呼吸道迷走神经感受器概述

肺以及气道与外界环境之间存在着巨大的界面,因此需要有效的防御反射机制。呼吸道感受器是肺部神经反射的起始点,其重要性不言而喻,采用组织,解剖与电生理学方法,经过一个世纪的研究,我们对于呼吸道感受器的认识,特别对其结构的认识,仍然有限,据电生理实验结果,肺部感受器至少可被分为三大类;慢适应感受器,快适应感受器以及C纤维感受器,按血供来源,后者又可分为气道（体循环）与肺（肺循环）两类,近来发现呼吸道中存在着第四类感受器,它们由迷走神经的Aδ传入纤维传递冲动,其放电活动不同于上述各类,对肺充气反应阈值高,故称之为高阈值Aδ感受器,功能上前两类基本属于机械性感受器,而后两类可归为化学敏感性感受器,另外,用组织学方法,观察到气道内有一些神经内分泌细胞,它们可以散在分布,亦可集聚成小体。这些神经上皮小体受多种神经支配,其结构复杂,形态酪似感受器,虽然我们对其形态了解颇深,但对其放电形式一无所知,本文对以上各类感受器进行了评述与探讨。     

Sensory receptors of the rosette organ of Gyrocotyle rugosa

The fine structure of three sensory receptors of the rosette organ of Gyrocotyle rugosa, is described. The Type I sensory receptors, localised towards the edge of both upper and lower surfaces, are characterized by a long cilium embedded in a bulb containing two electron-dense collars and several mitochondria. The Type II sensory receptors, larger than Type I, are located on the upper surface of the rosette and have a long cilium and a ciliary rootlet. They also have two electron-dense collars and one or two mitochondria. The sensory cilia of both types are characterized by 9 + 2 axonemes. The Type III sensory receptors, localised on the under surface, lack a sensory cilium but have a ciliary rootlet and are enclosed in the tegument and musculature; there is a complicated three-dimensional spherical lattice of microfibrils associated with the rootlet. The sensory bulbs contain large numbers of membrane bound vesicles and neurotubules. A function is postulated for each of the three types of sensory receptors.     

Seasonal dynamics of Callibaetis willineri (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae) associated with Eichhornia azurea (Pontedericeae) in Guaraná Lake of the Upper Paraná River, Brazil

The micro-anatomy of the cephalon is described in the troglobic asellotan isopod Craseriella anops from the Nohoch Nah Chich anchialine cave system in southeast Mexico. The cephalon is entirely covered by cuticular scales bordered by marginal spines. The anterior end of the cephalon is bordered by a carina that is wider medially. The isopod is eyeless. The distal seventh portion of the cephalon is characterized by the presence of two sutures and six setae. A suture is found on each side of the distal margin of the cephalon.Each suture is bordered by microtrichs. Two simple setae with a sensory hair, articulated on the base by a socket, are found one on each side of each of the sutures. Two additional setae, similar in shape and size, occur medially on the cephalon. A terminal pore is absent on the sensory hairs of all setae. These setae are suggested to be mechanoreceptors that provide directional sensitivity and enhance the sensibility of turbulent motion, viscosity and changes of hydrostatic pressure.     

Observations of daily activity patterns in two captive short-nosed echidnas,Tachyglossus aculeatus

Daily activity patterns of a pair of short-nosed echidnas, Tachyglossus aculeatus, at the Topeka Zoo were observed once monthly for 1 year. These echidnas remained primarily nocturnal throughout the year. In observations when both echidnas exhibited extended periods of activity (5 hours or more) there was a high correlation in times activity began between the two animals. Activity patterns varied throughout the year possibly associated with changes in temperature and/or photoperiod. Diel temperature changes and noise levels did not appear to be major factors influencing activity in this study.     

Prolongation of actions of Ca2+ early in phototransduction by 9-demethylretinal

During adaptation Ca2+ acts on a step early in phototransduction, which is normally available for only a brief period after excitation. To investigate the identity of this step, we studied the effect of the light-induced decline in intracellular Ca2+ concentration on the response to a bright flash in normal rods, and in rods bleached and regenerated with 11-cis 9-demethylretinal, which forms a photopigment with a prolonged photoactivated lifetime. Changes in cytoplasmic Ca2+ were opposed by rapid superfusion of the outer segment with a 0Na+/0Ca2+ solution designed to minimize Ca2+ fluxes across the surface membrane. After regeneration of a bleached rod with 9-demethlyretinal, the response in Ringer's to a 440-nm bright flash was prolonged in comparison with the unbleached control, and the response remained in saturation for 10-15s. If the dynamic fall in Ca2+i induced by the flash was delayed by stepping the outer segment to 0Na+/0Ca2+ solution just before the flash and returning it to Ringer's shortly before recovery, then the response saturation was prolonged further, increasing linearly by 0.41 +/- 0.01 of the time spent in this solution. In contrast, even long exposures to 0Na+/0Ca2+ solution of rods containing native photopigment evoked only a modest response prolongation on the return to Ringer's. Furthermore, if the rod was preexposed to steady subsaturating light, thereby reducing the cytoplasmic calcium concentration, then the prolongation of the bright flash response evoked by 0Na+/0Ca2+ solution was reduced in a graded manner with increasing background intensity. These results indicate that altering the chromophore of rhodopsin prolongs the time course of the Ca2+-dependent step early in the transduction cascade so that it dominates response recovery, and suggest that it is associated with photopigment quenching by phosphorylation.     

