Cajal間質細胞中的肌間神經叢區域（ICC-MyP）能形成一個網絡，并產生基底起搏電活動。這種形態特征使我們相信，這些細胞對胃腸道協調運動是非常重要的。我們希望找出一種新的方法來對ICC-MyP的電場活動和網絡功能作出評估。約1毫米面積的ICC-MyP 區域的場電位通過極距為150um的8x8微電極陣列進行測量, 含硝苯吡啶和河豚毒素的細胞外液能抑制平滑肌細胞和神經元。我們也比較了野生型（WT）和W/W（v）型小鼠回腸肌肉空間電場活動。通過3維時空分析法分析表明，WT型小鼠的基底電活動與傳播延遲是同步進行的，而在W/W（v）型小鼠中同樣信號幅度卻較小和出現規律也沒有那么正常的現象。WT型小鼠的功率譜中有一個突出的峰值，并與ICC-MyP的起搏器的活動頻率對應，而W/W（v）型中是沒有這個峰值的。因此，在9.4-27.0每千次的光譜功率中，WT野生型遠遠超過了W/W（v）型 。最后，微電極陣列測量表明，該網絡不僅能產生，而且還調節基底電活動。由ICC網絡形態和功能損傷所引起的胃腸運動失調將會在以后更加深入的研究中被發現。

Microelectrode array evaluation of gut pacemaker activity in wild-type and W/W(v) mice.

Nakayama S, Ohishi R, Sawamura K, Watanabe K, Hirose K.

Department of Cell Physiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan. h44673a@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Interstitial cells of Cajal in the myenteric plexus region (ICC-MyP) form a network and generate basal pacemaking electrical activity. This morphological feature leads us to believe that these cells may be essential for the coordinating actions of gastrointestinal (GI) motility. We aim to propose a new method for functional assessment of ICC electrical activity and its network. Field potentials in a approximately 1 mm(2) region were simultaneously measured using an 8x8 microelectrode array (MEA) with a polar distance of 150 microm. The extracellular solution contained nifedipine and tetrodotoxin (TTX) to suppress activities of smooth muscle cells and neurons, respectively. We compared spatial electrical activities between ileal muscle preparations from wild-type (WT) and W/W(v) mice. In spatio-temporal analyses, basal electrical activities were well synchronized with a propagation delay in WT, while those in W/W(v) were small in amplitude and irregular in occurrence. The power spectrum in WT had a prominent peak corresponding to the frequency of ICC-MyP pacemaker activity, while that of W/W(v) lacked it. Consequently, the ratio of the spectral power in 9.4-27.0 cpm was significantly larger in WT than in W/W(v). In conclusion, MEA measurements demonstrated that the network-forming ICC-MyP not only generates but also coordinates basal electrical activities. Disorders of GI motility based on morphological and functional impairments of ICC network with the range of several hundreds of micrometers, could be uncovered in future extensive studies.

文章來源：
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19576758?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_
DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum