Fig. 1

Cytokines affect GABAergic synaptic current kinetics in organotypic spinal culture. a Low magnification micrograph of immunofluorescence labeling of organotypic spinal cord slice (14 DIV), SMI-32 (in red), and MAP 2 (in green) markers identify axons and mature neurons. The ventral area (localized by the ventral fissure, arrow) highlighted by the dashed square is shown at higher magnification in the right panels. VH = ventral horn, DH = dorsal horn, DRG = dorsal root ganglia. b Pharmacologically isolated IPSCs recorded from ventral interneurons at 14 DIV. Control current tracings are in black. CKs 4H (in gray) and 6H (in blue) (left) and LPS 4H (in gray) and 6H (in blue) (right) increased IPSC frequency. c Box plots summarize the decay time constant (τ) values of IPSCs from pooled experiments in CKs (top) or LPS (bottom); the insets show superimposed and scaled IPSC average tracings (same cells as in b); note the changes in IPSC duration in CKs (**P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001, one-way ANOVA). d Bar plot (mean ± SEM) of IPSCs τ values plotted against DIV; bins are at 13–15 DIV: 36.3 ± 2.7 ms control; 26.5 ± 2.2 ms CKs 4H; 24.5 ± 1.6 ms CKs 6H; n = 14, 10, 15, respectively; *P = 0.011 control vs CKs 4H; ***P < 0.001 control vs CKs 6H; bins at 20–22 DIV: 37.6 ± 3.6 ms control; 22.5 ± 2.6 ms CKs 4H; 26.2 ± 2.9 ms CKs 6H; n = 8, 6, 6, respectively; *P = 0.011 control vs CKs 4H; *P = 0.041 control vs CKs 6H (one-way ANOVA). e Box plots summarize the τ values of mIPSCs from pooled experiments in CKs (top) or LPS (bottom), note the changes in mIPSC duration in CKs. *P = 0.024 control vs CKs 6H, one-way ANOVA