IK Channel Confers Fine-tuning of Rod Bipolar Cell Excitation and Synaptic Transmission in the Retina.

ABSTRACT: During retinal visual processing, rod bipolar cells (RBC) transfer scotopic signals from rods to AII amacrine cells as second-order neurons. Elucidation of the RBC's excitation/inhibition is essential for understanding the visual signal transmission. Excitation mechanisms via mGluR6 and voltage-gated Ca2+ channels in the RBCs and GABAergic inhibitory synaptic inputs have been studied in previous studies. However, its intrinsic inhibitory mechanisms like K+ and Cl- channels remain unclear. We focused on RBC's prominent K+ current, which exhibits voltage and Ca2+ dependence. We isolated and confirmed the expression of intermediate-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels (IK) in RBCs using the patch-clamp method with IK inhibitors (clotrimazole and TRAM34) and immunohistochemistry. The regulat

SUBMITTER: Park YS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11815585 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature