Fig. 1.

The sponge crude extract slows desensitization of AMPA and kainate receptors. Representative whole-cell currents evoked by glutamate (10 mM) before and after treatment with the Cinachyrella extract (25 μg/mL) for several minutes. (A) Quantitation of the mean tau of exponential fits to the current decay before and after brief applications of sponge extract for either 10 s (GluA4 (flip variant)) or 5 s (GluK2a). N ≥ 3; *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01 in paired t-tests. (B) The effects on desensitization are long-lasting. Currents evoked by glutamate from GluA4(i) AMPA receptors are shown before (1), during (2) and 20 minutes after a 1 minute application (3) of extract. An example of the percent desensitization during 100 ms glutamate applications over the course of representative experiment is shown.