Control of neuronal excitability by calcium binding proteins: A new mathematical model for striatal fast-spiking interneurons

Calcium binding proteins, such as parvalbumin (PV), are abundantly expressed in distinctive patterns in the central nervous system but their physiological function remains poorly under-stood. Notably, at the level of the striatum, where PV is only expressed in the fast-spiking (FS) interneurons. FS interneurons form an inhibitory network modulating the output of the striatum by synchronizing medium-sized spiny neurons (MSN). So far the existing conductance-based computational models for FS neurons did not allow the study of the coupling between PV concentration and electrical activity. In the present paper, we propose a new mathematical model for the striatal FS interneurons that includes apamin-sensitive small conductance Ca 2+-dependent K + channels (SK) and the presence of a calcium buffer. Our results show that a variation in the concentration of PV can modulate substantially the intrinsic excitability of the FS interneurons and therefore may be involved in the information processing at the striatal level. © 2012 Bischop, Orduz, Lambot, Schiffmann and Gall.SCOPUS: ar.jSCOPUS: ar.j