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Postnatal changes of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α2, α3, α4, α7 and β2 subunits genes expression in rat brain
Author(s) -
Zhang Xiao,
Liu Chuan,
Miao Hui,
Gong Zehui,
Nordberg Agneta
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/s0736-5748(98)00044-6
Subject(s) - striatum , cerebellum , hippocampus , epibatidine , alpha (finance) , biology , nicotinic agonist , thalamus , cerebral cortex , nicotinic acetylcholine receptor , cortex (anatomy) , medicine , endocrinology , neuroscience , receptor , dopamine , biochemistry , construct validity , nursing , patient satisfaction
Postnatal changes of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) α 2, α 3, α 4, α 7 and β 2 subunits mRNAs were investigated in rat brain using ribonuclease protection assay. Multiple developmental patterns were observed: (1) transient expression during the first few postnatal weeks; α 2 in the hippocampus and brain stem, α 3 in the striatum, cerebellum and cortex, α 4 in the hippocampus, striatum and cerebellum, α 7 in the cerebellum and β 2 in the striatum. (2) Constant expression across development; α 2 and α 3 in the thalamus, α 4 in the cortex, thalamus and brain stem, α 7 in the thalamus and brain stem and β 2 in all brain regions except striatum. (3) Non‐detection across development; α 2 in the cortex, striatum and cerebellum. (4) Increase with age; α 7 in the cortex and hippocampus. (5) Bell‐shaped development; α 7 in the striatum. Postnatal changes of nAChR isoforms in different brain regions of rat were investigated by receptor binding assays. The developmental patterns of [ 3 H]epibatidine and (−)‐[ 3 H]nicotine binding sites were similar to each other in each brain region, but different from that of [ 3 H] α ‐bungarotoxin binding sites. No obvious correlation was observed between the developmental patterns of [ 3 H] α ‐bungarotoxin, [ 3 H]epibatidine and (−)‐[ 3 H]nicotine binding sites and corresponding subunits mRNAs. These results indicate that multiple mechanisms are involved in changes of gene expression of nAChRs subunits in the brain of developing rats.