Estragole blocks neuronal excitability by direct inhibition of Na+ channels

Estragole is a volatile terpenoid, which occurs naturally as a constituent of the essential oils of many plants. It has several pharmacological and biological activities. The objective of the present study was to investigate the mechanism of action of estragole on neuronal excitability. Intact and dissociated dorsal root ganglion neurons of rats were used to record action potential and Na+ currents with intracellular and patch-clamp techniques, respectively. Estragole blocked the generation of action potentials in cells with or without inflexions on their descendant (repolarization) phase (Ninf and N0 neurons, respectively) in a concentration-dependent manner. The resting potentials and input resistances of Ninf and N0 cells were not altered by estragole (2, 4, and 6 mM). Estragole also inhibited total Na+ current and tetrodotoxin-resistant Na+ current in a concentration-dependent manner (IC50 of 3.2 and 3.6 mM, respectively). Kinetic analysis of Na+ current in the presence of 4 mM estragole showed a statistically significant reduction of fast and slow inactivation time constants, indicating an acceleration of the inactivation process. These data demonstrate that estragole blocks neuronal excitability by direct inhibition of Na+ channel conductance activation. This action of estragole is likely to be relevant to the understanding of the mechanisms of several pharmacological effects of this substance.

Characterization of Ionic Currents in Human Neural Stem Cells

The profile of membrane currents was investigated in differentiated neuronal cells derived from human neural stem cells (hNSCs) that were obtained from aborted fetal cortex. Whole-cell voltage clamp recording revealed at least 4 different currents: a tetrodotoxin (TTX)-sensitive Na+ current, a hyperpolarization-activated inward current, and A-type and delayed rectifier-type K+ outward currents. Both types of K+ outward currents were blocked by either 5 mM tetraethylammonium (TEA) or 5 mM 4-aminopyridine (4-AP). The hyperpolarization-activated current resembled the classical K+ inward current in that it exhibited a voltage-dependent block in the presence of external Ba2+ (30micrometer) or Cs+ (3micrometer). However, the reversal potentials did not match well with the predicted K+ equilibrium potentials, suggesting that it was not a classical K+ inward rectifier current. The other Na+ inward current resembled the classical Na+ current observed in pharmacological studies. The expression of these channels may contribute to generation and repolarization of action potential and might be regarded as functional markers for hNSCs-derived neurons.

Diversity of Ion Channels in Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients

Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs) represent a potentially valuable cell type for clinical therapeutic applications. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of long-term culturing (up to 10th passages) of hBM-MSCs from eight individual amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, focusing on functional ion channels. All hBM-MSCs contain several MSCs markers with no significant differences, whereas the distribution of functional ion channels was shown to be different between cells. Four types of K+ currents, including noise-like Ca+2-activated K+ current (IKCa), a transient outward K+ current (Ito), a delayed rectifier K+ current (IKDR), and an inward-rectifier K+ current (Kir) were heterogeneously present in these cells, and a TTX-sensitive Na+ current (INa,TTX) was also recorded. In the RT-PCR analysis, Kv1.1, heag1, Kv4.2, Kir2.1, MaxiK, and hNE-Na were detected. In particular, INa,TTX showed a significant passage-dependent increase. This is the first report showing that functional ion channel profiling depend on the cellular passage of hBM-MSCs

Congenital LQT Syndromes: From Gene to Torsade de Pointes

Congenital Long QT syndrome (LQTs) is a relatively rare pathologic disorder but results frequently in sudden cardiac death. Of the six LQTs that have been clinically described, five have been worked out for their genetic and biophysical profile. Most are generated by mutations which cause a loss of function in two delayed K+currents, iKs and iKr. One syndrome is generated by mutations in the Na channel which causes essentially a gain of function in the channel. Clinically the syndromes are characterized by slowed repolarization of the cardiac ventricular action potential and the occurrence of typical arrhythmias with undulating peaks in the electrocardiogram, called Torsade de Pointes. Arrhythmias are initiated by early or delayed afterdepolarizations and continue as reentry. Triggers for cardiac events are exercise (swimming; LQT1), emotion (arousal; LQT2) and rest/sleep (LQT3). beta-blockers have a high efficacy in the treatment of LQT1 and LQT2. In LQT3 their use is questionable. The study of congenital LQTsyndromes is a remarkable example of how basic and clinical science converge and take profit of each other's contribution.

Effect of lidocaine and bupivacaine on Na~+ current in the dorsal horn neurons of spinal cord / 中华麻醉学杂志

Objective The effect of lidocaine and bupivacaine on the Na+ current of dorsal horn neurons was observed to further evaluate the mechanism of local anesthetics . Methods The dorsal horn neurons of the SD neonates(0-7 d) were isolated acutely. Under the condition of holding voltage -80mV , and testing voltage -30mV with duration of 20 ms , the whole-cell patch-clamp technique was applied to recording the changes of voltage-gated Na+ currents following the administration of lidocaine or bupivacaine at 50-1000?mol/L.Results The voltage-gated Na+ currents ranged from 0.5-8nA peak amplitude , was inhibited by lidocaine and bupivacaine at clinical concentrations, the inhibitory degree was parallelly correlated with the concentration of local anesthetics(r=0.949 and 0.847 ,P

Effects of hydrogen peroxide on sodium current in acutely isolated rat hippocampal CA1 neurons / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM and METHODS: The effects of hydrogen peroxide on Na+ currents were studied in freshly dissociated rat hippocampal CA1 neurons using the whole-cell patch-clamp techinique. RESULTS: 2貶 2O 2 caused a dose-dependent and voltage-dependent increase in the voltage-activated Na+ currents. The amplitudes of Na+ currents were increased (48.0?4.2)% and (88. 2?5. 1)% (n=10) by H 2O 2 at 10 ?mol/L and 100 ?mol/L, respectively. ②H 2O 2 (10 ?mol/L) did not affect the activation process, but changed the inactivation process significantly. Before and after application of 10 ?mol/L of H 2O 2, the half-inactivation voltage was (-64.58?1.22)mV and (-53.55?0.94)mV (n=10, P