“…With the exception of xestospongin C (Millipore Bioscience Research, Billerica, MA, USA), all pharmacological drugs were purchased from Tocris Bioscience (Bristol, UK). The concentrations of drugs used were determined from previous studies [1,6,12,15,21]. The PKG inhibitor, KT5823 (2 nmol), the neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibitor, N -propyl (0.1 nmol), the Ca 2+ chelator, BAPTA-AM (50 pmol), the Na + channel blocker, tetrodotoxin citrate (TTX, 1 pmol), the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists, AP5 (2 nmol) and MK801 (2 nmol), the ryanodine-sensitive Ca 2+ channel blocker, dantrolene (20 nmol), the L-type voltage operated Ca 2+ channel blocker, nifedipine (60 nmol), and the IP 3 -sensitive Ca 2+ channel blocker, xestospongin C (0.004 nmol), were dissolved in artificial cerebro-spinal fluid (aCSF) containing (mM) 123 NaCl, 0.86 CaCl 2 , 3.0 KCl, 0.89 MgCl 2 , 0.50 NaH 2 PO 4 , and 0.25 Na 2 HPO 4 aerated with 95% O 2 /5% CO 2 (pH 7.2-7.4) or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO).…”