| First Author | Dubreuil AS | Year | 2004 |
| Journal | J Neurosci | Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 39 | Pages | 8480-4 |
| PubMed ID | 15456821 | Mgi Jnum | J:109798 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3629915 | Doi | 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1598-04.2004 |
| Citation | Dubreuil AS, et al. (2004) Role of T-type calcium current in identified D-hair mechanoreceptor neurons studied in vitro. J Neurosci 24(39):8480-8484 |
| abstractText | Different subsets of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) mechanoreceptors transduce low- and high-intensity mechanical stimuli. It was shown recently that, in vivo, neurotrophin-4 (NT-4)-dependent D-hair mechanoreceptors specifically express a voltage-activated T-type calcium channel (Ca(v)3.2) that may be required for their mechanoreceptive function. Here we show that D-hair mechanoreceptors can be identified in vitro by a rosette-like morphology in the presence of NT-4 and that these rosette neurons are almost all absent in DRG cultures taken from NT-4 knock-out mice. In vitro identification of the D-hair mechanoreceptor allowed us to explore the electrophysiological properties of these cells. We demonstrate that the T-type Ca(v)3.2 channel induced slow membrane depolarization that contributes to lower the voltage threshold for action potential generation and controls spike latency after stimulation of D-hair mechanoreceptors. Indeed, the properties of the T-type amplifier are particularly well suited to explain the high sensitivity of D-hair mechanoreceptors to slowly moving stimuli. |
