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KCNQ (Kv7) Potassium Channel Turnover and Cellular Excitability
M-channels are critical determinants of cellular and neuronal network excitability, postnatal brain development and cognitive performance. We showed that suppression of the neuronal M current in transgenic mice is associated with spontaneous seizures, behavioral hyperactivity and morphological changes in the hippocampus. M-current deficient hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons were characterized by increased excitability, reduced spike-frequency adaptation, attenuated medium after hyperpolarization and reduced subthreshold theta resonance. In wild type neurons, M-channel activity is regulated by G0q/11 signalling pathway(s) which seems to regulate the density of M-channels in the plasma membrane. Our project is aimed at a detailed study of this pathway and its significance for neuronal action potential firing properties and neuronal excitability.
Ref.
Peters HC et al. (2005) Conditional transgenic suppression of M channels in mouse brain reveals functions in neuronal excitability, resonance and behavior. Nat. Neurosci. 8, 51-60.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. O. Pongs
Universitaet Hamburg
Center of Molecular Neurobiology
Institute of Neuronal Signal Transduction
Falkenried 94
20251 Hamburg
Germany
Tel.: +49 - (0)40 - 7410 - 55081
Fax.:+49 - (0)40 - 7410 - 55102
Email: morin@zmnh.uni-hamburg.de
Homepage: http://www.zmnh.uni-hamburg.de/zmnh/departments/pongs/pongs.html
