Emerging evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to the pathophysiology of epilepsy. Recurrent mitochondrial Ca2+ ion load during seizures might act on mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) and proton motive force. By using electrophysiology and confocal laser-scanning microscopy, we investigated the effects of epileptiform activity, as induced by low-Mg2+ ion perfusion in hippocampal slice cultures, on changes in Δψm and in mitochondrial Ca2+ ion concentration ([Ca2+]m). The mitochondrial compartment was identified by monitoring Δψm in the soma and dendrites of patched CA3 pyramidal cells using the mitochondria-specific voltage-sensitive dye rhodamine-123 (Rh-123). Interictal activity was accompanied by localized mitochondrial depolarization that was restricted to a few mitochondria in small dendrites. In contrast, robust Rh-123 release into the cytosol was observed during seizure-like events (SLEs), indicating simultaneous depolarization of mitochondria. This was critically dependent on Ca2+ ion uptake and extrusion, because inhibition of the mitochondrial Ca2+ ion uniporter by Ru360 and the mitochondrial Na+/Ca2+ ion exchanger by 7-chloro-5-(2-chlorophenyl)-1,5-dihydro-4,1-benzothiazepin-2(3H)-one but not the inhibitor of mitochondrial permeability transition pore, cyclosporin A, decreased the SLE-associated mitochondrial depolarization. The Ca2+ ion dependence of simultaneous mitochondrial depolarization suggested enhanced Ca2+ ion cycling across mitochondrial membranes during epileptiform activity. Indeed, [Ca2+]m fluctuated during interictal activity in single dendrites, and these fluctuations spread over the entire mitochondrial compartment during SLEs, as revealed using mitochondria-specific dyes (rhod-2 and rhod-ff) and spatial frequency-based image analysis. These findings strengthen the hypothesis that epileptic activity results in Ca 2+ ion-dependent changes in mitochondrial function that might contribute to the neuronal injury during epilepsy. Copyright © 2005 Society for Neuroscience.
CITATION STYLE
Kovács, R., Kardos, J., Heinemann, U., & Kann, O. (2005). Mitochondrial calcium ion and membrane potential transients follow the pattern of epileptiform discharges in hippocampal slice cultures. Journal of Neuroscience, 25(17), 4260–4269. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4000-04.2005
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