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* Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2J1, Canada; and
Renal Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts
Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Avner Priel, Dept. of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2J1, Canada. Tel.: 780-492-3579; E-mail: apriel{at}phys.ualberta.ca; or Horacio F. Cantiello, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA. E-mail: cantiello{at}helix.mgh.harvard.edu.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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ß-tubulin dimer assemblies (1
25 nm and inner diameters of 15 nm, with lengths that reach several micrometers. Recently, it has become apparent that neurons may utilize MTs in cognitive processing. MT-associated proteins, including tau and MAP2, have been implicated in such neuronal processes as learning and memory (2| METHODS |
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Measurement of electrical signals in isolated MTs
Electrical data were collected with a modified dual "patch-clamp" setup as previously reported (11
). Briefly, the electrical setup consisted of two independent patch-clamp amplifiers, PC501 and PC501A (Warner Instruments, Hamden, CT), with 1-G
and 10-G
feedback resistors, respectively, one to stimulate the isolated MT (stimulus, s) and the other to collect current signals (collection, c). Electrical signals were simultaneously collected by respective analog inputs of an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter (TL-1 DMA Interface, Axon Instruments, Foster City, CA). Voltage stimulus protocols were constructed in Clampex 5.5.1 (Axon Instruments) run from a computer. The sampling intervals varied depending on the protocol, such that in most cases a 100-ms signal length contained at least 400 samples. Offset tip potentials within the range of a few millivolts were compensated immediately before data acquisition. Further zeroing of the offset signal was conducted offline during data processing. Signals were Gaussian filtered at a cutoff frequency of 2.2 kHz. Pipettes were made from borosilicate capillaries (1.2-mm external diameter) and were pulled with tip diameters below 3 µm. The pipettes contained and were immersed in a solution containing in mM: 135 KCl, 5 NaCl, 0.8 MgCl2, 1.2 CaCl2, 10 Hepes. Occasionally, the pipette tip contained a 1:10 dilution of the taxol solution to help attach the MT. The pipettes were connected to the electrodes and head stage of their respective patch-clamp amplifiers. Agar bridges containing 3% agar in 150 mM KCl solution grounded both amplifiers to the chamber. The circuit was closed by two AgCl-plated Ag ground electrodes in solutions far away (12 cm) from the pipette tips.
Data analysis
Data were acquired at 2 KHz and further filtered offline for display and analysis when required. Noise analysis was conducted as Lorentzian spectral analysis with a subroutine of Axograph 4.0 (Axon Instruments) from unfiltered files where the variance versus frequency was plotted for paired experiments before and after MT attachment was obtained in the experiment. The method for deriving the amplification is different for the square pulse and for the triangle wave. In the case of the square pulse, we evaluated the average amplitude in solution only and with MT attached for the same conditions. The amplification is simply the ratio. In the case of triangle pulses, a different strategy was used, using the slope of the linear regression of the MT-attached data as a function of the solution-only data at the pulse times. Data are expressed as n = number of files averaged ± SE, where t-test was used to assess statistical significance at p < 0.05.
| RESULTS |
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(n = 16). The coupling ratio between pipettes in solution was 41% ± 12% before attachment to an MT. Thus, the collection pipette "read"
40% of the stimulus in solution. The evoked current increased from 1.91 ± 0.13 nA (n = 16) to 2.78 ± 0.17 nA (n = 35) after attachment (Fig. 2 a). The signals reaching the collection site were in 30/35 of the cases higher than those obtained in free solution, indicating that the MT amplified both the electrical pulse injected at the stimulus site and the collection site as well (Fig. 2 a). Transfer amplification ratios were up to 2.35 with an average of 1.69 ± 0.06 (n = 30, Fig. 2 c). Thus, MTs improve electrical connectivity between two locations in saline solution. The currents measured at the collection site were linearly dependent on the stimulus pipette input voltage, indicating a strictly inverse ohmic response, i.e., linear amplification (Fig. 2 b). The MT conductances reached up to 9 nS, much higher than that expected from channel conductances (5200 pS, Fig. 2 b, inset). The electrical amplifying effect of the MT was observed in either direction (stimulus by either amplifier). To further prove the linear response in amplification as well as the speed of the electrical amplifying phenomenon, voltage ramps were also applied within the range of ±100 mV at two different rates (100 V/s and 20 V/s, Fig. 2 b). The stimulated currents at either rate were again linear, showing a remarkable reproducibility within the range of voltages studied. The amplification ratio remained constant within the range of voltages and rates tested, and the noise in the signal was, as expected, increased as well. The fastest ramps tested showed, however, a 40-µs (or shorter) delay between the stimulus and collection sites, which was consistent with the shift in voltage decay after pulse stimulation (Fig. 2 a, right). This suggests a lower bound for the transfer rate of the electrical signal of the order of 1.0 m/s. In two out of seven experiments, electrical amplification further increased by addition of GTP (1 mM) to the bath solution (data not shown).
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| DISCUSSION |
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2:1. Our findings support these theoretical results manifested in the model via a constant (permanent) electric polarization, which follows localized Nernst potentials arising from asymmetries in the ionic distributions between the intra- and extra-MT environments. This polarization is modulated by electrical stimulation such that the forward-reverse biased junctions of an intramolecular transistor (Fig. 3) creates a proper MT-adjacent ionic cloud environment, which allows amplification of axially transferred signals. The proposed model implies that intrinsic semiconductive like properties of the structured tubulin dimers are such that an effective transistor is being formed (14
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MT networks (MTNs) play relevant roles in neuron formation and function (18
20
). Interconnected bundles of MTs, for example, are present in the axon, the axon hillock, and the dendritic shaft, all regions where ion channels are found. In particular, dendritic MTs are arranged in grid-like networks of mixed polarity interconnected by MAP2s. Thus, we envision a mechanism in which MT-ion channel interactions may regulate synaptic plasticity by the MT's ability to allow spatially oriented intracellular electrical signals in connection with actin filaments also able to transmit electrical information (11
,16
). According to this hypothesis, postsynaptic electrical signals elicit ion waves along the associated actin filaments at the synaptic spine that propagate to the MTN, where they serve as input signals. The MTN, operating as a large high dimensional "state machine", evolves these input states, e.g., by supporting nonlinear wave collisions. The output from the MTN is the state of the system that is being "read" (sensed) to propagate and electrically stimulate remote voltage-sensitive ion channels. Thus, our findings provide several advantages in the context of neural function. Cable theory analysis of dendrites (21
,22
) has challenged the simple integrate and fire models, suggesting that dendrites impose a heavy conductance load on the soma, acting as low-pass filters of postsynaptic potentials, hence changing the response to synaptic activities (22
). The dendritic electrical properties are dynamically changed by modulation of voltage-gated ion channels (6
,22
,23
) and by changes in cytoskeletal structures (25
27
). Thus, MT electrical amplification may be central to revised models of neuronal adaptability (23
,28
,29
) providing renewed support to nonlinear models of neuronal activity.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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A.P. and J.T. acknowledge funding from National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems, and Technology Innovations of Rochester, NY.
Submitted on December 1, 2005; accepted for publication February 22, 2006.
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