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N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor 1 mRNA distribution in the central nervous system of the weakly electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus
Author(s) -
Bottai Daniele,
Dunn Robert J.,
Ellis William,
Maler Leonard
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9861(19971208)389:1<65::aid-cne5>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - biology , forebrain , complementary dna , messenger rna , in situ hybridization , cerebellum , nmda receptor , cdna library , tectum , central nervous system , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , receptor , midbrain , biochemistry , gene
We have isolated a partial cDNA for the N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor 1 (NMDAR1) subunit from an Apteronotus leptorhynchus brain cDNA library. The A. leptorhynchus cDNA fragment, which corresponds to nucleotides 135–903 within the 5′ region of the rat NR1 mRNA, encodes 252 amino acids that are >80% identical to the homologous segments of the rat, human, and duck NR1 proteins. RNAse protection assays revealed that the A. leptorhynchus NR1 mRNA was highly enriched in the forebrain and hypothalamus, with lesser amounts in the brainstem, and very low levels in the cerebellum. In situ hybridization also demonstrated that neurons in the pallial forebrain were highly enriched in NR1 transcripts. High levels of NR1 mRNA were found in pyramidal cells within the optic tectum and octavolateral regions. Pyramidal cells of the electrosensory lateral line lobe had the highest levels of expression, and the NR1 mRNA was found to be selectively enriched in their apical dendrites. J. Comp. Neurol. 389:65–80, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.