FIGURE 10.

Osmotic swelling increases mechano-excitability of cultured DRG neurons. A, sample traces of membrane depolarization recorded from a DRG neuron following membrane displacements. The trace on the left is the membrane response at initial time after establishing the whole-cell mode, and the trace on the right is the membrane response recorded 20 min later. Membrane displacement distances were 1–4 μm in a 1-μm increment (indicated above the recording traces). B, summary data of the membrane depolarization at the membrane displacement of 3 (left) and 4 μm (right). Open bars are responses at initial time (n = 8) after establishing the whole-cell mode, and solid bars are responses at 20 min later (n = 7). C, percent of cells firing action potentials in response to membrane displacement at 3 and 4 μm. Open bars are responses at initial time after establishing the whole-cell mode and solid bars are at 20 min later. The fractions of cells that fired action potentials are indicated above each bar. **, p < 0.01.