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Science 16 December 1988:
Vol. 242. no. 4885, pp. 1572 - 1575
DOI: 10.1126/science.2849207
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Articles

Science, Vol 242, Issue 4885, 1572-1575
Copyright © 1988 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Lineage-specific development of calcium currents during embryogenesis

L Simoncini, ML Block, and WJ Moody

Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.

The development of electrophysiological properties of isolated, identified ascidian blastomeres was followed from the fertilized egg to the neurula, and the stage at which cells of different lineages first express different functional ion channel populations was determined. Little has been known about such events because of the difficulties of making voltage-clamp recordings from small embryonic cells and of identifying their developmental fates in dissociated preparations. The problem of small cell size was circumvented by using the whole-cell patch clamp, and identification was facilitated by the use of a species of ascidian, Boltenia villosa, in which endogenous pigment marks cells of specific developmental fates. Within approximately 3 hours after gastrulation, muscle-lineage blastomeres in these embryos developed a voltage-dependent calcium current while surrounding blastomeres of other lineages did not. At about the same time, all cells developed delayed outward potassium currents and lost the inwardly rectifying potassium currents present at earlier stages.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Development of Transient Outward Currents Coupled With Ca2+-Induced Ca2+ Release Mediates Oscillatory Membrane Potential in Ascidian Muscle Cells.
K. Nakajo and Y. Okamura (2004)
J Neurophysiol 92, 1056-1066
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Subfamily-Specific Posttranscriptional Mechanism Underlies K+ Channel Expression in a Developing Neuronal Blastomere.
F. Ono, Y. Katsuyama, K. Nakajo, and Y. Okamura (1999)
J. Neurosci. 19, 6874-6886
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Expression of Kv1.1, a Shaker-Like Potassium Channel, Is Temporally Regulated in Embryonic Neurons and Glia.
J. L. Hallows and B. L. Tempel (1998)
J. Neurosci. 18, 5682-5691
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ion Channels and Early Development of Neural Cells.
K. TAKAHASHI and Y. OKAMURA (1998)
Physiol Rev 78, 307-337
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A voltage-dependent chloride current linked to the cell cycle in ascidian embryos.
M. Block and W. Moody (1990)
Science 247, 1090-1092
   Abstract »    PDF »


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