The processing of sensory signals is an important, yet complex task in which a system must extract behaviorally relevant stimulus patterns from a vast array of sensory cues. When a neuron within a major sensory area is presented with a stimulus, one of the important characteristics used to distinguish between types of input is frequency. Often sensory neurons are tuned to narrow stimulus frequency ranges and are thus charged with the processing of subtypes of sensory signals. The weakly electric fish Apteronotus lepthorhynchus senses it's environment through modulations of a self-generated electric field. Two main types of sensory signals can be distinguished based on their frequency patterns. Prey stimuli cause low frequency perturbations of the electric field, while communication signals often result in high frequency signals. Pyramidal neurons in the electrosensory lateral line lobe (ELL) encode the low frequency signals with bursts, while the high frequency signals are relayed with single spikes. This thesis describes how a pyramidal neuron's response patterns can be tuned to specific frequencies by the expression of distinct classes of potassium channels. / I have cloned 3 small conductance (SK) calcium activated potassium channels from cDNA libraries created from the brain of Apteronotus. I have subsequently localized the AptSK channels throughout the brain using both in situ hybridization (AptSK1, 2 & 3) and immunohistochemical (AptSK1 & 2) techniques. The 3 channels showed distinct expression patterns, with the AptSK1 & 2 channels showing a partially overlapping expression pattern, while AptSK3 appears to be expressed in unique areas of the brain. In the ELL AptSK1 & 2 show a partially overlapping expression pattern, appearing in similar pyramidal neurons. However, their distribution within individual cell is unique, with AptSK1 showing a dendritic localization, while AptSK2 is primarily somatic. We have demonstrated that the unique expression pattern of the somatic AptSK2 channel in the ELL coincides with the functional SK currents evaluated through in vitro electrophysiology. Further we have shown that neurons that encode low frequencies do not possess functional SK channels. It thus appears that the presence of the AptSK2 channel subtype can predispose a neuron to respond to specific types of sensory signals. / In an attempt to evaluate if second messengers could modify the AptSK control of frequency tuning I investigated the consequences of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) activation on a pyramidal neurons response patterns. While it had been shown in vivo that mAChR activation increased a pyramidal neuron's response to low frequencies, I have found that this was not due to a decrease in AptSK current, but rather appears to be the result of a down-regulation of an A-type potassium channel. / Taken together the studies that comprise this thesis show how the selective expression of a single potassium channel subtype can control a sensory neurons response to specific environmental cues. The secondary modulation of the A-type current highlights the potential for a second messenger to control a neuron's sensory response through the down-regulation of constitutively expressed potassium current.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.103381 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Ellis, Lee David. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Biology.) |
| Rights | © Lee David Ellis, 2007 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002665613, proquestno: AAINR38584, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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