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Comparison of α2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit mRNA expression in the central nervous system of rats and mice
Author(s) -
Ishii Katsuyoshi,
Wong Jamie K.,
Sumikawa Katumi
Publication year - 2005
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/cne.20762
Subject(s) - nucleus raphe magnus , interpeduncular nucleus , substantia innominata , dorsal raphe nucleus , olfactory bulb , biology , raphe nuclei , nicotinic acetylcholine receptor , in situ hybridization , neuroscience , anatomy , chemistry , central nervous system , medicine , nicotinic agonist , cholinergic neuron , midbrain , messenger rna , receptor , serotonin , serotonergic , biochemistry , gene
Abstract The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) α2 subunit was the first neuronal nAChR to be cloned. However, data for the distribution of α2 mRNA in the rodent exists in only a few studies. Therefore, we investigated the expression of α2 mRNA in the rat and mouse central nervous systems using nonradioactive in situ hybridization histochemistry. We detected strong hybridization signals in cell bodies located in the internal plexiform layer of the olfactory bulb, the interpeduncular nucleus of the midbrain, the ventral and dorsal tegmental nuclei, the median raphe nucleus of the pons, the ventral part of the medullary reticular nucleus, the ventral horn in the spinal cord of both rats and mice, and in a few Purkinje cells of rats, but not of mice. Cells that moderately express α2 mRNA were localized to the cerebral cortex layers V and VI, the subiculum, the oriens layer of CA1, the medial septum, the diagonal band complex, the substantia innominata, and the amygdala of both animals. They were also located in a few midbrain nuclei of rats, whereas in mice they were either few or absent in these areas. However, in the upper medulla oblongata α2 mRNA was expressed in several large neurons of the gigantocellular reticular nucleus and the raphe magnus nucleus of mice, but not of rats. The data obtained show that a similar pattern of α2 mRNA expression exists in both rats and mice, with the exception of a few regions, and provide the basis for cellular level analysis. J. Comp. Neurol. 493:241–260, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.