Open AccessExpression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit α9 in type II vestibular hair cells of rats 1
Author(s) -
KONG Weijia,
CHENG Huamao,
Van CAUWENBERGE Paul
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
acta pharmacologica sinica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.514
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1745-7254
pISSN - 1671-4083
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-7254.2006.00423.x
Subject(s) - messenger rna , microbiology and biotechnology , reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction , acetylcholine receptor , complementary dna , vestibular system , biology , receptor , reverse transcriptase , cholinergic , protein subunit , rna , chemistry , endocrinology , biochemistry , gene , neuroscience
Aim: To explore the cell specific existence of α9 AChR in the vestibular type II hair cells (VHCII) of rats. Methods: To detect the expression of α9 AChR messenger RNA (mRNA) in the vestibular endorgans and single VHC II of rats by using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) technique and the single cell RT‐PCR technique, respectively. Results: It was shown that α9 AChR mRNA was detected in the vestibular endorgans. By using single‐cell RT‐PCR, mRNA encoding α9 AChR was also detected in the VHC II of the rats. Sequence analysis of the PCR products confirmed identity to corresponding cDNA sequence in the predicted region. Conclusion: We established a method which could effectively detect the cell specific expression of mRNA in an individual VHC. Present data confirm that α9 AChR mRNA is expressed in the VHC II of rats and indicates that α9 AChR may function as a mediator of efferent cholinergic signaling in mammalian VHC.