急性低氧对鲫鱼视网膜视杆和视锥信号的不同影响

在保持完整血液循环的鲫鱼眼杯标本上,应用Ａｇ－ＡｇＣｌ电极记录视网膜电图（ＥＲＧ）,研究了急性低氧下不同适应状态ＥＲＧ反应变化的情况,以期分析视锥与视杆通路对急性低氧的敏感性是否不同。结果表明：１．急性低氧对明视ＥＲＧ－ｂ波的影响要远远快于对暗视ｂ波的影响,这说明视锥信号通路比视杆信号通路对缺氧敏感;２．在间视状态下,ＥＲＧ的ｂ波在低氧开始反几分钟内有一个明显的增大过程,而在明视或暗视中皆未观察到     

Actions of Ca2+ on an Early Stage in Phototransduction Revealed by the Dynamic Fall in Ca2+ Concentration during the Bright Flash Response

To study the actions of Ca²⁺ on “early” stages of the transduction cascade, changes in cytoplasmic calcium concentration (Ca²⁺_i) were opposed by manipulating Ca²⁺ fluxes across the rod outer segment membraneimmediately following a bright flash. If the outer segment was exposed to 0 Ca²⁺/0 Na⁺ solution for a brief periodimmediately after the flash, then the period of response saturation was prolonged in comparison with that inRinger solution. But if the exposure to 0 Ca²⁺/0 Na⁺ solution instead came before or was delayed until 1 s afterthe flash then it had little effect. The degree of response prolongation increased with the duration of the exposure to 0 Ca²⁺/0 Na⁺ solution, revealing a time constant of 0.49 ± 0.03 s. By the time the response begins to recover from saturation, Ca²⁺_i seems likely to have fallen to a similar level in each case. Therefore the prolongationof the response when Ca²⁺_i was prevented from changing immediately after the flash seems likely to reflect the abolition of actions of the usual dynamic fall in Ca²⁺_i on an early stage in the transduction cascade at a site which isavailable for only a brief period after the flash. One possibility is that the observed time constant corresponds tothe phosphorylation of photoisomerized rhodopsin.     

Electrical properties of the dendrite in an insect mechanoreceptor: Effects of antidromic or direct electrical stimulation

A study of the negative phase of the spikes recorded extra cellularly from insect mechanoreceptor has been performed in order to characterize some electrical properties of the dendrite which contains the transducing part of the sensory neuron. These properties have been investigated in mechanoreceptors of the metathoracic leg of the locust Schistocerca gregaria by firing antidromic action potentials both at rest and during mechanical or electrical stimulation. The amplitude of the negative phase of the spike appears to be correlated with the polarization of the dendritic membrane, although when bursts of action potentials are applied, the relation is more complex, including a depressive influence of a given spike on the following spike. The receptor potential and the antidromic dendritic spikes both originate in the same region of the dendrite but they involve different ionic processes. Our results indicate that the dendrite is electrically excitable. The spike which originates in the dendrite has an initial negative phase with a small superimposed positive component. A spike of this shape is never observed under natural stimulation. It is proposed that the negative phase of the antidromic impulse provides a suitable means for studying the variations in electrical polarization of the dendrite which cannot be recorded directly.     

Effect of light history on the rat retina: Timecourse of morphological adaptation and readaptation

Sprague Dawley rats were born and raised under either 5 or 800 lux cyclic light (12L:12D) and were sacrificed at 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 16, and 28 weeks of age. At each time point outer nuclear layer (ONL) area and rod outer segment (ROS) length were measured. The former is an estimation of photoreceptor number, and the latter is an estimation of the photon-catching integrity of the retina, both of which are known to be dependent on the light environment. Regression analysis revealed an ONL area reduction with time of 0.003 mm²/wk for 5-lux-reared rats and 0.009 mm²/wk for 800-lux-reared rats. ROS length was relatively constant in the dim light group, but showed a decline in 800 lux rats of 0.5 m/wk. Rats moved from 800 to 5 lux at 9 and 21 wks of age showed no significant change in ONL area after 3 wks. ROS length in these rats increased at a prodigious rate, and in the 12-wk-olds (9 wks at 800 lux, followed by 3 wks at 5 lux), ROS length exceeded that of age-matched rats raised in 5 lux for life.Special issue dedicated to Dr. Frederick E. Samson     

