TY - JOUR T1 - Classification, Using Field Potential Images, of Pacemaker Micro-coordination in the Mouse Intestine JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2021.05.29.446256 SP - 2021.05.29.446256 AU - Naoko Iwata AU - Chiho Takai AU - Naoto Mochizuki AU - Mariko Yamauchi AU - Noriyuki Kaji AU - Yoshiyuki Kasahara AU - Shinsuke Nakayama Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/26/2021.05.29.446256.abstract N2 - The flexible and sophisticated movement of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract implies the involvement of numerous mechanisms that coordinate excitation in micro-regions other than the neural reflex. We thus performed image analysis of pacemaker micro-coordination in the small intestine of mice since it contains typical network-forming pacemaker cells. Field potentials were recorded by a dialysis membrane-reinforced microelectrode array (MEA). The micro-coordination of pacemaker activity was classified into basic patterns despite large variations. In the developmental process, pacemaker activity was categorized as either an ‘expanding’ or a ‘migrating’ pattern which was initiated in or propagated to the MEA sensing area, respectively. The intercellular current of the volume conductor complicated the waveform of both activities. The existence of ‘expanding’ and ‘migrating’ patterns were attributable to duplicated pacemaker systems such as intracellular Ca2+ oscillation-activated and voltage-gated mechanisms. Additionally, from the spatio-temporal feature during the period of pacemaker events, the ‘bumpy/aberrant’ pattern was defined by aberrant, incoherent propagation and was associated with local impairment of excitability, while the ‘colliding/converging’ pattern involved the interaction of multiple activities in the MEA area. Interconversion between the four micro-coordination patterns occurred even in the same MEA area. 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) promoted ‘migrating’ activity, by decreasing the ‘expanding’ activity, implying an improvement or restoration of spatial conductivity. These results agree well with the action of 5-HT to change GI movement toward propulsion. In conclusion, our MEA method of image classification enables the quantitative assessment of spatio-temporal electric coordination underlying GI motility, and its application to small model animals is anticipated.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -