in nodose ganglia is the neuroanatomical base of sexual-dimorphic autonomic control of blood pressure regulation, and KCa1.1 is a key player in modulating the neuroexcitation in nodose ganglia. In this study we investigated the exact mechanisms underlying KCa1.1-mediated neuroexcitation of myelinated Ah-type BRNs in the presence or absence of estrogen. BRNs were isolated from adult ovary intact (OVI) or ovariectomized (OVX) female rats, and identified electrophysiologically and fluorescently. Action potential (AP) and potassium currents were recorded using whole-cell recording. Consistently, myelinated Ah-type BRNs displayed a characteristic discharge pattern and significantly reduced excitability after OVX with narrowed AP duration and faster repolarization largely due to an upregulated iberiotoxin (IbTX)-sensitive component; the changes in AP waveform and repetitive discharge of Ah-types from OVX female rats were reversed by G1 (a selective agonist for estrogen membrane receptor GPR30, 100 nM) and/or IbTX (100 nM). In addition, the effect of G1 on repetitive discharge could be completely blocked by G15 (a selective antagonist for estrogen membrane receptor GPR30, 3 μM). These data suggest that estrogen deficiency by removing ovaries upregulates KCa1.1 channel protein in Ah-type BRNs, and subsequently increases AP repolarization and blunts neuroexcitation through estrogen membrane receptor signaling. Intriguingly, this upregulated KCa1.1 predicted electrophysiologically was confirmed by increased mean fluorescent intensity that was abolished by estrogen treatment. These electrophysiological findings combined with immunostaining and pharmacological manipulations reveal the crucial role of KCa1.1 in modulation of neuroexcitation especially in female-specific subpopulation of myelinated Ah-type BRNs and extend our current understanding of sexual dimorphism of neurocontrol of BP regulation.