Tibial campaniform sensilla of Glossina morsitans

On the basis of behavioural tests and light microscopy, a pair of dome shaped sensilla occuring on the outer and inner surfaces of Glossina morsitans morsitans tibiae were considered to be sex pheromone receptors. Recent observations using electrophysiological tests and ultrastructural methods have revealed that those receptors have no olfactory function; they are ampaniform sensilla sensitive to mechanical stimulation.     

Millimeter-wave effects on electric activity of crayfish stretch receptors

The effects of super high frequency (SHF) microwaves (34-78 GHz) on rates of spontaneous firing of the slowly adapting, stretch-receptor neurons of crayfish were studied. Initially, irradiation of continuously perfused, fluid-cooled preparations at power densities to 250 mW/cm2 caused a transient decrease in the rate of spontaneous firing (the dynamic response). Subsequently, with extinction of the SHF field, the rate of firing increased, finally stabilizing at pre-exposure levels (stationary phase). Rates of firing also increased when the receptor muscle was stretched, and they were inversely correlated with small, field-induced increases of temperature (approximately 1.5 degrees C). The response to SHF radiation did not depend on frequency if temperature of the medium was constant. No resonant peaks were found when the millimeter range of frequencies was scanned.     

Dual Color Neural Activation and Behavior Control with Chrimson and CoChR in Caenorhabditis elegans

By enabling a tight control of cell excitation, optogenetics is a powerful approach to study the function of neurons and neural circuits. With its transparent body, a fully mapped nervous system, easily quantifiable behaviors and many available genetic tools, Caenorhabditis elegans is an extremely well-suited model to decipher the functioning logic of the nervous system with optogenetics. Our goal was to establish an efficient dual color optogenetic system for the independent excitation of different neurons in C. elegans. We combined two recently discovered channelrhodopsins: the red-light sensitive Chrimson from Chlamydomonas noctigama and the blue-light sensitive CoChR from Chloromonas oogama. Codon-optimized versions of Chrimson and CoChR were designed for C. elegans and expressed in different mechanosensory neurons. Freely moving animals produced robust behavioral responses to light stimuli of specific wavelengths. Since CoChR was five times more sensitive to blue light than the commonly used ChR2, we were able to use low blue light intensities producing no cross-activation of Chrimson. Thanks to these optogenetics tools, we revealed asymmetric cross-habituation effects between the gentle and harsh touch sensory motor pathways. Collectively, our results establish the Chrimson/CoChR pair as a potent tool for bimodal neural excitation in C. elegans and equip this genetic model organism for the next generation of in vivo optogenetic analyses.     

The role of steady phosphodiesterase activity in the kinetics and sensitivity of the light-adapted salamander rod photoresponse

We investigated the kinetics and sensitivity of photocurrent responses of salamander rods, both in darkness and during adaptation to steady backgrounds producing 20-3,000 photoisomerizations per second, using suction pipet recordings. The most intense backgrounds suppressed 80% of the circulating dark current and decreased the flash sensitivity approximately 30-fold. To investigate the underlying transduction mechanism, we expressed the responses as a fraction of the steady level of cGMP-activated current recorded in the background. The fractional responses to flashes of any fixed intensity began rising along a common trajectory, regardless of background intensity. We interpret these invariant initial trajectories to indicate that, at these background intensities, light adaptation does not alter the gain of any of the amplifying steps of phototransduction. For subsaturating flashes of fixed intensity, the fractional responses obtained on backgrounds of different intensity were found to "peel off" from their common initial trajectory in a background-dependent manner: the more intense the background, the earlier the time of peeling off. This behavior is consistent with a background-induced reduction in the effective lifetime of at least one of the three major integrating steps in phototransduction; i.e., an acceleration of one or more of the following: (1) the inactivation of activated rhodopsin (R*); (2) the inactivation of activated phosphodiesterase (E*, representing the complex G(alpha)-PDE of phosphodiesterase with the transducin alpha-subunit); or (3) the hydrolysis of cGMP, with rate constant beta. Our measurements show that, over the range of background intensities we used, beta increased on average to approximately 20 times its dark-adapted value; and our theoretical analysis indicates that this increase in beta is the primary mechanism underlying the measured shortening of time-to-peak of the dim-flash response and the decrease in sensitivity of the fractional response.