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American Physiological Society, Journal of Applied Physiology, 2(110), p. 545-554, 2011

DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00409.2010

A62. THE CYTOSKELETON AND CELL CONTRACTILITY

DOI: 10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2009.179.1_meetingabstracts.a2071

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Electric field stimulation of precision-cut lung slices

Journal article published in 2011 by Marco Schlepütz, Stefan Uhlig ORCID, Christian Martin
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The precision-cut lung slice (PCLS) technique is widely used to examine airway responses in different species. We developed a method to study nerve-dependent bronchoconstriction by the application of electric field stimulation (EFS) to PCLS. PCLS prepared from Wistar rats were placed between two platinum electrodes to apply serial rectangular impulses (5–100 Hz), and bronchoconstriction was studied by videomicroscopy. The extent of airway contractions increased with higher frequencies. Stable repeated airway contractions were obtained at a frequency of 50 Hz, a width of 1 ms, and an output of 200 mA for 2.5 s each minute. Larger airways showed stronger responses. The EFS-triggered contractions were increased by the acetylcholine esterase inhibitor neostigmine (10 μM) and reversed by the muscarinic antagonist atropine (10 μM), whereas the thromboxane protanoid receptor antagonist SQ29548 (10 μM) had no effect. Magnesium ions (10 mM) antagonized airway contractions induced by EFS, but not by methacholine, indicating that nerve endings remain intact in PCLS. Our data further show that the electrically evoked airway contractions in PCLS are mediated by cholinergic nerves, independent of thromboxane and more prominent in larger airways. Taken together these findings show that nerve endings remain intact in PCLS, and they suggest that the present method is useful to study neurogenic responses in airways of different size.