Abstract
The histaminergic neurons of the posterior hypothalamus (tuberomamillary nucleus—TMN) control wakefulness, and their silencing through activation of GABAA receptors (GABAAR) induces sleep and is thought to mediate sedation under propofol anaesthesia. We have previously shown that the β1 subunit preferring fragrant dioxane derivatives (FDD) are highly potent modulators of GABAAR in TMN neurons. In recombinant receptors containing the β3N265M subunit, FDD action is abolished and GABA potency is reduced. Using rat, wild-type and β3N265M mice, FDD and propofol, we explored the relative contributions of β1- and β3-containing GABAAR to synaptic transmission from the GABAergic sleep-on ventrolateral preoptic area neurons to TMN. In β3N265M mice, GABA potency remained unchanged in TMN neurons, but it was decreased in cultured posterior hypothalamic neurons with impaired modulation of GABAAR by propofol. Spontaneous and evoked GABAergic synaptic currents (IPSC) showed β1-type pharmacology, with the same effects achieved by 3 μM propofol and 10 μM PI24513. Propofol and the FDD PI24513 suppressed neuronal firing in the majority of neurons at 5 and 100 μM, and in all cells at 10 and 250 μM, respectively. FDD given systemically in mice induced sedation but not anaesthesia. Propofol-induced currents were abolished (1–6 μM) or significantly reduced (12 μM) in β3N265M mice, whereas gating and modulation of GABAAR by PI24513 as well as modulation by propofol were unchanged. In conclusion, β1-containing (FDD-sensitive) GABAAR represent the major receptor pool in TMN neurons responding to GABA, while β3-containing (FDD-insensitive) receptors are gated by low micromolar doses of propofol. Thus, sleep and anaesthesia depend on different GABAAR types.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bonin RP, Orser BA (2008) GABA(A) receptor subtypes underlying general anesthesia. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 90:105–112
Cheng VY, Martin LJ, Elliott EM, Kim JH, Mount HT, Taverna FA, Roder JC, MacDonald JF, Bhambri A, Collinson N, Wafford KA, Orser BA (2006) Alpha5GABAA receptors mediate the amnestic but not sedative–hypnotic effects of the general anesthetic etomidate. J Neurosci 26:3713–3720
DeLorey TM, Handforth A, Anagnostaras SG, Homanics GE, Minassian BA, Asatourian A, Fanselow MS, Delgado-Escueta A, Ellison GD, Olsen RW (1998) Mice lacking the beta3 subunit of the GABAA receptor have the epilepsy phenotype and many of the behavioral characteristics of Angelman syndrome. J Neurosci 18:8505–8514
Franks NP (2008) General anaesthesia: from molecular targets to neuronal pathways of sleep and arousal. Nat Rev Neurosci 9:370–386
Friederich P, Urban BW (1999) Interaction of intravenous anesthetics with human neuronal potassium currents in relation to clinical concentrations. Anesthesiology 91:1853–1860
Gallopin T, Fort P, Eggermann E, Cauli B, Luppi PH, Rossier J, Audinat E, Muhlethaler M, Serafin M (2000) Identification of sleep-promoting neurons in vitro. Nature 404:992–995
Glykys J, Mody I (2006) Hippocampal network hyperactivity after selective reduction of tonic inhibition in GABA A receptor alpha5 subunit-deficient mice. J Neurophysiol 95:2796–2807
Haas H, Panula P (2003) The role of histamine and the tuberomamillary nucleus in the nervous system. Nat Rev Neurosci 4:121–130
Haas HL, Sergeeva OA, Selbach O (2008) Histamine in the nervous system. Physiol Rev 88:1183–1241
