PUBLICATION

Rapid development of Purkinje cell excitability, functional cerebellar circuit, and afferent sensory input to cerebellum in zebrafish

Authors
Hsieh, J., Ulrich, B., Issa, F.A., Wan, J., Papazian, D.M.
ID
ZDB-PUB-150108-2
Date
2014
Source
Frontiers in neural circuits   8: 147 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Papazian, Diane M.
Keywords
Purkinje cell, cerebellum, climbing fiber, parallel fiber, patch clamp, visual input, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Action Potentials/physiology
  • Afferent Pathways/growth & development
  • Afferent Pathways/physiology
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Cerebellum/growth & development*
  • Cerebellum/physiology*
  • NAV1.6 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel/metabolism
  • Olivary Nucleus/growth & development
  • Olivary Nucleus/physiology
  • Patch-Clamp Techniques
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Purkinje Cells/physiology*
  • Shaw Potassium Channels/metabolism
  • Visual Perception/physiology
  • Zebrafish/growth & development*
  • Zebrafish/physiology*
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
(all 18)
PubMed
25565973 Full text @ Front. Neural Circuits
Abstract
The zebrafish has significant advantages for studying the morphological development of the brain. However, little is known about the functional development of the zebrafish brain. We used patch clamp electrophysiology in live animals to investigate the emergence of excitability in cerebellar Purkinje cells, functional maturation of the cerebellar circuit, and establishment of sensory input to the cerebellum. Purkinje cells are born at 3 days post-fertilization (dpf). By 4 dpf, Purkinje cells spontaneously fired action potentials in an irregular pattern. By 5 dpf, the frequency and regularity of tonic firing had increased significantly and most cells fired complex spikes in response to climbing fiber activation. Our data suggest that, as in mammals, Purkinje cells are initially innervated by multiple climbing fibers that are winnowed to a single input. To probe the development of functional sensory input to the cerebellum, we investigated the response of Purkinje cells to a visual stimulus consisting of a rapid change in light intensity. At 4 dpf, sudden darkness increased the rate of tonic firing, suggesting that afferent pathways carrying visual information are already active by this stage. By 5 dpf, visual stimuli also activated climbing fibers, increasing the frequency of complex spiking. Our results indicate that the electrical properties of zebrafish and mammalian Purkinje cells are highly conserved and suggest that the same ion channels, Nav1.6 and Kv3.3, underlie spontaneous pacemaking activity. Interestingly, functional development of the cerebellum is temporally correlated with the emergence of complex, visually-guided behaviors such as prey capture. Because of the rapid formation of an electrically-active cerebellum, optical transparency, and ease of genetic manipulation, the zebrafish has great potential for functionally mapping cerebellar afferent and efferent pathways and for investigating cerebellar control of motor behavior.
Genes / Markers
Marker Marker Type Name
aldocaGENEaldolase C, fructose-bisphosphate, a
kcnc3aGENEpotassium voltage-gated channel, Shaw-related subfamily, member 3a
scn8aaGENEsodium channel, voltage gated, type VIII, alpha subunit a
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Expression
Phenotype
No data available
Mutations / Transgenics
Allele Construct Type Affected Genomic Region
la118TgTransgenic Insertion
    rk22TgTransgenic Insertion
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      Human Disease / Model
      No data available
      Sequence Targeting Reagents
      No data available
      Fish
      1 - 2 of 2
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      Orthology
      No data available
      Engineered Foreign Genes
      Marker Marker Type Name
      VenusEFGVenus
      1 - 1 of 1
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      Mapping
      No data available