TY - JOUR TI - Dopamine maintains network synchrony via direct modulation of gap junctions in the crustacean cardiac ganglion AU - Lane, Brian J AU - Kick, Daniel R AU - Wilson, David K AU - Nair, Satish S AU - Schulz, David J A2 - Calabrese, Ronald L A2 - Dulac, Catherine A2 - Calabrese, Ronald L A2 - Blitz, Dawn VL - 7 PY - 2018 DA - 2018/10/16 SP - e39368 C1 - eLife 2018;7:e39368 DO - 10.7554/eLife.39368 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.39368 AB - The Large Cell (LC) motor neurons of the crab cardiac ganglion have variable membrane conductance magnitudes even within the same individual, yet produce identical synchronized activity in the intact network. In a previous study we blocked a subset of K+ conductances across LCs, resulting in loss of synchronous activity (Lane et al., 2016). In this study, we hypothesized that this same variability of conductances makes LCs vulnerable to desynchronization during neuromodulation. We exposed the LCs to serotonin (5HT) and dopamine (DA) while recording simultaneously from multiple LCs. Both amines had distinct excitatory effects on LC output, but only 5HT caused desynchronized output. We further determined that DA rapidly increased gap junctional conductance. Co-application of both amines induced 5HT-like output, but waveforms remained synchronized. Furthermore, DA prevented desynchronization induced by the K+ channel blocker tetraethylammonium (TEA), suggesting that dopaminergic modulation of electrical coupling plays a protective role in maintaining network synchrony. KW - Cancer borealis KW - neuromodulation KW - electrical coupling KW - gap junction KW - robustness JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -