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Acute inhibition of signalling phenotype of spinal GABAergic neurons by tumour necrosis factor‐α
Author(s) -
Zhang Haijun,
Dougherty Patrick M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.2011.215301
Subject(s) - gabaergic , disinhibition , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , glutamate decarboxylase , neuroscience , interneuron , tumor necrosis factor alpha , chemistry , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , endocrinology , biochemistry , enzyme
Non‐technical summary Spinal application of tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNFα) is shown to suppress inhibitory synaptic transmission and enhance excitatory synaptic transmission in spinal dorsal horn, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully known. We show that acute application of TNFα inhibits the excitability of a subset of spinal GABAergic neurons through TNF receptor 1 probably by suppressing hyperpolarization‐activated cation currents ( I h ) through the activation of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase within these neurons. These results suggest a novel cellular mechanism of how TNFα modulates spinal synaptic transmission which may be involved in the development of pain.