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BIOL1040
NEURONS,SYNAPSES&NERVOUSSYSTEMS
ActionPotentialConduction&
SynapticTransmission
AssociateProfessorLesleyJ.Lluka
SchoolofBiomedicalSciences
TheUniversityofQueensland
L.Lluka@uq.edu.au
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
NEURONS,SYNAPSES&NERVOUS
SYSTEMS
NeuralTransmission Cells&Ions
ActionPotentialConduction&Synaptic
Transmission
Organisation ofNervousSystems
CompulsoryWorkshop:Review&Application
Monday18th April
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
ActionPotentialConduction&Synaptic
Transmission LearningObjectives
Listandexplainthefactorsthataffectactionpotential
conductionspeeds
Explainhowcommunicationoccursatsynapses
Explainthemechanismsinvolvedinchemical
transmissionatsynapsesincludingexocytosis
Distinguishbetweenexcitatoryandinhibitory
postsynapticpotentials
Defineandexplaintemporalandspatialsummationof
postsynapticpotentials
Explainthedifferencesbetweendirectandindirect
synaptictransmission
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Resourcesrelevanttothislecture
CampbellBiology, 10th edn,2014 Chapter48
Concept483:Actionpotentialsarethesignalsconducted
byaxons
Concept484:Neuronscommunicatewithothercellsat
synapses
Actionpotentialpractical
MasteringBiologyincludingBioflix
HowNeuronsWork
HowSynapsesWork
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
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DEPOLARISATION
If THRESHOLD is reached:
Lots of Na+ channels open
Lots of Na+ rushes in
REPOLARISATION
A STIMULUS mV
30 K+ channels open
causes a few Na+ K+ rushes out
channels to open 0
Na+ channels inactivated
Na+ rushes in -50 and then start to close
-70
0 Time (ms) 5
RESTING STATE UNDERSHOOT
Voltage-gated ion Small hyperpolarisation
channels are closed
Also need Na+/K+-
ATPase to restore Na+
6 and K+ concentrations
A/ProfLesleyLluka
Refractory
mV period (RP)
30 Closed Open
Open
0
Na+
-50 RRP
ARP Inactivated
-70
PRESYNAPTIC
NEURON
POSTSYNAPTIC
NEURON
Campbell Biology, 10th ed, Fig 48.2
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Conductionofactionpotentials
Na+ so get sodium ions moving in
Usuallystartsataxon
hillock very first part of the axon that
is joined to the cell body
Travellongdistances
byregeneratingitself
alongtheaxon K+ Na+ potassium moving out
Howcanwemeasuremagnitudeand
delayoftheactionpotentialinanerve?
Youwilldothisintheactionpotential
practical.
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Sciatic nerve
Measurevoltage(mV)
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Axondiameter
Thelargerthediameter,thelessresistance
FASTERconductionspeed
Invertebrates:speedsvaryfromafewcm/s
12
to100m/sinsquidgiantaxon
A/ProfLesleyLluka
Temperature
Anychemicalreactionoccursfasterat
warmertemperatures!
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
by far the most important factor of conduction speed
Degreeofmyelination
or saltatory action
Saltatoryconduction
white myelin going round and round the axon
Schwanncell
Myelinsheath
+
+
+
+
NodeofRanvier
conduction happening only around nodes of ranvier
120m/sec
Effectofmyelinationonconductionspeed
Unmyelinatednervefiber
smoothconduction
NodesofRanvier
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Whathappenswhentheaction
potentialgetstotheendoftheaxon?
