DJ Don Group Tess Donckels and Bryan Djunaedi

Intracellular Recording from Leech

Intracellular Recording from Leech
Intracellular Recording from Leech
Intracellular Recording from Leech
Intracellular Recording from Leech
Intracellular Recording from Leech
Intracellular Recording from Leech
Intracellular Recording from Leech
Intracellular Recording from Leech
Intracellular Recording from Leech
QUESTION
Can the bursting activity in the leech
ganglion be artificially induced in the crayfish
neuromuscular junction?
If so, does the mechanism of facilitation
during the burst appear to be similar or
different, given the facilitation indices and the
frequency of EPSPs in the burst?
Extracellular (top) and Intracellular (bottom)
Recording from Crayfish
Analysis
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EPSP Frequency (spikes/second)
Facilitation Index vs EPSP Frequency (Leech)
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9.8 10 10.2 10.4 10.6 10.8 11 11.2
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EPSP Frequency (spikes/second)
Facilitation Index vs EPSP Frequency (Crayfish)
R = 0.7443
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EPSP Frequency (spikes/sec)
Facilitation Index vs EPSP Frequency in
Leech versus Crayfish
Crayfish: 1/sec
Crayfish: 5/sec
Crayfish: 10/sec
Crayfish: 20/sec
R = 0.7443
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EPSP Frequency (spikes/sec)
Facilitation Index vs EPSP Frequency in
Leech versus Crayfish
Crayfish: 1/sec
Crayfish: 5/sec
Crayfish: 10/sec
Crayfish: 20/sec
Leech: 5.89/sec
DISCUSSION
Possible Mechanisms Causing Facilitation:
Residual Calcium Hypothesis
Increase in intracellular calcium caused by AP
lingers in presynaptic terminal
More calcium added if another AP arrives
If calcium hasnt fully diffused, the concentration of
calcium will be higher than after the first AP
Causes higher amount of transmitter release
LITERATURE SEARCH
Dudel and Kuffler
Used crayfish neuromuscular junction
Showed that facilitation in crayfish involved the
amount of transmitter released from terminals
Also showed that facilitation is not due to
increasing post-synaptic sensitivity
Dudel, J., and S. Kuffler. "Mechanism of Facilitation at the Crayfish Neuromuscular
Junction." Journal of Physiology 155 (1961): 530-42. Web.
POSSIBLE REASONS FOR SIMILARITIES
Similar or identical mechanisms of facilitation
Residual Calcium Hypothesis
Shared invertebrate physiology
POSSIBLE REASONS FOR DIFFERENCES
Small sample size allows for variation
Physiological differences in neuron-to-neuron
communication and neuromuscular
communication
Different organisms could mean possible
neuronal or synaptic differences
Differences in the mechanism of facilitation
that we dont understand
CONCLUSION
We were we able to simulate bursting activity in
the leech ganglion in the crayfish
neuromuscular junction.
We were unable to establish a conclusive
correlation between the possible mechanisms
behind facilitation in the leech and crayfish.
Future experiments include collecting more
data from a single cell, and/or inputting the
same current impulses from the leech to the
crayfish junction.