Abstract

D-serine, released from mouse medullary astrocytes in response to increased CO2 levels, boosts the respiratory frequency to adapt breathing to physiological demands. We analyzed in mouse neonates, the influence of Dserine upon inspiratory/expiratory durations and the architecture of the inspiratory burst, assessed by pwelch's power spectrum density (PSD) and continuous wavelet transform (CWT) analyses. Suction electrode recordings were performed in slices from the ventral respiratory column (VRC), site of generation of the respiratory rhythm, and in brainstem-spinal cord (en bloc) preparations, from the C5 ventral roots, containing phrenic fibers that in vivo innervate and drive the diaphragm, the main inspiratory muscle.