another animated slide
EFFECTORCELL
POSTSYNAPTIC (Example:muscle)
NEURON
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this is a chemical process A/ProfLesleyLluka
this is a very complicated process, not just one junction onto one neuron, get synapses from lots and lots of pre-synaptic neurons,
some neurons would be firing off, some not, and the summation would control what happens at the postsynaptic neuron
Communicationatsynapses
Electricalsynapses a really close junction between two membranes, and can get electrical
signal across, so electrical along the axon as all of them are, and still
atgapjunctions electrical at the junction
directelectriccurrentsbetweencells
relativelyfewsynapsesofthistype
Chemicalsynapses
involvesreleaseofachemicalneurotransmitter
neurotransmitterreleasedbypresynapticneuron
vastmajorityofsynapses
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Campbell Biology,
50 10th ed, Fig 6.32
A/ProfLesleyLluka
Neurotransmitterreleaseatachemical
synapse
voltage-gated=channels that respond to depolarisation
Campbell Biology,
20 10th ed, Fig 48.16
A/ProfLesleyLluka
Exocytosis
....andexocytosisis
themechanismof
neurotransmitter
releasefromneurons
A/ProfLesleyLluka
Ca2+ this is an animated slide
PRESYNAPTICNEURON
vesicles release chemicals (pink), and these chemicals
sometimes get taken back up into the neuron to be used again
Ca2+
POSTSYNAPTICNEURON
Mostpostsynapticpotentialsdeclinebeforethey
reachaxonhillock
what happens at the axon hillock determines if signal goes down the next neuron or not
Temporal most of these postsynaptic
potentials will just peter out, a
summation: little bit of change will happen
around the synapse, and then just
SeveralEPSPs disappear
fromthesame
synapsejust
aftereachother
Canreach
thresholdat
-50mV
axonhillock
actionpotential!
going down that axon one way to get it is just one nerve stimulated rapidly, the other on next slide
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Spatialsummation:
TwoormoreEPSPsfromdifferentsynapses:
several synapses firing at the same time, and going in the direction of excitation, can add up to a big enough effect to get
action potential along the neuron
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Subthreshold;nosummation
Campbell Biology
25 10th ed, Fig. 48.17
A/ProfLesleyLluka
TemporalsummationofEPSPs
Campbell Biology
26 10th ed, Fig. 48.17
A/ProfLesleyLluka
SpatialsummationofEPSPs
Campbell Biology
27 10th ed, Fig. 48.17
A/ProfLesleyLluka
SpatialsummationofEPSP+IPSP
stop action potential from being propogate
Campbell Biology
28 10th ed, Fig. 48.17
A/ProfLesleyLluka
Whatisthedifferencebetween
apostsynapticpotentialand
anactionpotential?
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Potentials:Postsynapticvs. Action
Postsynapticpotential
excitatory(EPSP)orinhibitory(IPSP)
postsynaptic potentials are the little things that
graded different sizes, localised occur just when you release the transmitter at
the local part of the synapse at the local part of
local the postsynaptic membrane, and then depend on
how they ad dup across the membrane
atthecellbodyordendrites
Actionpotential
depolarisation same size
allornothing
excitatorypostsynapticpotentialscanaddupand
causeanactionpotential
generatedattheaxonhillock
travelsalongtheaxon
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
TypesofChemicalSynapticTransmission
neurotransmitter thats released by
Directsynaptictransmission superfast
exocytosis acts on postsynaptic membrane
receptors and they are ion channel linked
receptors aka ligand-gated ion channels
neurotransmitteropensionchannelsonthe
postsynapticmembrane opening up channel letting ions move
into or out of the cell depending on
gradient
actionvialigandgatedionchannels
Indirectsynaptictransmission slightly slower
neurotransmitterbindstoareceptoronthe
postsynapticmembrane still has release of transmitter but acts
on receptor that comes from a different
Intracellular receptors
Steroid receptors
A/ProfLesleyLluka
TypesofChemicalSynapticTransmission
Directsynaptictransmission
neurotransmitteropensionchannelsonthe
postsynapticmembrane
actionvialigandgatedionchannels
Indirectsynaptictransmission
neurotransmitterbindstoareceptoronthe
postsynapticmembrane
activatesasignaltransductionpathway
involvesasecondmessenger
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bioflix only talks about direct not indirect
A/ProfLesleyLluka
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
Directsynaptictransmissionatachemical
synapse
Campbell Biology,
10th ed, Fig 48.16
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
DirectSynapticTransmission
Neurotransmitteropensionchannelsonthe produces change in potential bc ions moving across, response size
postsynapticmembrane depends on how many channels opened, so a graded response, unlike
the action potential spike of the same size once threshold is reached,
response happen on cell body or dendrite of postsynaptic neuron
leadstoapostsynapticpotential graded
Excitatorypostsynapticpotentials(EPSPs)
the direction of change of potential can also depend on what kind of ions are going in/out, for
depolarisation example open sodium channels lets sodium in, therefore neutralise some of the negative chart and
it is depolarising the cell, whenever it depolarises the cell called excitatory potential
Inhibitorypostsynapticpotentials(IPSPs)
if instead of opening up sodium channel, open up potassium channel, which
hyperpolarisation goes along its concentration gradient out of the cell, that will make the cell
more negative bc losing positive charge, or alternatively opening chloride
channel, which allows negative charge in since conc. chloride outside> conc.
