Pharmacologically distinct nicotinic acetylcholine receptors drive efferent-mediated excitation in calyx-bearing vestibular afferents.

ABSTRACT: Electrical stimulation of vestibular efferent neurons rapidly excites the resting discharge of calyx/dimorphic (CD) afferents. In turtle, this excitation arises when acetylcholine (ACh), released from efferent terminals, directly depolarizes calyceal endings by activating nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs). Although molecular biological data from the peripheral vestibular system implicate most of the known nAChR subunits, specific information about those contributing to efferent-mediated excitation of CD afferents is lacking. We sought to identify the nAChR subunits that underlie the rapid excitation of CD afferents and whether they differ from α9α10 nAChRs on type II hair cells that drive efferent-mediated inhibition in adjacent bouton afferents. We recorded from CD and bouton afferents inn

SUBMITTER: Holt JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4339364 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature