Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 273, Issue 3, 8 October 1999, Pages 179-182
Neuroscience Letters

Mechanical transduction by rat dorsal root ganglion neurons in vitro

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(99)00665-5Get rights and content

Abstract

Although it is generally presumed that mechanical sensitivity of somatosensory nerve fibers results from the activation of mechanosensitive ion channels, a mechanically-gated whole-cell current has never been demonstrated in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. We performed patch clamp experiments on rat DRG neurons in culture, and report the first mechanically-activated current in somatosensory neurons (Imech). This whole-cell current is observed in most dorsal root ganglion neurons but not in non-sensory sympathetic ganglion neurons. The current-voltage relation of Imech indicates that it is a non-selective cation current. Sensitivity of Imech to block by gadolinium suggests that it may be mediated by a member of a family of mechanosensitive non-selective cation channels observed in many cell types. Sensitivity to benzamil supports this idea, and further suggests that the current might be mediated by a member of the degenerin/epithelial sodium channel (DEG/ENaC) family.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Peter Sargent and Dr. Michael Shuster for their comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant NS21467.

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