Browsing by Author "Puskarjov, Martin"

The Cl- and HCO3- electrochemical gradients across the plasma membrane dictate the electrical consequences of GABAA receptor (GABAAR) function and thereby play a significant role in neuronal GABA-mediated signalling. In adult pyramidal neurons, responses to GABA are maintained hyperpolarizing mainly by the action of K-Cl cotransporter isoform 2 (KCC2). KCC2 acts as a Cl- extrusion mechanism responsible for setting the intracellular Cl- concentration below the electrochemical equilibrium, a necessary condition for hyperpolarizing inhibition mediated by GABAARs. Recent evidence suggests that plasmalemmal KCC2 has a very high rate of turnover, pointing to a novel role for changes in KCC2 expression in diverse manifestations of neuronal plasticity. Some studies indicate that rapid down-regulation of KCC2 may be a general early response involved in various kinds of neuronal trauma. In this work, whole-cell patch-clamp was used to examine KCC2 function under a pharmacologically induced arrest of protein synthesis in living hippocampal brain slices from rat. The stability of KCC2 function was quantitatively assessed on the basis of the dendritic Cl- extrusion capacity in the presence of protein synthesis inhibitors cycloheximide and emetine. The parameter used for assessing extrusion capacity was a somato-dendritic Cl- gradient, which was imposed by a somatic Cl- load that resulted in a gradient of EGABA (ΔEGABA). The results of this study show that under general protein synthesis inhibitor-induced arrest of translation, KCC2 function persists unperturbed for at least 4 hours and hence that the cessation of mRNA translation cannot rapidly induce downregulation of KCC2-mediated Cl- extrusion. This finding precludes the use of protein synthesis inhibitors for rapid modulation of KCC2 function. Indirectly, the results presented here imply that the levels of KCC2 under pathophysiological conditions are primarily determined by the degradation rate and not by de novo synthesis.