J Neurophysiol (November 1, 2002). 10.1152/jn.00500.2002
Submitted on 30 January 2002
Accepted on 31 July 2002

NPY Sensitivity and Postsynaptic Properties of Heterotopic Neurons in the MAM Model of Malformation-Associated Epilepsy

 ¹Department of Pharmacology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H7, Canada; and  ²Epilepsy Research Laboratory, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143

Pentney, A. R., S. C. Baraban, and W. F. Colmers. NPY Sensitivity and Postsynaptic Properties of Heterotopic Neurons in the MAM Model of Malformation-Associated Epilepsy. J. Neurophysiol. 88: 2745-2754, 2002. Neuronal migration disorders (NMDs) can be associated with neurological dysfunction such as mental retardation, and clusters of disorganized cells (heterotopias) often act as seizure foci in medically intractable partial epilepsies. Methylazoxymethanol (MAM) treatment of pregnant rats results in neuronal heterotopias in offspring, especially in hippocampal area CA1. Although the neurons in dysplastic areas in this model are frequently hyperexcitable, the precise mechanisms controlling excitability remain unclear. Here, we used IR-DIC videomicroscopy and whole cell voltage-clamp techniques to test whether the potent anti-excitatory actions of neuropeptide Y (NPY) affected synaptic excitation of heterotopic neurons. We also compared several synaptic and intrinsic properties of heterotopic, layer 2-3 cortical, and CA1 pyramidal neurons, to further characterize heterotopic cells. NPY powerfully inhibited synaptic excitation onto normal and normotopic CA1 cells but was nearly ineffective on responses evoked in heterotopic cells from stimulation sites within the heterotopia. Glutamatergic synaptic responses on heterotopic cells exhibited a comparatively small, D-2-amino-5-phosphopentanoic acid-sensitive, N-methyl-D-aspartate component. Heterotopic neurons also differed from normal CA1 cells in postsynaptic membrane currents, possessing a prominent inwardly rectifying K⁺ current sensitive to Cs⁺ and Ba²⁺, similar to neocortical layer 2-3 pyramidal cells. CA1 cells instead had a prominent Cs⁺- and 4-(N-ethyl-N-phenylamino)-1,2-dimethyl-6-(methylamino) pyrimidinium chloride-sensitive I_h and negligible inward rectification, unlike heterotopic cells. Thus heterotopic CA1 cells appear to share numerous physiological similarities with neocortical neurons. The lack of NPY's effects on intra-heterotopic inputs, the small contribution of I_h, and abnormal glutamate receptor function, may all contribute to the lowered threshold for epileptiform activity observed in hippocampal heterotopias and could be important factors in epilepsies associated with NMDs.