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Effects of synaptic blocking agents on the depolarizing responses of turtle cones evoked by surround illumination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Wallace B. Thoreson  and
Dwight A. Burkhardt
Wallace B. Thoreson
Affiliation:
Vision Laboratory, Departments of Psychology and Physiology and Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Dwight A. Burkhardt
Affiliation:
Vision Laboratory, Departments of Psychology and Physiology and Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
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Abstract

The effects of synaptic blocking agents on the antagonistic surround of the receptive field of cone photoreceptors were studied intracellular recording in the retina of hte turtle (Pseudemys scripta elegans) Illumination of a cone's receptive-field surround typically evoked a hybriid depolarizing response composed of two componests: (1) the graded synaptic feedback depolarization and (2) the prolonged depolarization a distinctive, intrinsic response of the cone. The locus of action of synaptic blocking agents was analyzed by comparing their effects on the light-evoked response of horizontal cells, the hybrid cone depolarization evoked by surround illumination, and the pure prolonged depolarization evoked by intracellular current injection.

The excitatory amino-acid antagonists, d-O-phosphoserine (DOS) and kynurenic acid (KynA), suppressed the light responses of horizontal cells and eliminated the surround-evoked, hybrid cone depolarization without affecting the prolonged depolarization evoked by current injection. Cobalt at 5–10 mM suppressed horizontal cell responses and thereby eliminated surround-evoked cone depolarizations. Cobalt (5–10 mM) also blocked the current-evoked prolonged depolarization, suggesting that the intrinsic cone mechanisms responsible for the prolonged depolarization are likely to be calcium-dependent.

Various GABA agonists and antagonists were found to have no effect on the surround-evoked depolarizations of cones. In contrast, a very low concentration of cobalt (0.5 mM) selectively suppressed the light-evoked feedback depolarization of cones without affecting horizontal cell responses or the current-evoked prolonged depolarization. Cobalt at 0.5 mM thus blocks the light-evoked action of the cone feedback synapse while sparing feedforward synaptic transmission from cones to horizontal cells. The implications of the present work for the possible neurotransmitters used at these synapses is discussed.

Keywords

Cone feedbackProlonged depolarizationGlutamateGABACobalt
Type
Research Article
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 5 , Issue 6 , December 1990 , pp. 571 - 583
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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