Fluctuation Analysis in Nonstationary Conditions: Single Ca²⁺ Channel Current in Pyramidal Neurons.

ABSTRACT: Fluctuation analysis is a method that allows measurement of the single-channel current of ion channels even when it is too small to be resolved directly with the patch-clamp technique. This is the case for voltage-gated calcium channels. They are present in all mammalian central neurons, controlling presynaptic release of transmitter, postsynaptic signaling, and synaptic integration. The amplitudes of their single-channel currents in a physiological concentration of extracellular calcium, however, are small and not well determined. But measurement of this quantity is essential for estimating numbers of functional voltage-gated calcium channels in the membrane and the size of channel-associated calcium signaling domains, and for understanding the stochastic nature of calcium signaling. Here

SUBMITTER: Scheppach C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5738524 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature