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Expression of Glycine Receptor Subunits in Glial Cells of the Rat Spinal Cord
Author(s) -
Kirchhoff Frank,
Mülhardt Cornel,
Pastor Andrea,
Becker CordMichael,
Kettenmann Helmut
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1046/j.1471-4159.1996.66041383.x
Subject(s) - glycine receptor , biology , neurotransmitter receptor , neuroglia , microbiology and biotechnology , protein subunit , patch clamp , receptor , astrocyte , spinal cord , glycine , cytoplasm , central nervous system , neuroscience , biochemistry , amino acid , gene
We previously demonstrated that the inhibitory neurotransmitter glycine induced membrane currents in glial cells from rat spinal cord. In the present study, the patch‐clamp technique was combined with the reverse transcription‐mediated PCR to analyze the glycine receptor‐subunit expression in individual glial cells of rats age 3–18 days. Using the patch‐clamp technique in the whole‐cell configuration, glial cells were identified by their membrane current pattern and tested for responsiveness to glycine. Subsequently, the cytoplasm was harvested followed by reverse transcription of total cytoplasmic RNA. Subunit‐specific cDNA fragments were amplified and analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis, Southern blotting, and sequencing. In all glial cell types investigated, transcripts of the α1 subunit, but not of α2 or α3 subunits, were detected. In addition, about one‐half the glial cells analyzed contained β‐subunit mRNA. These results illustrate that glial cells of rat spinal cord express functional glycine receptors in contrast to cultured glial cells. Glial cells are in intimate contact with synaptic regions making it likely that these nonneuronal receptors may be activated during glycinergic transmission and may trigger yet unknown responses in the glial cells.