Depolarizing action of secretory granule protein 7B2 on rat supraoptic neurosecretory neurons

A novel precursor neuropeptide termed 7B2 is present within specific brain areas, including the hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory neurons, and appears to be processed to smaller fragments. In order to determine whether specific C-terminal fragments of 7B2 might exert local effects on neurosecretory cells, we used intracellular current-clamp recordings in supraoptic neurons maintained in superfused hypothalamic explants to evaluate membrane potential and resistance changes in 25 supraoptic nucleus neurons during bolus applications of 7B2 174-186 and two other C-terminal peptide fragments 7B2 156-173 and 7B2 141-150. In 15 supraoptic neurons, only the 7B2 174-186 fragment induced a gradual 2-8 mV membrane depolarization that lasted for 4 to 30 min and was accompanied by 15+/-8% reduction in input resistance. Immunocytochemical identification of the recorded cells revealed that both vasopressin (VP)- and oxytocin (OT)-containing neurons were depolarized by 7B2 174-186. These data suggest that 7B2 174-186 is a biologically active fragment of 7B2 and may regulate the excitability of magnocellular supraoptic nucleus neurons.