Caenorhabditis elegans est un modèle animal de choix pour l'identification à partir d'animaux mutants des gènes intervenant dans différents comportements. En revanche, la caractérisation des mutants à l'échelle cellulaire a longtemps été limitée par la taille restreinte de l'animal. La mise au point de la dissection et l'application de la technique de patch-clamp et d'imagerie Ca2+ sur la cellule musculaire striée de C. elegans nous ont permis de caractériser pour la première fois les principales conductances ioniques de cette cellule. Nous avons montré le rôle crucial que jouaient les canaux Ca2+ EGL-19 dans le couplage excitation-contraction et mis en évidence les propriétés d'activation de canaux K+ voltage-dépendants et Ca2+-activés. Nous avons aussi démontré que le canal Na+ UNC-105, de la famille des dégénérines, n'était pas mécanosensible comme le supposaient les études génétiques, tandis qu'un autre membre de cette famille s'est avéré sensible à l'acidification extracellulaire

Voltage-gated ion channels are fundamental for electrical signaling in living cells. They are composed of four subunits, each holding six transmembrane helices, S1-S6. Each subunit contains a voltage-sensor domain, S1-S4, and a pore domain, S5-S6. S4 contains several positively charged amino-acid residues and moves in response to changes in membrane voltage. This movement controls the opening and closing of the channel. The structure of the pore domain is solved and demonstrates principles of channel selectivity. The molecular mechanism of how the voltage sensor regulates the opening of the channel is still under discussion. Several models have been discussed. One of the models is the paddle model where S3b and S4 move together. The second one is the helical-twist where S4 makes a small rotation in order for the channel to open. The third one is the helical-screw model where S4 twists around its axis and moves diagonally towards the extracellular side of the channel. The aim of this PhD project was to study the molecular movement of the voltage sensor in the depolarization-activated Shaker K channel. Cloned channels were expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, and investigated with several electrophysiological techniques. 1. We show that S4 moves in relation to both S3b and S5. The formation of some disulfide bonds between S4 and neighboring positions, in only the open state, shows that the paddle model cannot be correct. Furthermore, electrostatic and steric effects of residues in S3b suggest that S3b is tilted, with the intracellular part close to S4. 2. We show that the relatively Mg-sensitive Shaker K channel is changed into the less Mg-sensitive Kv2.1 K channel with respect to its sensitivity to extracellularly applied Mg2+ by changing the charge of three extracellularly positioned amino acid residues. One of the residues, F425C, mediates its effect through the neighboring residue K427. 3. We show that oxaliplatin, an anti-cancer drug, has no effect on the Shaker K channel. It has been suggested that a negatively charged monochloro complex of oxaliplatin is the active substance, and also causes the neurotoxic side effects. Neither this complex shows any effect on the channel. Our experiments point towards the helical-screw model. The other models for voltage-sensor movements are incompatible with the results in this study.

The structure of afferent neurons is pseudounipolar. Studies suggest that they relay action potentials (APs) to both directions of the T-junctions to reach the cell body and the spinal cord. Moreover, the somata are electrically excitable and shown to be able to transmit the signals to associated satellite cells. Our study demonstrates that this transmission can go further and pass onto passive neighbouring somata, if they are in direct contact with same satellite cells. The neurons activate the satellite cells by releasing ATP. This triggers the satellite cells to exocytose acetylcholine to the neighbouring neurons. In addition, the ATP inhibits the nicotinic receptors of the neurons by activating P2Y receptors and initiating the G-protein-mediated pathway, thus reducing the signals that return to the neurons that initiated the signals. This “sandwich synapse” represents a unique pathway by the ectopic release between the somata and the satellite cells.

The structure of afferent neurons is pseudounipolar. Studies suggest that they relay action potentials (APs) to both directions of the T-junctions to reach the cell body and the spinal cord. Moreover, the somata are electrically excitable and shown to be able to transmit the signals to associated satellite cells. Our study demonstrates that this transmission can go further and pass onto passive neighbouring somata, if they are in direct contact with same satellite cells. The neurons activate the satellite cells by releasing ATP. This triggers the satellite cells to exocytose acetylcholine to the neighbouring neurons. In addition, the ATP inhibits the nicotinic receptors of the neurons by activating P2Y receptors and initiating the G-protein-mediated pathway, thus reducing the signals that return to the neurons that initiated the signals. This “sandwich synapse” represents a unique pathway by the ectopic release between the somata and the satellite cells.

This thesis presents a neuron emulator and headstage circuit for patch clamp setups and provides simulation, measurement and verification results. The circuit implemented on a printed circuit board (PCB) is battery powered and portable. The emulator provides both passive (resting potential) and active (action potential) electrical properties of a live neuron as seen from a single electrode by using the headstage circuit. It can be used to test electrophysiological equipment such as current-clamp, voltage-clamp or patch-clamp amplifiers. The action potentials (APs) are generated with a voltage-dependent frequency controlled by a microcontroller implementing a firing range from -60 mV to -30 mV and firing frequency from 1 Hz to10 Hz. The charge released by firing the neuron is initially stored on a 110 pC capacitor. Compared to directly using a current or voltage source, this design results in a more realistic simulation of the APs generated by ionic currents in a live neuron. The measured results from a prototype demonstrate that the neuron emulator meets the design specifications and it is capable of performing voltage clamp and rate responsive current clamp functionality. Measured results using a commercial clamp amplifier are provided to confirm the emulator operation in a practical recording environment.

Whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology of neurons in vivo enables the recording of electrical events in cells with great precision, and supports a wide diversity of morphological and molecular analysis experiments important for the understanding of single-cell and network functions in the intact brain. However, high levels of skill are required in order to perform in vivo patching, and the process is time-consuming and painstaking. Robotic systems for in vivo patching would not only empower a great number of neuroscientists to perform such experiments, but would also open up fundamentally new kinds of experiment enabled by the resultant high throughput and scalability. We discovered that in vivo blind whole cell patch clamp electrophysiology could be implemented as a straightforward algorithm and developed an automated robotic system that was capable of performing this algorithm. We validated the performance of the robot in both the cortex and hippocampus of anesthetized mice. The robot achieves yields, cell recording qualities, and operational speeds that are comparable to, or exceed, those of experienced human investigators. Building upon this framework, we developed a multichannel version of “autopatcher” robot capable establishing whole cell patch clamp recordings from pairs and triplets of neurons in the cortex simultaneously. These algorithms can be generalized to control arbitrarily large number of electrodes and the high yield, throughput and automation of complex set of tasks results in a practical solution for conducting patch clamp recordings in potentially dozens of interconnected neurons in vivo.

Background: Sex and stress steroids are metabolized to 3a-hydroxy-pregnane-steroid metabolites such as allopregnanolone (Allo) and tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone (THDOC). Allo and THDOC are neuroactive steroids that are metabolized in the brain and act in brain as potent positive GABAA receptor function modulators. Allo as well as THDOC levels increase during stress. Allo has been associated with a number of symptoms and malfunctions such as impaired memory function and negative mood symptoms in a subgroup of individuals both for animals and humans. Pregnane steroids with 3b-hydroxy-configuration (3b-steroids) have been shown to reduce the Allo enhanced GABA effect. Aims: The aims for the present thesis were to investigate the effect of 3b-steroids on the GABA mediated GABAA receptor function in presence of positive GABAA receptor modulators. Further, the regional variances between the 3b-steroids as well as the mechanism of the effect were studied. Finally, the effect of stress steroid metabolites on the GABAA receptor function was investigated. Results: 3b-OH-5a-pregnane-20-one reduced the Allo enhanced GABA mediated chloride ion uptake into cortical microsacs. The 3b-isomer reduced the efficacy of Allo without shift the concentration response curve. It is therefore suggested that the 3b-isomer has a non-competitive effect. Further, it was shown that the 3b-isomer reduced the Allo effect in a selective way since the 3b-isomer did not interact with other positive modulators or with GABA itself. Five tested 3b-steroids reduced the Allo enhanced GABA mediated chloride ion uptake in cerebral cortex and hippocampus as well as the Allo prolongation on spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs) in preoptic nucleus. In cerebellum on the other hand the 3b-steroids showed to have weaker or no effect compared to the other tested regions. Interestingly, in absence of Allo, two of the 3b-steroids positively modulated the GABA stimulated GABAA receptor function. In absence of Allo, 5b-pregnane-3b,20(R)-diol increased the desensitization rate of current response. In contrast to the reducing effect on the Allo induced prolongation on sIPSCs, the effect of the 3b-steroid on GABA application, was not altered in presence of Allo. The mechanism of the 3b-steroid is therefore suggested being desensitization dependent in contrast to Allo, which has been suggested to decrease the GABA unbinding rate. In contrast to the enhanced effect of Allo, glucocorticoid metabolites reduced the GABA mediated chloride ion uptake in a concentration dependent way. The results in present thesis indicate that both sex and stress steroid metabolites interact with the GABAA receptor function. The knowledge that diversity of endogenous steroids interact with the GABAA receptor function is of importance for further understanding of different sex and stress steroid related symptoms and syndromes.

Untersucht wurde die mögliche Rolle von Adenosin-5´-Triphosphat (ATP) als extrazelluläres Signalmolekül im Neostriatum der Ratte. Zum Einsatz kam die patch-clamp Methode, adaptiert für Ableitungen aus akuten Hirnschnitten. Bereits bekannt war, dass ATP exzitatorische postsynaptische Ströme an GABAergen, striatalen Projektionsneuronen („medium spiny“ Neurone) hemmen konnte. Nun sollten die verantwortlichen Mechanismen hinter diesem Effekt aufgeklärt werden. Es zeigte sich, dass exogen zugeführtes ATP zunächst zu Adenosin metabolisiert werden musste, um seine Wirkung ausüben zu können. Ein Teil dieses Effektes war, vermittelt über präsynaptische Adenosin A1-Rezeptoren, einer Hemmung der striatalen Glutamat-Freisetzung geschuldet. Neu war, dass auch die „medium spiny“ Neurone selbst funktionelle A1-Rezeptoren exprimierten. Aktiviert durch lokal gebildetes Adenosin vermittelten diese eine Hemmung der Leitfähigkeit von Glutamat-Rezeptoren des N-Methyl-D-Aspartat (NMDA) Subtyps. Unter physiologischen Bedingungen mag dieser Mechanismus der Begrenzung der Informationsweiterleitung über die GABAergen Projektionsneurone dienen. Striataler Glutamat-Exzess mit Überaktivierung von NMDA-Rezeptoren ist ein Charakteristikum der Huntington´schen Erkrankung. Eine Adressierung der A1 Rezeptoren als therapeutische Option im Rahmen dieser Basalganglienerkrankung scheint daher prinzipiell möglich.

D-Serine is regarded as an obligatory co-agonist required for the activation of NMDA-type glutamate receptors (NMDARs). In the retina D-serine and a second NMDAR coagonist, glycine, are present at similar concentration and the cells that produce and release them are in close apposition. This arrangement allows for an abundant supply of coagonists and under certain conditions the NMDAR coagonist binding site could be saturated. There is also evidence suggesting that D-serine can act in an inhibitory manner at AMPA/kainate-type glutamate receptors (GluRs). Glutamate receptor activation can lead to direct and indirect elevation of intracellular calcium (Ca2+) concentration ([Ca2+]i). Therefore, in this thesis, I predominantly used Ca2+ imaging techniques to study the effect of D-serine on GluR activation in the mammalian retina. I first describe a novel method I developed to load retinal cells with Ca2+ indicator dye using electroporation and show that retinas remain viable and responsive following electroporation. This technique was used to explore the excitatory role of D-serine at NMDARs and its potential inhibition of AMPA/kainate receptors using cultured retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and isolated retina preparations. Using cultured RGCs I demonstrated that D-serine and glycine enhance NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ responses in a concentration-dependent manner and are equally effective as coagonists. In isolated retinas I showed that D-serine application enhanced NMDA-induced responses consistent with sub-saturating endogenous coagonist concentration. Degradation of endogenous D-serine reduced NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ responses supporting the contribution of this coagonist to NMDAR activation in the retina. Using imaging and two different electrophysiological approaches, I found that D-serine reduced AMPA/kainate receptor-mediated responses in cultured RGCs and isolated retinas at concentrations that are saturating at NMDARs. Antagonist experiments suggest that the majority of inhibition is due to D-serine acting on AMPA receptor activity. Degradation of endogenous D-serine enhanced AMPA/kainate-induced responses of some cells in isolated retina suggesting that, under these conditions, D-serine concentration may be sufficient to inhibit AMPA receptor activity. Overall, the work in this thesis illustrates the utility of electroporation as a method to load Ca2+-sensitive fluorescent dyes into retinal cells and highlights the potential role for D-serine as a modulator of ionotropic GluRs in the CNS.

The inwardly-rectifying K+ current (IK1) is important for heart cell function because it sets the resting potential, influences cell excitability, and promotes repolarization of the action potential. My objective was to investigate the modulation of IK1 by extracellular K+ (K+o) and intracellular K+ (K+i). IK1 was recorded from whole-cell-configured guinea-pig ventricular myocytes that were dialyzed with Na+-free EGTA-buffered pipette-filling solution and bathed with Na+ or NMDG+ solution that contained agents that inhibit non-IK1 currents. Lowering K+o from standard 5.4 to 2 and 1 mM shifted the reversal potential (Erev) of IK1 in accord with calculated K+ equilibrium potential (EK), and altered IK1 amplitude in accord with conductance (GK1)? ?K+o. Surprisingly, myocytes bathed with 0-mM K+ solution had a small outward IK1 at holding potential (Vhold) ?85 mV. This IK1 was attributed to channel-activation by T-tubular K+ (K+T) whose concentration is sensitive to the flow of T-tubular IK1. K+T in myocytes bathed with 0-mM K+ solution was ? 3.2 mM at Vhold ?85 mV, but ? 0.3 mM following large K+T-depleting flows of inward IK1 at ?160 mV. Results consistent with interplay of IK1 and K+T were also obtained in experiments on myocytes bathed with 2-, 5.4-, and 15-mM K+ solution. Myocytes were dialyzed with pipette solutions that contained 0-140 mM K+ to investigate modulation by K+i. When IK1 at Vhold was kept small, Erev varied with pipette K+ in a near-Nernstian manner (i.e., Erev ? EK); however, when IK1 (Vhold) was large and inward, Erev was markedly negative to nominal EK. Findings in experiments that involved shifting Vhold, changing K+o, and application of Ba2+ and Cs+ suggest that the magnitude/direction of IK1 strongly affects the concentration of K+ in submembrane cytoplasm. Classical GK1-voltage parameters GK1max and V0.5 (but not slope factor) were affected by decreases in K+i: GK1max declined by ? 25% per decade decrease in K+i, and V0.5 shifted approximately as 0.5 ? EK-shift. The latter findings are discussed and compared with those of earlier studies on the dependence of inwardly-rectifying K+ conductance on K+i.