Posted by SLS on July 15, 2016, at 16:56:13
In reply to HCN channels? A novel target, posted by Horse on July 12, 2016, at 19:29:15
> I have no idea what HCN channels are, but....
>
> http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-07-antidepressant.html#nRlvThis is as crappy article. It gives no information at all to explain how inhibiting HCN channels affects the excitability of neurons, and what the net effect is in hippocampal activity and the formation of memories.
My rudimentary understanding of HCN from reading Wiki this indicates that these channels are openings that allow for any cation type (non-selective)to travel through them.
K+
Na+
Ca2+The opening of the channels between adjacent neurons are dependent on the voltage state of a presynaptic neuron and the presence of cyclic nucleotides (cAMP; gAMP). This connection between membranes allows for a group of connected neurons to act as "pace-makers", especially in the heart. HCN channels in the central nervous system (CNS) act to modulate the strength of connectivity between neurons at the synapse via dendritic spines, which are short buds that grow from the dendrite to the pre-synaptic neuron. The waxing and waning of localized dendritic spines creates the plasticity that allows the brain to process and retain information.
- Scott
Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1090460
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160713/msgs/1090531.html