Dorsal–Ventral Gradient for Neuronal Plasticity in the Embryonic Spinal Cord

Within the developing Xenopus spinal cord, voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channel genes display different expression patterns, many of which occur in opposing dorsal–ventral gradients. Regional differences in Kv gene expression would predict different patterns of potassium current (IKv) regulation. However, during the first 24 h of postmitotic differentiation, all primary spinal neurons undergo a temporally coordinated upregulation of IKv density that shortens the duration of the action potential. Here, we tested whether spinal neurons demonstrate regional differences in IKv regulation subsequent to action potential maturation. We show that two types of neurons, I and II, can be identified in culture on the basis of biophysical and pharmacological properties of IKv and different firing patterns. Chronic increases in extracellular potassium, a signature of high neuronal activity, do not alter excitability properties of either neuron type. However, elevating extracellular potassium acutely after the period of action potential maturation leads to different changes in membrane properties of the two types of neurons. IKv of type I neurons gains sensitivity to the blocker XE991, whereas type II neurons increase IKv density and fire fewer action potentials. Moreover, by recording from neurons in vivo, we found that primary spinal neurons can be identified as either type I or type II. Type I neurons predominate in dorsal regions, whereas type II neurons localize to ventral regions. The findings reveal a dorsal–ventral gradient for IKv regulation and a novel form of neuronal plasticity in spinal cord neurons.

• Publication year

  2008

• Venue

  Journal of Neuroscience

• Publication date

  2008-04-02

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0242-08.2008PMID 18385340PMCID PMC2647330
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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