Abstract
Supraoptic nucleus tissue from neonatal puppies was dissected, minced and explanted into an organ culture medium. After 2 to 3 weeks of organ culture, explants were transferred into a small superfusion chamber and cell membrane potentials recorded from nerve cells by making microelectrode penetrations of these cells. Supraoptic nucleus neurons were not spontaneously active. They could be excited to initiate spiking activity by glutamate and by nicotine in a concentration-dependent fashion. Excited cells could be inhibited by exposure to γ-aminobutyric acid, to beta adrenergic agonists and probably by activating muscarinic receptors. The inimihitory effects of γ-aminobutyric acid and of norepinephrine may depend on different ionic mechanisms, since they result in different changes in the spike configuration. The explants contain measurable vasopressin, but the vasopressin is not released into the medium in measurable quantities. It is concluded that the organ-cultured supraoptic nucleus can be used to study membrane effects of drugs and other agents that influence vasopressin secretion.
Footnotes
- Received October 29, 1973.
- Accepted April 30, 1974.
- © 1974 by The Williams & Wilkins Co.
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