Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from identified spinal neurons in the zebrafish embryo

  • Published:
Methods in Cell Science

Abstract

We describe a preparation for obtaining patch-clamp recordings from identified embryonic spinal cord interneurons, motoneurons and sensory neurons in an in vivo zebrafish preparation. This preparation is used to study the spatial and temporal patterns of spontaneous and touch-evoked electrical activity during the initial development of circuitry in the spinal cord. The combination of these physiological techniques with the powerful genetic and molecular tools available in the zebrafish has the potential to increase our understanding of the complex interactions between genes and electrical activity during the development of the vertebrate nervous system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
€32.70 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Finland)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hamburger V (1963). Some aspects of the embryology of behavior. Quat Rev Biol 38: 342–365.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Corner M (1964). Rhythmicity in the early swimming of anuran larvae. J Embryol Exp Morphol 12: 665–671.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Feller MB (1999). Spontaneous correlated activity in developing neural circuits. Neuron 22(4): 653–656.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Kudo N, Yamada T (1987). Development of locomotor activity in the lumbar spinal cord of rat fetuses. Jap J Physiol 49: S252.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Nakayama K et al. (1999). Rostrocaudal progression in the development of periodic spontaneous activity in fetal rat spinal motor circuits in vitro. J Neurophysiol 81: 2592–2595.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Branchereau P et al. (2000). Development of lumbar rhythmic networks: From embryonic to neonate locomotor-like patterns in the mouse. Brain Res Bull 53: 711–718.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Saint-Amant L, Drapeau P (1998). Time course of the development of motor behaviors in the zebrafish embryo. J Neurobiol 37: 622–632.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Drapeau P et al. (1999). In vivo recording from identifiable neurons of the locomotor network in the developing zebrafish. J Neurosci Methods 88: 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Saint-Amant L, Drapeau P (2000). Motoneuron activity patterns related to the earliest behavior of the zebrafish embryo. J Neurosci 20: 3964–3972.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Saint-Amant L, Drapeau P (2001). Synchronization of an embryonic network of identified spinal inter-neurons solely by electrical coupling. Neuron 31: 1035–1046.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Westerfield M (1995). The zebrafish book: A guide for the laboratory use of zebrafish (Brachydanio rerio). Eugene: University of Oregon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Evans DH (1979). Fish. In: Maloiy GMO (ed.), Comparative physiology of osmoregulation in animals, 305–390. Orlando: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hamill OP et al. (1981). Improved patch-clamp techniques for high-resolution current recording from cells and cell-free membrane patches. Pflugers Arch 391: 85–100.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Legendre P, Korn H (1994). Glycinergic inhibitory synaptic currents and related receptor channels in the zebrafish brain. Eur J Neurosci 6: 1544–1557.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Myers PZ (1985). Spinal motoneurons of the larval zebrafish. J Comp Neurol 236: 555–561.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Bernhardt RR et al. (1990). Identification of spinal neurons in the embryonic and larval zebrafish. J Comp Neurol 302: 603–616.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Andersen SSL (2001). Preparation of dissociated zebrafish spinal neuron cultures. Met Cell Sci 23: 205–209.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Drapeau P et al. (2002). Development of the locomotor network in zebrafish. Prog Neurobiol 68: 85–111.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Legendre P, Ali DW, Drapeau P (2000). Recovery from open channel block by acetylcholine during neuromuscular transmission in zebrafish. J Neurosci 20: 140–148.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Ali DW, Drapeau P, Legendre P (2000). Development of spontaneous glycinergic currents in the Mauthner neuron of the zebrafish embryo. J Neurophysiol 84: 1726–1736.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Fetcho JR, O'Malley DM (1995). Visualization of active neural circuitry in the spinal cord of intact zebrafish. J Neurophysiol 73: 399–406.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Buss RR, Drapeau P (2001). Synaptic drive to motoneurons during fictive swimming in the developing zebrafish. J Neurophysiol 86: 197–210.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, 830 North University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1048, USA

    Louis Saint-Amant

  2. Centre for Research in Neuroscience, McGill University Health Centre Research Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3G 1A4

    Pierre Drapeau

Authors
  1. Louis Saint-Amant
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pierre Drapeau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Saint-Amant, L., Drapeau, P. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from identified spinal neurons in the zebrafish embryo. Methods Cell Sci 25, 59–64 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:MICS.0000006896.02938.49

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:MICS.0000006896.02938.49

Search

Navigation