Axo-axonal coupling. a novel mechanism for ultrafast neuronal communication

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Item Type:	Article
Title:	Axo-axonal coupling. a novel mechanism for ultrafast neuronal communication
Creators Name:	Schmitz, D., Schuchmann, S., Fisahn, A., Draguhn, A., Buhl, E.H., Petrasch-Parwez, E., Dermietzel, R., Heinemann, U. and Traub, R.D.
Abstract:	We provide physiological, pharmacological, and structural evidence that axons of hippocampal principal cells are electrically coupled, with prepotentials or spikelets forming the physiological substrate of electrical coupling as observed in cell somata. Antidromic activation of neighboring axons induced somatic spikelet potentials in neurons of CA3, CA1, and dentate gyrus areas of rat hippocampal slices. Somatic invasion by these spikelets was dependent on the activation of fast Na(+) channels in the postjunctional neuron. Antidromically elicited spikelets were suppressed by gap junction blockers and low intracellular pH. Paired axo-somatic and somato-dendritic recordings revealed that the coupling potentials appeared in the axon before invading the soma and the dendrite. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy we found that putative axons of principal cells were dye coupled. Our data thus suggest that hippocampal neurons are coupled by axo-axonal junctions, providing a novel mechanism for very fast electrical communication.
Keywords:	Action Potentials, Anti-Ulcer Agents, Axons, Carbenoxolone, Cell Communication, Evoked Potentials, Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists, Fluorescent Dyes, GABA Antagonists, Gap Junctions, Hippocampus, Pyramidal Cells, Synaptic Transmission, Tetrodotoxin, Time Factors, Animals, Rats
Source:	Neuron
ISSN:	0896-6273
Publisher:	Cell Press
Volume:	31
Number:	5
Page Range:	831-840
Date:	13 September 2001
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0896-6273(01)00410-X
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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