Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 24, Issue 12, Pages 3125-3135Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0090-04.2004
Keywords
ATP; purinergic receptors; P2X receptors; presynaptic ligand-gated channels; EPSCs; miniature EPSCs; glutamate release; patch-clamp technique; brainstem slice preparation; nucleus of the solitary tract
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P2X receptors are ATP-gated channels permeable to cations including Ca2+. In acute slices containing the nucleus of the solitary tract, in which neuronal ATP release and ATP-elicited physiological responses are demonstrated in vivo, we recorded spontaneous action potential-independent EPSCs [ miniature EPSCs (mEPSCs)]. Activation of presynaptic P2X receptors with alpha,beta-methylene ATP (alphabetamATP) triggered Ca2+-dependent glutamate release that was resistant to blockade of voltage-dependent calcium channels but abolished by P2X receptor antagonists. mEPSCs elicited with alphabetamATP were of larger amplitude than basal mEPSCs and resulted in postsynaptic firing caused by temporal summation of miniature events. The large-amplitude mEPSCs provoked by alphabetamATP were likely to result from highly synchronized multivesicular release of glutamate at single release sites. Neither alphabetamATP nor ATP facilitated GABA release. We conclude that this facilitated release and consequent postsynaptic firing underlie the profound autonomic responses to activation of P2X receptors observed in vivo.
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