Double-barreled and Concentric Microelectrodes for Measurement of Extracellular Ion Signals in Brain Tissue

Electrical activity in the brain is accompanied by significant ion fluxes across membranes, resulting in complex changes in the extracellular ...

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Mg2+-extrusion from Mg2+-loaded neurons of the leech, Hirudo medicinalis, is mediated mainly by Na+/Mg2+ antiport. However, in a number of leech neurons, Mg2+ is extruded in the nominal absence of extracellular Na+, indicating the existence of an additional, Na+-independent Mg2+ transport mechanism. This mechanism was investigated using electrophysiological and microfluorimetrical techniques. The rate of Na+-independent Mg2+ extrusion from Mg2+-loaded leech neurons was found to be independent of extracellular Ca2+, K+, NO3-, HCO3-, SO4(2-), HPO4(2-), and of intra- and extracellular pH. Na+-independent Mg2+ extrusion was not inhibited by 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS), furosemide, ouabain, vanadate, iodoacetate, 4-amino-hippurate, or alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate and was not influenced by changes in the membrane potential in voltage-clamp experiments. Na+-independent Mg2+ extrusion was, however, inhibited by the application of 2 mM probenecid, a blocker of organic anion transporters, suggesting that Mg2+ might be co-transported with organic anions. Extracellularly, of all organic anions tested (malate, citrate, lactate, alpha-ketoglutarate, and 4-amino-hippurate) only high, but physiological, concentrations of malate (30 mM) had a significant inhibitory effect on Na+-independent Mg2+ extrusion. Intracellularly, iontophoretically injected malate, citrate, or fura-2, but not Cl-, alpha-ketoglutarate, glutamate, succinate, or urate, were stimulating Na+-independent Mg2+ extrusion from those neurons that initially did not extrude Mg2+ in Na+-free solutions. Our data indicate that Mg2+ is co-transported with organic anions, preferably with malate, the predominant extracellular anion in the leech. The proposed model implies that, under experimental conditions, malate drives Mg2+ extrusion, whereas under physiological conditions, malate is actively taken up, driven by Mg2+, so that malate can be metabolized.

Mg2+-malate co-transport, a mechanism for Na+-independent Mg2+ transport in neurons of the leech Hirudo medicinalis.

Increased ammonium (NH(4) (+) ) concentration in the brain is the prime candidate responsible for hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a serious neurological disorder caused by liver failure and characterized by disturbed glutamatergic neurotransmission and impaired glial function. We investigated the mechanisms of NH(4) (+) -induced depolarization of astrocytes in mouse hippocampal slices using whole-cell patch-clamp and potassium-selective microelectrodes. At postnatal days (P) 18-21, perfusion with 5 mM NH(4) (+) evoked a transient increase in the extracellular potassium concentration ([K(+) ](o) ) by about 1 mM. Astrocytes depolarized by on average 8 mV and then slowly repolarized to a plateau depolarization of 6 mV, which was maintained during NH(4) (+) perfusion. In voltage-clamped astrocytes, NH(4) (+) induced an inward current and a reduction in membrane resistance. Amplitudes of [K(+) ](o) transients and astrocyte depolarization/inward currents increased from P3-4 to P18-21. Perfusion with 100 μM Ba(2+) did not alter [K(+) ](o) transients but strongly reduced both astrocyte depolarization and inward currents. NH(4) (+) -induced depolarization and inward currents were also virtually absent in slices from Kir4.1 -/- mice, while [K(+) ](o) transients were unaltered. Blocking Na(+) /K(+) -ATPase with ouabain caused an immediate and complex increase in [K(+) ](o) . Taken together, our results are in agreement with the hypothesis that reduced uptake of K(+) by the Na(+) , K(+) -ATPase in the presence of NH(4) (+) disturbs the extracellular K(+) homeostasis. Furthermore, astrocytes depolarize in response to the increase in [K(+) ](o) and by influx of NH(4) (+) through Kir4.1 channels. The depolarization reduces the astrocytes' capacity for channel-mediated flux of K(+) and for uptake of glutamate and might hereby contribute to the pathology of HE.

