Effects of norepinephrine on spontaneous firing activity of cerebellar Purkinje cells in vivo in mice

• NE decreased spontaneous SS firing rate of PCs and increased spontaneous firing of MLIs.
• Blocking GABAA receptors activity revealed the NE-induced increase in SS firing of PCs.
• Blocking AMPA receptors enhanced the NE-induced inhibition in SS firing of PCs.

Norepinephrine (NE), from the locus coeruleus (LC), has been supported to affect GABAergic system and parallel fiber (PF)-Purkinje cell (PC) synaptic transmission via adrenoceptor in cerebellum cortex. However, the effects of NE on the spontaneous spike activity of cerebellar PCs in living mouse have not yet been fully understood. We here examined the effects of NE on the spontaneous activity of PC in urethane-anesthetized mice by electrophysiological and pharmacological methods. Cerebellar surface application of NE (2.5–25 μM) reduced the PC simple spike (SS) firing rate in a dose-dependent manner. The half-inhibitory concentration (IC50) was 5.97 μM. In contrast, NE significantly increased the spontaneous firing rate of molecular layer interneuron (MLI). Application of GABAA receptor antagonist, gabazine (SR95531, 20 μM) not only blocked the NE-induced inhibition of PC SS firing but also revealed NE-induced excitation of cerebellar PC. Blocking AMPA receptors activity enhanced NE-induced inhibition of PC spontaneous activity. Moreover, the effects of NE on PC spontaneous activity were abolished by simultaneously blocking GABAA and AMPA receptors activity. These results indicated that NE bidirectional modulated the spontaneous activity of PCs via enhancing both inhibitory inputs from MLIs and excitatory inputs of parallel fibers, but NE-induced enhance of inhibitory inputs overwhelmed the excitatory inputs under in vivo conditions.