chloride inside, potential gets more negative, so get hyperpolarisation, from
-70mV to maybe -80mV
called inhibitory b/c less likely to get depolarisation
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A/ProfLesleyLluka
direct synaptic transmission
AminoAcidNeurotransmitters
top two in brain and spinal cord (glycine), open up chloride ion channels, let
chloride into cell, so they are inhibitory, cause hyperpolarisation, linking up to
ion channel liked receptor, so direct transmission is superfast
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glutamate and aspartate are important excitatory neurotransmitters, work
Campbell Biology, 10th ed, Table 48.2
to open up sodium channels and produce depolarising signals
A/ProfLesleyLluka
TypesofSynapticTransmission
Directsynaptictransmission
neurotransmitteropensionchannelsonthe
postsynapticmembrane
actionvialigandgatedionchannels
binding happening that produces a second
messenger, depending on type of second
Indirectsynaptictransmission messenger, can produce excitatory signal
again/inhibitory signal
neurotransmitterbindstoareceptoronthe
postsynapticmembrane
activatesasignaltransductionpathway
involvesasecondmessenger
canresultinEPSPsorIPSPsdependingonthe
neurotransmitterandthereceptortype
g-protein coupled receptor that
neurotransmitter is binding to, so get
42 second messenger, takes longer, happens in
seconds rather than milliseconds
A/ProfLesleyLluka
Indirectsynaptictransmissionata
chemicalsynapse
Activationofsignaltransductionpathway
PostsynapticreceptorscoupledtoGproteins
AmineNeurotransmitters
=Noradrenaline
=5hydroxytryptamine(5HT)
Campbell Biology
44 10th ed, Table 48.2
A/ProfLesleyLluka
AmineNeurotransmitters
=Noradrenaline
=5hydroxytryptamine(5HT)
Campbell Biology
45 10th ed, Table 48.2
serotonin has a lot of receptors, something like 14, all but 1 is g-protein coupled receptor type
need chemicals to get removed rapidly from synaptic cleft because we want to keep
dynamic control over whats happening in terms of stimulation of the next neuron, and want
to turn it on or off very dynamically, so need this transmitter to disappear fast A/ProfLesleyLluka
Removalofneurotransmittersfromthe
synapticcleft
Takenupby
astrocytes
Recycledby
selectiveuptake
bytransporters
e.g.NET,SERT
Brokendownbyenzymes
e.g.acetylcholinesterase
transmitter could diffuse away, but that would be too slow
something faster would be being broken also have astrocytes around glial
down by an enzyme, eg acetylcholine by cells that takes up anything
acetylcholinesterase thats very active in leftover and broken down, making
synaptic cleft, so it lasts very short time sure got no transmitter left
before it is broken down into an acetyl all of the other neurotransmitters have a specific protein on the
group and a choline group (just happens presynaptic neuron that allows the uptake of the neurotransmitter, eg
46Diffusion with acetylcholine no other
neurotransmitters)
noradrenaline can be taken up by a noradrenaline transporter, goes back to
the synaptic vesicle, recycling it, choline part of acetylcholine also has a
transporter so it can get retrieved as well
A/ProfLesleyLluka
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