Cited by 261Ion channel regulation and functionNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Pacemaking in Dopaminergic Ventral Tegmental Area Neurons: Depolarizing Drive from Background and Voltage-Dependent Sodium Conductances

Open access
Khaliq, Zayd M., Bean, Bruce P.·2010·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

Dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) fire spontaneously in a pacemaker-like manner. We analyzed the ionic currents that drive pacemaking in dopaminergic VTA neurons, studied in mouse brain slices. Pacemaking was not inhibited by blocking hyperpolarization-activated cation current ( I h ) or blocking all calcium current by Mg 2+ replacement of Ca 2+ . Tetrodotoxin (TTX) stopped spontaneous activity and usually resulted in stable resting potentials near −60 mV to −55 mV, 10–15 mV below the action potential threshold. When external sodium was replaced by N -methyl- d -glucamine (NMDG) with TTX present, cells hyperpolarized by an average of −11 mV, suggesting a significant resting sodium conductance not sensitive to TTX. Voltage-clamp experiments using slow (10 mV/s) ramps showed a steady-state, steeply voltage-dependent current blocked by TTX that activates near −60 mV, as well as a sodium “background” current with little voltage sensitivity, revealed by NMDG replacement for sodium with TTX present. We quantified these two components of sodium current during the pacemaking trajectory using action potential clamp. The initial phase of depolarization, up to approximately −55 mV, is driven mainly by non-voltage-dependent sodium background current. Above −55 mV, TTX-sensitive voltage-dependent “persistent” Na current helps drive the final phase of depolarization to the spike threshold. Voltage-dependent calcium current is small at all subthreshold voltages. The pacemaking mechanism in VTA neurons differs from that in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) neurons, where subthreshold calcium current plays a dominant role. In addition, we found that non-voltage-dependent background sodium current is much smaller in SNc neurons than VTA neurons.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.0143-10.2010

Cites

88 of 88 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Nigral dopaminergic neurons are less abundant with L-type Ca2+ channels, have low oscillations of Ca2+, more expressed calcium-binding proteins calbindins, and therefore exhibit lower susceptibility to damage in PD.

    “For example, nigral neurons are less abundant with the L-type Ca2+ channels and are characterized by low oscillations of Ca2+, more expressed calcium-binding proteins calbindins, and therefore exhibit lower susceptibility to damage in PD (Khaliq and Bean 2010).”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Do MT Bean BP 2003 Subthreshold sodium currents and pacemaking of subthalamic neurons: modulation by slow inactivation Neuron 39 109 120 12848936
  2. Lewis DA Lieberman JA 2000 Catching up on schizophrenia: natural history and neurobiology Neuron 28 325 334 11144342

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Khaliq, Z. M., & Bean, B. P.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2010-05-26
Volume
30
Issue
21
Pages
7401-7413
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2079286959
Cited by
261
References
88
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 13
FWCI
5.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS036855, F31NS047991, R37NS036855, NS 36855)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Ion channel regulation and function
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
pacemaking, dopaminergic neurons, ventral tegmental area, spontaneous firing, persistent sodium current, voltage-dependent sodium current, hyperpolarization-activated current, calcium current, substantia nigra pars compacta, action potential threshold, resting membrane potential
MeSH terms
Animals, Biological Clocks, Biophysics, Calcium, Dopamine, Electric Stimulation, Glutamates, Membrane Potentials, Mice, Transgenic, Neurons, Tetrodotoxin, Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase, Valine, Sodium Channels, Ventral Tegmental Area, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists, 6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione, Sodium Channel Blockers, Green Fluorescent Proteins, Mice, In Vitro Techniques

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review