The observation of CNIH-2 protein on the cell surface of primary neurons was further corroborated by functional recordings using somatic outside-out patches from dissociated hippocampal neurons that were virally transduced with CNIH-2. As shown in Fig. 6C, the currents elicited by fast application of 10 mM glutamate displayed a significantly slower time course of desensitization (τdesens = 11.1±1.9 ms; n = 8; p<0.01) than those obtained from sham-infected neurons (τdesens = 7.5±3.4 ms; n = 19). Deactivation kinetics were not affected by over-expression of CNIH-2 (Fig. 6C).