Higuchi H, Funahashi M, Miyawaki T, Mitoh Y, Kohjitani A, Shimada M, Matsuo R (2003) Suppression of the hyperpolarization-activated inward current contributes to the inhibitory actions of propofol on rat CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons. Neurosci Res 45:459–472
Hill-Venning C, Belelli D, Peters JA, Lambert JJ (1997) Subunit-dependent interaction of the general anaesthetic etomidate with the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor. Br J Pharmacol 120:749–756
Jones PJ, Wang Y, Smith MD, Hargus NJ, Eidam HS, White HS, Kapur J, Brown ML, Patel MK (2007) Hydroxyamide analogs of propofol exhibit state-dependent block of sodium channels in hippocampal neurons: implications for anticonvulsant activity. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 320:828–836
Ju YH, Guzzo A, Chiu MW, Taylor P, Moran MF, Gurd JW, MacDonald JF, Orser BA (2009) Distinct properties of murine alpha 5 gamma-aminobutyric acid type a receptors revealed by biochemical fractionation and mass spectroscopy. J Neurosci Res 87:1737–1747
Jurd R, Arras M, Lambert S, Drexler B, Siegwart R, Crestani F, Zaugg M, Vogt KE, Ledermann B, Antkowiak B, Rudolph U (2003) General anesthetic actions in vivo strongly attenuated by a point mutation in the GABA(A) receptor beta3 subunit. FASEB J 17:250–252
Krasowski MD, O'Shea SM, Rick CE, Whiting PJ, Hadingham KL, Czajkowski C, Harrison NL (1997) Alpha subunit isoform influences GABA(A) receptor modulation by propofol. Neuropharmacology 36:941–949
Lam DW, Reynolds JN (1998) Modulatory and direct effects of propofol on recombinant GABAA receptors expressed in xenopus oocytes: influence of alpha- and gamma2-subunits. Brain Res 784:179–187
Lin JS, Anaclet C, Sergeeva OA, Haas HL (2011) The waking brain: an update. Cell Mol Life Sci [Epub ahead of print]
Lin JS, Sakai K, Vanni-Mercier G, Jouvet M (1989) A critical role of the posterior hypothalamus in the mechanisms of wakefulness determined by microinjection of muscimol in freely moving cats. Brain Res 479:225–240
Lingamaneni R, Hemmings HC Jr (2003) Differential interaction of anaesthetics and antiepileptic drugs with neuronal Na+ channels, Ca2+ channels, and GABA(A) receptors. Br J Anaesth 90:199–211
McGinty D, Gong H, Suntsova N, Alam MN, Methippara M, Guzman-Marin R, Szymusiak R (2004) Sleep-promoting functions of the hypothalamic median preoptic nucleus: inhibition of arousal systems. Arch Ital Biol 142:501–509
Nelson LE, Guo TZ, Lu J, Saper CB, Franks NP, Maze M (2002) The sedative component of anesthesia is mediated by GABA(A) receptors in an endogenous sleep pathway. Nat Neurosci 5:979–984
Nguyen HT, Li KY, daGraca RL, Delphin E, Xiong M, Ye JH (2009) Behavior and cellular evidence for propofol-induced hypnosis involving brain glycine receptors. Anesthesiology 110:326–332
Nitz D, Siegel JM (1996) GABA release in posterior hypothalamus across sleep–wake cycle. Am J Physiol 271:R1707–R1712
Parmentier R, Kolbaev S, Klyuch BP, Vandael D, Lin JS, Selbach O, Haas HL, Sergeeva OA (2009) Excitation of histaminergic tuberomamillary neurons by thyrotropin-releasing hormone. J Neurosci 29:4471–4483
Rehberg B, Duch DS (1999) Suppression of central nervous system sodium channels by propofol. Anesthesiology 91:512–520
Reynolds DS, Rosahl TW, Cirone J, O'Meara GF, Haythornthwaite A, Newman RJ, Myers J, Sur C, Howell O, Rutter AR, Atack J, Macaulay AJ, Hadingham KL, Hutson PH, Belelli D, Lambert JJ, Dawson GR, McKernan R, Whiting PJ, Wafford KA (2003) Sedation and anesthesia mediated by distinct GABA(A) receptor isoforms. J Neurosci 23:8608–8617
Rudolph U, Antkowiak B (2004) Molecular and neuronal substrates for general anaesthetics. Nat Rev Neurosci 5:709–720
Rudolph U, Crestani F, Benke D, Brunig I, Benson JA, Fritschy JM, Martin JR, Bluethmann H, Mohler H (1999) Benzodiazepine actions mediated by specific gamma-aminobutyric acid(A) receptor subtypes. Nature 401:796–800
Sergeeva OA, Andreeva N, Garret M, Scherer A, Haas HL (2005) Pharmacological properties of GABAA receptors in rat hypothalamic neurons expressing the epsilon-subunit. J Neurosci 25:88–95
Sergeeva OA, Eriksson KS, Sharonova IN, Vorobjev VS, Haas HL (2002) GABA(A) receptor heterogeneity in histaminergic neurons. Eur J Neurosci 16:1472–1482
Sergeeva OA, Kletke O, Kragler A, Poppek A, Fleischer W, Schubring SR, Gorg B, Haas HL, Zhu XR, Lubbert H, Gisselmann G, Hatt H (2010) Fragrant dioxane derivatives identify {beta}1-subunit-containing GABAA receptors. J Biol Chem 285:23985–23993
Sherin JE, Elmquist JK, Torrealba F, Saper CB (1998) Innervation of histaminergic tuberomammillary neurons by GABAergic and galaninergic neurons in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus of the rat. J Neurosci 18:4705–4721
Siegwart R, Jurd R, Rudolph U (2002) Molecular determinants for the action of general anesthetics at recombinant alpha(2)beta(3)gamma(2)gamma-aminobutyric acid(A) receptors. J Neurochem 80:140–148
Steininger TL, Alam MN, Gong H, Szymusiak R, McGinty D (1999) Sleep–waking discharge of neurons in the posterior lateral hypothalamus of the albino rat. Brain Res 840:138–147
Steininger TL, Gong H, McGinty D, Szymusiak R (2001) Subregional organization of preoptic area/anterior hypothalamic projections to arousal-related monoaminergic cell groups. J Comp Neurol 429:638–653
Sukhotinsky I, Zalkind V, Lu J, Hopkins DA, Saper CB, Devor M (2007) Neural pathways associated with loss of consciousness caused by intracerebral microinjection of GABA A-active anesthetics. Eur J Neurosci 25:1417–1436
Szymusiak R, McGinty D (2008) Hypothalamic regulation of sleep and arousal. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1129:275–286
Takahashi K, Lin JS, Sakai K (2006) Neuronal activity of histaminergic tuberomammillary neurons during wake–sleep states in the mouse. J Neurosci 26:10292–10298
Vanni-Mercier G, Gigout S, Debilly G, Lin JS (2003) Waking selective neurons in the posterior hypothalamus and their response to histamine H3-receptor ligands: an electrophysiological study in freely moving cats. Behav Brain Res 144:227–241
Vorobjev VS (1991) Vibrodissociation of sliced mammalian nervous tissue. J Neurosci Methods 38:145–150
Yanovsky Y, Li S, Klyuch BP, Yao Q, Blandina P, Passani MB, Lin JS, Haas H, Sergeeva OA (2011) L-Dopa activates histaminergic neurons. J Physiol 589:1349–66
Zecharia AY, Nelson LE, Gent TC, Schumacher M, Jurd R, Rudolph U, Brickley SG, Maze M, Franks NP (2009) The involvement of hypothalamic sleep pathways in general anesthesia: testing the hypothesis using the GABAA receptor beta3N265M knock-in mouse. J Neurosci 29:2177–2187
Acknowledgements
Supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft SFB 575/3 and 8 and a Heisenberg stipend to OAS. We are grateful to B. Görg for the help with confocal microscopy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published as part of the Special Issue on Sleep.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yanovsky, Y., Schubring, S., Fleischer, W. et al. GABAA receptors involved in sleep and anaesthesia: β1- versus β3-containing assemblies. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 463, 187–199 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-011-0988-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-011-0988-4