Inwardly rectifying potassium channel Kir4.1 is responsible for the native inward potassium conductance of satellite glial cells in sensory ganglia.

ABSTRACT: Satellite glial cells (SGCs) surround primary afferent neurons in sensory ganglia, and increasing evidence has implicated the K(+) channels of SGCs in affecting or regulating sensory ganglion excitability. The inwardly rectifying K(+) (Kir) channel Kir4.1 is highly expressed in several types of glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS) where it has been implicated in extracellular K(+) concentration buffering. Upon neuronal activity, the extracellular K(+) concentration increases, and if not corrected, causes neuronal depolarization and uncontrolled changes in neuronal excitability. Recently, it has been demonstrated that knockdown of Kir4.1 expression in trigeminal ganglia leads to neuronal hyperexcitability in this ganglia and heightened nociception. Thus, we investigated the contr

SUBMITTER: Tang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2823846 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature