Long latency of evoked quantal transmitter release from somata of locus coeruleus neurons in rat pontine slices

H.-P. Huang, S.-R. Wang, W. Yao, C. Zhang, Y. Zhou, X.-W. Chen, B. Zhang, W. Xiong, L.-Y. Wang, L.-H. Zheng, M. Landry, T. Hokfelt, Z.-Q. D. Xu, Z. Zhou
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2007-01-16; 104(4): 1401-1406
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0608897104

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1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Jan 23;104(4):1401-6. Epub 2007 Jan 16.

Long latency of evoked quantal transmitter release from somata of locus coeruleus
neurons in rat pontine slices.

Huang HP(1), Wang SR, Yao W, Zhang C, Zhou Y, Chen XW, Zhang B, Xiong W, Wang LY,
Zheng LH, Landry M, Hökfelt T, Xu ZQ, Zhou Z.

Author information:
(1)Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031,
China.

The locus coeruleus (LC) harbors a compact group of noradrenergic cell bodies
projecting to virtually all parts of the central nervous system. By using
combined measurements of amperometry and patch-clamp, quantal vesicle release of
noradrenaline (NA) was detected as amperometric spikes, after depolarization of
the LC neurons. After a pulse depolarization, the average latency of amperometric
spikes was 1,870 ms, whereas the latency of glutamate-mediated excitatory
postsynaptic currents was 1.6 ms. A substantial fraction of the
depolarization-induced amperometric spikes originated from the somata. In
contrast to glutamate-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents, NA secretion was
strongly modulated by the action potential frequency (0.5-50 Hz). Somatodendritic
NA release from LC upon enhanced cell activity produced autoinhibition of firing
and of NA release. We conclude that, in contrast to classic synaptic
transmission, quantal NA release from LC somata is characterized by a number of
distinct properties, including long latency and high sensitivity to action
potential frequency.

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0608897104
PMCID: PMC1783087
PMID: 17227848 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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