We then switched to transgenic mice to record genetically identified Hb9 interneurons (n = 137) considered to be part of the locomotor network (Brownstone and Wilson, 2008). The threshold of [Ca2+]o to generate bursts in Hb9 cells decreased as [K+]o

was increased (Figure 2I). At the check details [Ca2+]o and [K+]o values measured when locomotion emerged (∼1 mM and ∼5 mM, respectively), 12% of Hb9 cells expressed bursts. At the optimal [Ca2+]o and [K+]o with regard to locomotion (∼0.9 mM and ∼6 mM, respectively), as many as 50% of Hb9 cells acquired INaP-dependent bursts ( Figure 2I). At these values of [Ca2+]o and [K+]o, no pacemaker activity was triggered in motoneurons (n = 15, data not shown), indicating that the emergence of bursts is not ubiquitous. The switch in the firing mode occurs through

a fast dynamic process such that transient changes in [Ca2+]o and [K+]o instantaneously and reversibly switched the firing pattern of Hb9 cells from spiking to bursting ( Figures S3A–S3F). By slowing down the fictive locomotor rhythm with nickel, a recent investigation raised the possibility that low-threshold calcium current (ICaT) regulates the locomotor rhythm ( Anderson et al., 2012). In line with this, in all Hb9 cells tested (n = 5), INaP-dependent bursting properties were slowed down in frequency by nickel (200 μM; Figures selleck products S3G and S3H). As INaP appeared to play a key role in generating pacemaker activity, voltage-clamp recordings were performed to examine the relationship between the biophysical properties of INaP and the changes in [Ca2+]o and [K+]o. In response to slow voltage ramps, Megestrol Acetate Hb9 cells displayed a large

inward current ( Figures 2J and 2K, right, black traces) attributable to INaP as it was abolished by riluzole (5–10 μM) or TTX (1 μM; Figures 2J and 2K, right, pale gray traces; see also Tazerart et al., 2008). The acquisition of bursts by Hb9 cells as a result of reducing [Ca2+]o from 1.2 to 0.9 mM ( Figure 2J, left and middle) was accompanied by an upregulation of INaP ( Figure 2J, right, dark gray trace; see also Figure S3). The features of the upregulation were a negative shift (∼3 mV) in both the current activation threshold and the half-activation voltage (VmNaP1/2) and an increase (∼12%) in amplitude ( Table S2). In contrast, bursting properties induced in Hb9 cells as a result of increasing [K+]o ( Figure 2K, left and middle) occurred without changes of VmNaP1/2 ( Figure 2K, right, dark gray trace and Table S2). It appears that the facilitation of pacemaker activities by [K+]o did not result from an increase in INaP. Note that bursting Hb9 cells differed from nonbursting cells on the basis of significantly more hyperpolarized activation threshold and VmNaP1/2 of INaP ( Table S3). The generation of bursts results from the modulation of a variety of intrinsic neuronal properties. As described above, a decrease in [Ca2+]o explicitly amplifies INaP.