Cell to Cell Signalling

From Experiments to Theoretical Models

A. Goldbeter

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781483276793
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Biology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Cell to Cell Signalling: From Experiments to Theoretical Models is a collection of papers from a NATO Workshop conducted in Belgium in September 1988. The book discusses nerve cells and neural networks involved in signal transfers. The works of Hodgkin and Huxley presents a prototypic combination between experimental and theoretical approaches. The book discusses the coupling process found between secretory cells that modify their behavior. The text also analyzes morphogenesis and development, and then emphasizes the pattern formation found in Drosophila and in the amphibian embryo. The text also cite examples of immunological modeling that is related to the dynamics of immune networks based on idiotypic regulation. One paper analyzes the immune dynamism of HIV infection. The text notes that hormone signaling can be attributed as responsible for intercellular communication. Another paper examines how the dominant follicle in the ovarian cycle is selected, as well as the effectiveness of hormone secretion responsible for encoding the frequency of occurrence of periodic signals. The book also discusses heart signal sources such as cardiac dynamics and the response of periodically excited cardiac cells. The text can prove valuable for practioners in the field of neurology and cardiovascular medicine, and for researchers in molecular biology and molecular chemistry.

Part 1

From nerve cells to neural networks

Outline

Chapter 1: The role of the intrinsic electrophysiological properties of central neurones in oscillation and resonance

Chapter 2: A three-dimensional model of a thalamic neurone

Chapter 3: Rhythmic neuronal burst generation: Experiment and theory

Chapter 4: Kinetics of release as a tool to distinguish between models for neurotransmitter release

Chapter 5: Collective properties of insulin-secreting cells

Chapter 6: The segmental burst-generating network used in lamprey locomotion: Experiments and simulations

Chapter 7: Mathematical modelling of central pattern generators

Chapter 8: Universal learning mechanisms: From genes to molecular switches

Chapter 9: Neural networks: From neurocomputing to neuromodelling

The role of the intrinsic electrophysiological properties of central neurones in oscillation and resonance

RODOLFO R. LLINÁS, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, New York University, School of Medicine, New York, USA

Publisher Summary

This chapter discusses the role of the intrinsic electrophysiological properties of central neurons in oscillation and resonance. In vitro experiments using brainstem slices have demonstrated that inferior olive neurons have a set of ionic conductances that are activated in such a way as to give these cells intrinsic oscillatory properties. The firing of inferior olive cells is characterized by an initial fast-rising action potential, which is prolonged to 10–15 ms by an after-depolarization. The abrupt, long-lasting after-hyperpolarization the plateau after-depolarization totally silences the spike generating activity. This hyperpolarization is typically terminated by a sharp, active rebound response, which arises when the membrane potential is negative to the resting level. When this rebound reaches threshold for an action potential, the cell is again activated. In this way, the cell will fire at a frequency determined largely by the characteristics of the after-hyperpolarization.

INTRODUCTION

In attempting to assess the importance of the intrinsic electrophysiological properties of central neurones, one should perhaps begin by reviewing the ‘neurone doctrine’ as these two concepts are intimately related. The idea that the central nervous system is, like other organs, a collection of individual and separable cellular elements was proposed, amongst others, by Waldeyer as the ‘neurone doctrine’ at the end of the nineteenth century (1891). However, the establishment of this hypothesis on firm footing, as well as the realization of its momentous significance, really belongs to Ramon y Cajal. He pointed out that the nervous system is fundamentally an organized set of individual elements separated physically from each other and having as the mechanism for their interaction specified contacts between cells (1888, 1934). These contacts were named ‘synapses’ by Sir Charles Sherrington. Opposing this view were scientists such as Max Schultze (1861) and Camilo Golgi (1898) who considered that the nervous system was composed of a complex continuous network of protoplasmic bridges between cells. This randomly organized protoplasmic network in which nuclei were imbedded, was viewed by him as forming an enormous structure, referred to as the ‘reticulum’. It is quite clear that attempting to understand the nervous system in the absence of the neurone doctrine would have been impossible as it represents the single most fundamental concept in modern neuroscience. Indeed, the ionic basis of electrophysiology, neuronal integration, synaptic transmission and the modulation of genome expression by hormones and transmitters are but corollaries to the existence of the nerve cell.

On the other hand, while the study of single cell physiology has emphasized that neurones are independent anatomical entities, it has not always been obvious that neurones are to a certain extent independent functional entities. At present, many neuroscientists still believe that central neurones are brought to electrical activity or to quiescence by synaptic input exclusively. Indeed, central neurones are thought to serve as mere relay elements in a process which allows the conductance of impulses along the different pathways in a rapid race to some portion of the brain that ‘puts it all together’. This view of the organization of the nervous system is, at best, incomplete. Rather, modern electrophysiology suggests that central neurones are endowed with voltage-dependent electrophysiological properties that allow them to have truly intrinsic electrical properties. Examples of such interesting electrical properties will be given below when considering the activity in the inferior olivary or thalamic neurones as studied in vitro.

The recognition of the intrinsic electrophysiological activity of neurones de facto implies that the overall activity in the nervous system is most probably governed by the interplay of synaptic input and intrinsic membrane properties. This being the case, we come to the conclusion that intrinsic oscillation, and resonance (the ability of neurones to respond preferentially to given frequencies of stimulation), must play an important role in the organization of nervous system function. This is in contrast to the view that most activity originates from the periphery via sensory systems, or from the corollary discharge of motor output.

NEURONAL OSCILLATION IN MAMMALIAN CNS

One of the truly remarkable findings relating to the electrical activity of the brain was the discovery by Hans Berger (...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Inside Front Cover
• Copyright
• List of contributors
• Preface
• Inside Front Cover
• Part 1: From nerve cells to neural networks
• Part 2: Morphogenesis and development
• Part 3: Cell to cell signals in immunology
• Part 4: Hormonal signalling: The reproductive system
• Part 5: Signal transduction based on calcium oscillations
• Part 6: Intercellular communication in Dictyostelium
• Part 7: Signal propagation in the heart
• Index