Met-Enkephalin's Effect on Respiratory Neurons

Brief description of the experiment: Researchers used optogenetics and patch-clamp electrophysiology

in mouse brainstem slices to study excitatory inputs onto inspiratory neurons.

Channelrhodopsin was expressed in glutamatergic pontine neurons, and light stimulation

was used to evoke EPSCs in neurons of the preBötzinger complex and rVRG. The opioid peptide

met-enkephalin was applied while measuring EPSC amplitude and paired-pulse ratio (PPR).

Conclusion from the results: Met-enkephalin depresses excitatory synaptic transmission onto

inspiratory neurons, with changes in PPR indicating a presynaptic reduction in glutamate release.

Why I chose this experiment: I chose this experiment because it directly links synaptic mechanisms