Kir4.1 channels mediate a depolarization of hippocampal astrocytes under hyperammonemic conditions in situ.

Astrocytes express two sodium-coupled transporters, glutamate-aspartate transporter (GLAST) and glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1), which are essential for the maintenance of low extracellular glutamate levels. We performed a comparative analysis of the laminar and subcellular expression profile of GLAST and GLT-1 in the developing postnatal mouse hippocampus by using immunohistochemistry and western blotting and employing high-resolution fluorescence microscopy. Astrocytes were identified by costaining with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) or S100β. In CA1, the density of GFAP-positive cells and GFAP expression rose during the first 2 weeks after birth, paralleled by a steady increase in GLAST immunoreactivity and protein content. Upregulation of GLT-1 was completed only at postnatal days (P) P20-25 and was thus delayed by about 10 days. GLAST staining was highest along the stratum pyramidale and was especially prominent in astrocytes at P3-5. GLAST immunoreactivity indicated no preferential localization to a specific cellular compartment. GLT-1 exhibited a laminar expression pattern from P10-15 on, with the highest immunoreactivity in the stratum lacunosum-moleculare. At the cellular level, GLT-1 immunoreactivity did not entirely cover astrocyte somata and exhibited clusters at processes. In neonatal and juvenile animals, discrete clusters of GLT-1 were also detected at perivascular endfeet. From these results, we conclude there is a remarkable subcellular heterogeneity of GLAST and GLT-1 expression in the developing hippocampus. The clustering of GLT-1 at astrocyte endfeet indicates that it might serve a specialized functional role at the blood-brain barrier during formation of the hippocampal network.

Laminar and subcellular heterogeneity of GLAST and GLT-1 immunoreactivity in the developing postnatal mouse hippocampus.

Neuronal excitation increases extracellular K(+) concentration ([K(+)]o) in vivo and in incubated brain tissue by stimulation of postsynaptic glutamatergic receptors and by channel-mediated K(+) release during action potentials. Convincing evidence exists that subsequent cellular K(+) reuptake occurs by active transport, normally mediated by Na(+),K(+)-ATPase. This enzyme is expressed both in neurons and in astrocytes but is stimulated by elevated [K(+)]o only in astrocytes. This might lead to an initial K(+) uptake in astrocytes, followed by Kir4.1-mediated release and neuronal reuptake. In cell culture experiments, K(+)-stimulated glycogenolysis is essential for operation of the astrocytic Na(+),K(+)-ATPase resulting from the requirement for glycogenolysis in a pathway leading to uptake of Na(+) for costimulation of its intracellular sodium-binding site. The astrocytic but not the neuronal Na(+),K(+)-ATPase is additionally stimulated by isoproterenol, a β-adrenergic agonist, but only at nonelevated [K(+)]o. This effect is also glycogenolysis dependent and might play a role during poststimulatory undershoots. Attempts to replicate dependence on glycogenolysis for K(+) reuptake in glutamate-stimulated brain slices showed similar [K(+)]o recovery half-lives in the absence and presence of the glycogenolysis inhibitor 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol. The undershoot was decreased, but to the same extent as an unexpected reduction of peak [K(+)]o increase. A potential explanation for this difference from the cell culture experiments is that astrocytic glutamate uptake might supply the cells with sufficient Na(+). Inhibition of action potential generation by tetrodotoxin caused only a marginal, nonsignificant decrease in stimulated [K(+)]o in brain slices, hindering the evaluation if K(+) reaccumulation after action potential propagation requires glycogenolysis in this preparation.

Simone Durry

Institute of Neurobiology

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Double-barreled and Concentric Microelectrodes for Measurement of Extracellular Ion Signals in Brain Tissue

Simone Durry

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Institute of Neurobiology

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Double-barreled and Concentric Microelectrodes for Measurement of Extracellular Ion Signals in Brain Tissue

Institute of Neurobiology