Spontaneous electrical activity in the human fetal cortex in vitro.
Spontaneous electrical activity in the human fetal cortex in vitro.
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DOI：
10.1523/jneurosci.3886-10.2011
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发表时间：
2011-02-16
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Antic SD
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Moore AR;Zhou WL;Jakovcevski I;Zecevic N;Antic SD
我们对人类大脑皮层发育的了解是基于对固定死后材料的分析。在这里，我们利用未固定的人类死后组织的电记录来表征先驱皮质神经元（“亚板神经元”）的突触生理学和自发网络活动。我们的电生理学实验表明，功能性谷氨酸或 GABA 离子型受体早在妊娠 20 周时就在人类板下 (SP) 神经元上表达。细胞外（突触）刺激在极小部分 SP 神经元中诱发突触后电位，表明功能性突触接触在妊娠中期很少见。尽管突触输入很少，但我们经常观察到人类 SP 神经元之间的自发（无端）电活动，包括持续的平台去极化和动作电位的爆发，这类似于成人新皮质的皮质向上和向下状态。平台去极化和 AP 放电爆发被认为取决于成人皮质网络的成熟形态和生理学。然而，我们目前的数据表明，类似的皮质节律是由非常不成熟的人类胎儿神经元群产生的。在相对缺乏感觉输入的情况下，如在子宫内发育或在慢波睡眠（即整个生命周期）中，自发的慢振荡模式（向上和向下状态）是人类皮质生理学的一个基本方面。
Our knowledge about the developing human cerebral cortex is based on the analysis of fixed postmortem material. Here we utilize electrical recordings from unfixed human postmortem tissue to characterize the synaptic physiology and spontaneous network activity of pioneer cortical neurons (“subplate neurons”). Our electrophysiological experiments show that functional glutamate or GABA ionotropic receptors are expressed on human subplate (SP) neurons as early as 20 gestational weeks. Extracellular (synaptic) stimulations evoked postsynaptic potentials in a very small fraction of SP neurons, suggesting that functional synaptic contacts are rare at mid-gestation. Although synaptic inputs were scarce, we regularly observed spontaneous (unprovoked) electrical activity among human SP neurons, comprised of sustained plateau depolarizations and bursts of action potential firing, which resembled cortical UP and DOWN states in the adult neocortex. Plateau depolarizations and bursts of AP firing are thought to depend on the mature morphology and physiology of adult cortical network. However, our current data reveal that similar cortical rhythm is generated by a very immature ensemble of human fetal neurons. In the relative absence of sensory inputs, as in development in utero, or in slow wave sleep (i.e. throughout the entire lifespan), the spontaneous slow oscillatory pattern (UP and DOWN states) is a fundamental aspect of human cortical physiology.