The firing patterns of neurons in central auditory pathways encode specific features of sound stimuli, such as frequency, intensity and localization in space. The generation of the appropriate pattern depends, to a major extent, on the properties of the voltage-dependent potassium channels in these neurons. The mammalian auditory pathways that compute the direction of a sound source are located in the brainstem and include the connection from bushy cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) to the principal neurons of the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB). To preserve the fidelity of timing of action potentials that is required for sound localization, these neurons express several types of potassium channels, including the Kv3 and Kv1 families of voltage-dependent channels and the Slick and Slack sodium-dependent channels. These channels determine the pattern of action potentials and the amount of neurotransmitter released during repeated stimulation. The amplitude of currents carried by one of these channels, the Kv3.1b channel, is regulated in the short term by protein phosphorylation, and in the long term, by changes in gene expression, such that the intrinsic excitability of the neurons is constantly being regulated by the ambient auditory environment.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2004.11.023 | DOI Listing |
Cephalalgia
January 2025
Department of Biomedicine, Health Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Background: Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) types 1-3 are associated with protein-altering genetic variants in , and , respectively. These genes have also been linked to epilepsy. Previous studies primarily focused on phenotypes, examining genetic variants in individuals with characteristic FHM symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAminopyridines belong to a class of compounds that are monoamino and diamino derivatives of pyridine. They work primarily by blocking voltage-gated potassium channels in a dose-dependent manner. Essential heterocycles used extensively in synthetic, natural products, and medicinal chemistry are aminopyridine and its derivatives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Phys Chem B
January 2025
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Miami University, 651 E. High Street, Oxford, Ohio 45056, United States.
Members of the KCNE family are accessory subunits that modulate voltage-gated potassium channels. One member, KCNE4, has been shown to inhibit the potassium ion current in these channels. However, little is known about the structure, dynamics, and mode of inhibition of KCNE4, likely due to challenges in overexpressing and purifying the protein.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSheng Li Xue Bao
December 2024
School of Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutics, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China.
Two-pore-domain potassium channels (K2P) family is widely expressed in many human cell types and organs, which has important regulatory effect on physiological processes. K2P is sensitive to a variety of chemical and physical stimuli, and they have also been critically implicated in transmission of neural signal, ion homeostasis, cell development and death, and synaptic plasticity. Aberrant expression and dysfunction of K2P channels are involved in a range of diseases, including autoimmune, central nervous system, cardiovascular disease and others.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Instituto de Neurociencias, Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile.
BK channels can control neuronal function, but their functional relevance in activity-dependent changes of synaptic function remains elusive. Here, we report that repetitive low-frequency stimulation activates BK channels through 12(S)HPETE, an arachidonic acid metabolite, produced downstream of postsynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) to trigger long-term depression (LTD) at CA3-CA1 synapses in hippocampal slices from P7-P10 mice. Activation of BK channels is subunit specific, as paxilline but not iberiotoxin blocked mGluR-LTD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!