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Effects of 6‐cyano‐7‐nitroquinoxaline‐2,3‐dione on nicotinic receptor subunit transcript expression in the rat brain
Author(s) -
McCullumsmith Robert E.,
Semins Michelle J.,
MeadorWoodruff James H.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
synapse
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.809
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1098-2396
pISSN - 0887-4476
DOI - 10.1002/syn.20003
Subject(s) - nicotinic agonist , kainate receptor , cnqx , alpha 4 beta 2 nicotinic receptor , interleukin 5 receptor alpha subunit , ganglion type nicotinic receptor , ionotropic glutamate receptor , interleukin 10 receptor, alpha subunit , epibatidine , nicotinic acetylcholine receptor , biology , ampa receptor , homomeric , ionotropic effect , chemistry , glutamate receptor , endocrinology , medicine , g alpha subunit , receptor , protein subunit , biochemistry , gene
The nicotinic cholinergic system exerts potent modulatory effects on glutamatergic neurotransmission, an effect mediated in part by increased glutamate release following activation of presynaptic nicotinic cholinergic receptors. Ionotropic glutamate receptor agonists also stimulate release of acetylcholine, suggesting that these neurotransmitter systems reciprocally regulate one another. We investigated an interface between the nicotinic cholinergic and glutamatergic systems by measuring nicotinic receptor subunit transcript expression following administration of 6‐cyano‐7‐nitroquinoxaline‐2,3‐dione (CNQX), an antagonist of the AMPA and kainate subtypes of glutamate receptors. Using [ 35 S] in situ hybridization, we measured expression of α2, α3, α4, α5, α7, β2, β3, and β4 nicotinic receptor subunit transcripts in the rat forebrain. Following 7 days of treatment with vehicle or CNQX (1 mg/kg/day or 10 mg/kg/day), changes in nicotinic receptor subunit transcript expression were restricted to subunits that form heteromeric receptors. We found increased levels of transcripts for α2 and β2 nicotinic receptor subunits in the hippocampus, decreased α4 subunit transcripts in the medial habenula and amygdala, and increased β2 subunit transcripts in the septum and piriform cortex. We did not detect changes in expression of transcripts for the α7 subunit, which forms homomeric nicotinic receptors. Our findings indicate that expression of nicotinic cholinergic receptor subunit transcripts are regulated in a subunit‐ and region‐specific fashion by CNQX, an antagonist of non‐NMDA ionotropic glutamate receptors. Synapse 52:62–72, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.