Rationale: The Purkinje fiber network has been proposed as the source of arrhythmogenic Ca release events in catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), yet evidence supporting this mechanism at the cellular level is lacking. Objective: We sought to determine the frequency and severity of spontaneous Ca release events and the response to the antiarrhythmic agent flecainide in ...

Anti-Yo antibodies are immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies reactive with a 62 kDa Purkinje cell cytoplasmic protein. These antibodies are closely associated with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration in the setting of gynecological and breast malignancies. We have previously demonstrated that incubation of rat cerebellar slice cultures with patient sera and cerebrospinal fluid containing ant...

During ischemia, lidocaine or quinidine may prevent arrhythmias by blocking conduction without suppressing abnormal automaticity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether lidocaine or quinidine (5 Mg/ml) produced Purkinje fiber-papillary muscle block during superfusion in vitro with an altered Tyrode's solution containing some components of ischemia: 6 mM potassium, Po2 < 40, pH = 6.8...

During ischemia, lidocaine or quinidine may prevent arrhythmias by blocking conduction without suppressing abnormal automaticity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether lidocaine or quinidine (5 Mg/ml) produced Purkinje fiber-papillary muscle block during superfusion in vitro with an altered Tyrode's solution containing some components of ischemia: 6 mM potassium, Po2 < 40, pH = 6.8...

Cerebellar Purkinje neurons demonstrate a form of synaptic plasticity that, in acutely prepared brain slices, has been shown to require calcium release from the intracellular calcium stores through inositol trisphosphate (InsP(3)) receptors. Similar studies performed in cultured Purkinje cells, however, find little evidence for the involvement of InsP(3) receptors. To address this discrepancy, ...

Cerebellar Purkinje cells of mormyrid fish differ in some morphological as well as physiological parameters from their counterparts in mammals. Morphologically, Purkinje cells of mormyrids have larger dendrites that are characterized by a lower degree of branching in the molecular layer. Physiologically, there are differences in electrophysiological response patterns that are related to sodium ...

The adult cerebellar cortex is comprised of reproducible arrays of transverse zones and parasagittal stripes of Purkinje cells. Adult stripes are created through the perinatal rostrocaudal dispersion of embryonic Purkinje cell clusters, triggered by signaling through the Reelin pathway. Reelin is secreted by neurons in the external granular layer and deep cerebellar nuclei and binds to two high...

Neurons have highly polarized structures that determine what parts of the soma elaborate the axon and dendrites. However, little is known about the mechanisms that establish neuronal polarity in vivo. Cerebellar Purkinje cells extend a single primary dendrite from the soma that ramifies into a highly branched dendritic arbor. We used the zebrafish cerebellum to investigate the mechanisms by whi...

The development of cerebellar Purkinje cells is subject to regulation by multiple epigenetic signals. To define mechanisms by which trophic and presynaptic stimulation may potentially regulate Purkinje cell ontogeny, we studied the effects of NGF and excitatory transmitters on Purkinje cell survival and morphological maturation in dissociated cell culture. Purkinje cells were identified by expr...