Direct induction of burst firing by SK channel blockade in serotonergic neurons in vivo

Small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK channels) are widely expressed throughout the central nervous system and underlie the medium afterhyperpolarization following a single or a train of action potentials. It has been shown that they are involved in the regulation of the excitability and the firing pattern of several types of neurons.
In vivo, serotonergic (5-HT) neurons of the dorsal raphe nucleus usually show a tonic pattern of discharge, but they can also display repetitive burst firing activity, usually involving doublets of closely spaced (< 20 ms) action potentials. It has been shown that burst firing is correlated with an increase in transmitter release and postsynaptic effects (Gartside et al., Neuroscience, 98, 295-300, 2000). We hypothesized that SK channels modulate the firing pattern of 5-HT neurons.
In a preliminary study, extracellular single-cell recordings combined with iontophoresis showed that UCL1684, a water soluble SK blocker (200 µM), significantly increased the % of spikes produced in bursts in 60% of presumed serotonergic neurons in the anesthetized rat. We confirm here this observation by demonstrating that UCL1684 significantly increased the production of doublets in 17 out of 25 serotonergic neurons. In order to explore whether a GABAergic input was involved in this effect, additional experiments were performed in the presence of the specific GABAA antagonist SR 95531. In these conditions, 50 % (5 out of 10) of serotonergic neurons showed an increase in the production of doublets when UCL 1684 was applied (p = 0.31 vs control), suggesting that a GABAergic input is not implicated in the regulation of the firing pattern of 5-HT neurons by the SK blocker.
Finally, the effect of SK channel blockade was explored in vitro in slices. Bath application of the SK blocker apamin (300 nM) did not induce bursting in 15 out of 18 neurons (p < 0.001 vs in vivo control conditions), although it did increase the coefficient of variation of the interspike intervals.Taken together, our results suggest that SK blockade induces burst firing in a majority of dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons. This effect does not involve GABAergic interneurons, but requires an input that is only present in vivo.