Expression of hyperpolarization-activated current () in zonally defined vestibular calyx terminals of the crista.

Calyx terminals make afferent synapses with type I hair cells in vestibular epithelia and express diverse ionic conductances that influence action potential generation and discharge regularity in vestibular afferent neurons. Here we investigated the expression of hyperpolarization-activated current () in calyx terminals in central and peripheral zones of mature gerbil crista slices, using whole cell patch-clamp recordings. Slowly activating was present in >80% calyces tested in both zones.

Dopaminergic Inhibition of Na Currents in Vestibular Inner Ear Afferents.

Inner ear hair cells form synapses with afferent terminals and afferent neurons carry signals as action potentials to the central nervous system. Efferent neurons have their origins in the brainstem and some make synaptic contact with afferent dendrites beneath hair cells. Several neurotransmitters have been identified that may be released from efferent terminals to modulate afferent activity.

Persistent and resurgent Na currents in vestibular calyx afferents.

Vestibular afferent neurons convey information from hair cells in the peripheral vestibular end organs to central nuclei. Primary vestibular afferent neurons can fire action potentials at high rates and afferent firing patterns vary with the position of nerve terminal endings in vestibular neuroepithelia. Terminals contact hair cells as small bouton or large calyx endings.

Regional and Developmental Differences in Na Currents in Vestibular Primary Afferent Neurons.

The vestibular system relays information about head position afferent nerve fibers to the brain in the form of action potentials. Voltage-gated Na channels in vestibular afferents drive the initiation and propagation of action potentials, but their expression during postnatal development and their contributions to firing in diverse mature afferent populations are unknown. Electrophysiological techniques were used to determine Na channel subunit types in vestibular calyx-bearing afferents at different stages of postnatal development.

AMPA receptor-mediated rapid EPSCs in vestibular calyx afferents.

In the vestibular periphery neurotransmission between hair cells and primary afferent nerves occurs via specialized ribbon synapses. Type I vestibular hair cells (HCIs) make synaptic contacts with calyx terminals, which enclose most of the HCI basolateral surface. To probe synaptic transmission, whole cell patch-clamp recordings were made from calyx afferent terminals isolated together with their mature HCIs from gerbil crista.

Channeling your inner ear potassium: K(+) channels in vestibular hair cells.

During development of vestibular hair cells, K(+) conductances are acquired in a specific pattern. Functionally mature vestibular hair cells express different complements of K(+) channels which uniquely shape the hair cell receptor potential and filtering properties. In amniote species, type I hair cells (HCI) have a large input conductance due to a ubiquitous low-voltage-activated K(+) current that activates with slow sigmoidal kinetics at voltages negative to the membrane resting potential.

Kv1 channels and neural processing in vestibular calyx afferents.

Potassium-selective ion channels are important for accurate transmission of signals from auditory and vestibular sensory end organs to their targets in the central nervous system. During different gravity conditions, astronauts experience altered input signals from the peripheral vestibular system resulting in sensorimotor dysfunction. Adaptation to altered sensory input occurs, but it is not explicitly known whether this involves synaptic modifications within the vestibular epithelia.

Zonal variations in K+ currents in vestibular crista calyx terminals.

We developed a rodent crista slice to investigate regional variations in electrophysiological properties of vestibular afferent terminals. Thin transverse slices of the gerbil crista ampullaris were made and electrical properties of calyx terminals in central zones (CZ) and peripheral zones (PZ) compared with whole cell patch clamp. Spontaneous action potential firing was observed in 25% of current-clamp recordings and was either regular or irregular in both zones.

Inhibition of K+ currents in type I vestibular hair cells by gentamicin and neomycin.

Significant ototoxicity limits the use of aminoglycoside (AG) antibiotics. Several mechanisms may contribute to the death of both auditory and vestibular hair cells. In this study the effects of gentamicin and neomycin on K(+) currents in mature and early postnatal type I vestibular hair cells (HCI) were tested directly.

Hyperpolarization-activated current (I(h)) in vestibular calyx terminals: characterization and role in shaping postsynaptic events.

Calyx afferent terminals engulf the basolateral region of type I vestibular hair cells, and synaptic transmission across the vestibular type I hair cell/calyx is not well understood. Calyces express several ionic conductances, which may shape postsynaptic potentials. These include previously described tetrodotoxin-sensitive inward Na(+) currents, voltage-dependent outward K(+) currents and a K(Ca) current.

Postnatal expression of an apamin-sensitive k(ca) current in vestibular calyx terminals.

Afferent innervation patterns in the vestibular periphery are complex, and vestibular afferents show a large variation in their regularity of firing. Calyx fibers terminate on type I vestibular hair cells and have firing characteristics distinct from the bouton fibers that innervate type II hair cells. Whole-cell patch clamp was used to investigate ionic currents that could influence firing patterns in calyx terminals.

K+ currents in isolated vestibular afferent calyx terminals.

Vestibular hair cells transduce mechanical displacements of their hair bundles into an electrical receptor potential which modulates transmitter release and subsequent action potential firing in afferent neurons. To probe ionic mechanisms underlying sensory coding in vestibular calyces, we used the whole-cell patch-clamp technique to record action potentials and K(+) currents from afferent calyx terminals isolated from the semicircular canals of Mongolian gerbils. Calyx terminals showed minimal current at the mean zero-current potential (-60 mV), but two types of outward K(+) currents were identified at potentials above -50 mV.

Development of K(+) and Na(+) conductances in rodent postnatal semicircular canal type I hair cells.

The rodent vestibular system is immature at birth. During the first postnatal week, vestibular type I and type II hair cells start to acquire their characteristic morphology and afferent innervation. We have studied postnatal changes in the membrane properties of type I hair cells acutely isolated from the semicircular canals (SCC) of gerbils and rats using whole cell patch clamp and report for the first time developmental changes in ionic conductances in these cells.