From behavior to membranes: Testosterone-induced changes in action potential duration in electric organs
- Creators
- Bass, Andrew H.
- Volman, Susan F.
Abstract
The electric organ of mormyrid fishes consists of action potential-generating cells called electrocytes, which together produce a pulse-like electric organ discharge (EOD). The appearance of an EOD depends, in part, on the characteristic features of a single electrocyte's action potentials. In some species, gonadal steroid hormones induce increases in EOD duration, which mimic natural sex differences. We now show that testosterone-induced changes in EOD duration are associated with a 2- to 3-fold increase in the duration of action potentials generated by single electrocytes. Together with other anatomical and biochemical data, the results emphasize the exquisite interrelationship between steroid hormone action and the cellular machinery determining the electrical properties of single cells that underlie sexually dimorphic and seasonal behaviors.
Additional Information
© 1987 National Academy of Sciences. Communicated by Masakazu Konishi, August 27, 1987. The authors' names appear alphabetically. Thanks to the Diagnostics Laboratory, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine (Ithaca, NY) for performing the radioimmunoassays; R. Hoy, R. Capranica, and A. Cohen· for equipment; M. Marchaterre, U. Haerter, and C. Carr for technical help and advice; M. Marchaterre and W. Sussdorf for the illustrations; and M. V. L. Bennett, T. Bartol, C. Carr, R. Hoy, B. Land, D. Wetzel, and D. Yager for helpful comments. This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Research Grant NS19942 to A.H.B. The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.Attached Files
Published - BASpnas87.pdf
Files
Name | Size | Download all |
---|---|---|
md5:172ec0df47181e4eddf10dce9b285c95
|
646.9 kB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC299740
- Eprint ID
- 32023
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20120622-080655451
- NS19942
- NIH
- Created
-
2012-06-22Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field