roles of molecular layer interneurons in sensory information processing in mouse cerebellar cortex crus ii in vivo角色的分子层在感官信息处理在小鼠小脑皮层中间神经元小腿ii体内.pdfVIP

Roles of Molecular Layer Interneurons in Sensory Information Processing in Mouse Cerebellar Cortex Crus II In Vivo Chun-Ping Chu1,3, Yan-Hua Bing1,2, Heng Liu1,2, De-Lai Qiu1,2* 1 Cellular Function Research Center, Yanbian University, Yanji, Jilin Province, China, 2 Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, College of Medicine, Yanbian University, Yanji, Jilin Province, China, 3 Function Experiment Center, College of Basic Medicine, Yanbian University, Yanji, Jilin Province, China Abstract Background: Cerebellar cortical molecular layer interneurons (MLIs) play essential roles in sensory information processing by the cerebellar cortex. However, recent experimental and modeling results are questioning traditional roles for molecular layer inhibition in the cerebellum. Methods and Main Results: Synaptic responses of MLIs and Purkinje cells (PCs), evoked by air-puff stimulation of the ipsilateral whisker pad were recorded from cerebellar cortex Crus II in urethane-anesthetized ICR mice by in vivo whole-cell patch-clamp recording techniques. Under current-clamp (I = 0), air-puff stimuli were found to primarily produce inhibition in PCs. In MLIs, this stimulus evoked spike firing regardless of whether they made basket-type synaptic connections or not. However, MLIs not making basket-type synaptic connections had higher rates of background activity and also generated spontaneous spike-lets. Under voltage-clamp conditions, excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) were recorded in MLIs, although the predominant response of recorded PCs was an inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). The latencies of EPSCs were similar for all MLIs, but the time course and amplitude of EPSCs varied with depth in the molecular layer. The highest amplitude, shortest duration EPSCs were recorded from MLIs deep in the