Issue 29, 2023

Diversity of dynamic voltage patterns in neuronal dendrites revealed by nanopipette electrophysiology

Abstract

Dendrites and dendritic spines are the essential cellular compartments in neuronal communication, conveying information through transient voltage signals. Our understanding of these compartmentalized voltage dynamics in fine, distal neuronal dendrites remains poor due to the difficulties inherent to accessing and stably recording from such small, nanoscale cellular compartments for a sustained time. To overcome these challenges, we use nanopipettes that permit long and stable recordings directly from fine neuronal dendrites. We reveal a diversity of voltage dynamics present locally in dendrites, such as spontaneous voltage transients, bursting events and oscillating periods of silence and firing activity, all of which we characterized using segmentation analysis. Remarkably, we find that neuronal dendrites can display spontaneous hyperpolarisation events, and sustain transient hyperpolarised states. The voltage patterns were activity-dependent, with a stronger dependency on synaptic activity than on action potentials. Long-time recordings of fine dendritic protrusions show complex voltage dynamics that may represent a previously unexplored contribution to dendritic computations.

Graphical abstract: Diversity of dynamic voltage patterns in neuronal dendrites revealed by nanopipette electrophysiology

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Jun 2022
Accepted
26 Apr 2023
First published
11 May 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale, 2023,15, 12245-12254

Diversity of dynamic voltage patterns in neuronal dendrites revealed by nanopipette electrophysiology

J. Mc Hugh, S. Makarchuk, D. Mozheiko, A. Fernandez-Villegas, G. S. Kaminski Schierle, C. F. Kaminski, U. F. Keyser, D. Holcman and N. Rouach, Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 12245 DOI: 10.1039/D2NR03475A

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