Referenced in: none

Automatically associated channels: Slo1

Title: IKCa channels are a critical determinant of the slow AHP in CA1 pyramidal neurons.

Authors: Brian King, Arsalan P Rizwan, Hadhimulya Asmara, Norman C Heath, Jordan D T Engbers, Steven Dykstra, Theodore M Bartoletti, Shahid Hameed, Gerald W Zamponi, Ray W Turner

Journal, date & volume: Cell Rep, 2015 Apr 14 , 11, 175-82

PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25865881

Abstract
Control over the frequency and pattern of neuronal spike discharge depends on Ca2+-gated K+ channels that reduce cell excitability by hyperpolarizing the membrane potential. The Ca2+-dependent slow afterhyperpolarization (sAHP) is one of the most prominent inhibitory responses in the brain, with sAHP amplitude linked to a host of circuit and behavioral functions, yet the channel that underlies the sAHP has defied identification for decades. Here, we show that intermediate-conductance Ca2+-dependent K+ (IKCa) channels underlie the sAHP generated by trains of synaptic input or postsynaptic stimuli in CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells. These findings are significant in providing a molecular identity for the sAHP of central neurons that will identify pharmacological tools capable of potentially modifying the several behavioral or disease states associated with the sAHP.