Electrophysiological Recording of Potassium Currents in Hippocampal Neurons

Potassium channels are one of the most complex and wide-distributed channels in neurons, which have concentrated more and more attention, because it is an important signal pathway in the neuronal apoptosis and pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and neuron apoptosis. In this study whole-cell electrophysiological recording techniques were used to identify potassium currents in cultured rat hippocampal neurons (P7 to P14). The membrane potential was held at -65mV, before the activation of outward potassium currents, the membrane potential was pre-hyperpolarized to -110 mV, and then depolarized to +70 mV in 10 mV steps. We found that a kind of outward delayed potassium current was voltage dependent, and it could be significantly inhibited by 50 mM tetraethyl ammonium (TEA).