Dissociated hippocampal neurons exhibit distinct Zn<sup>2+</sup>dynamics in a stimulation method-dependent manner | CU Experts

ABSTRACTIonic Zn2+has increasingly been recognized as an important neurotransmitter and signaling ion in glutamatergic neuron pathways. Intracellular Zn2+transiently increases as a result of neuronal excitation, and this Zn2+signal is essential for neuron plasticity, but the source and regulation of the signal is still unclear. In this study we rigorously quantified Zn2+, Ca2+and pH dynamics in dissociated mouse hippocampal neurons stimulated with bath application of high KCl or glutamate. While both stimulation methods yielded Zn2+signals, Ca2+influx, and acidification, glutamate stimulation induced more sustained high intracellular Ca2+and a larger increase in intracellular Zn2+. However, the stimulation-induced pH change was similar between conditions, indicating that a different cellular change is responsible for the stimulation-dependent difference in Zn2+signal. This work provides the first robust quantification of Zn2+dynamics in neurons using different methods of stimulation.

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