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Expression profiling of GABAA receptor β-subunits in the rat retina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Elena V. Grigorenko  and
Hermes H. Yeh
Elena V. Grigorenko
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem
Hermes H. Yeh
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem
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Abstract

This study profiled the expression of the family of GABAA receptor β-subunits in the adult rat retina. Using a combination of reverse transcriptase reaction followed by polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with gene-specific primers, the expression of mRNAs encoding the β1, β2, and β3 subunits was first examined in the intact retina and then in separated retinal nuclear layers. However, it was found that a critical analysis. had to be carried out at the level of the single cell in order to resolve the differential patterns of expression among the retinal cell types. When cells were isolated and identified following acute dissociation, RT-PCR revealed that individual rod photoreceptor cells expressed consistently the β1 and β2 messages while the bipolar cells expressed the β1 and β3 messages. Ganglion cells displayed considerable variability in β-subunit expression, perhaps reflecting their functional and morphological heterogeneity in the retina. In contrast, the nonneuronal Mueller cells did not express any of the β-subunit messages. These results indicate that the expression of GABAA receptor subunits is cell-type dependent. Furthermore, as the expression of other families of GABAA receptor subunits are profiled and the patterns of subunit assembly are better understood, our results raise the possibility that GABAA receptors with different subunit compositions can be expected to be coexpressed within a single retinal neuron.

Keywords

GABAA receptor β-subunitsRat retinaPhotoreceptor cellsBipolar cellsGanglion cellsExpression profilingPolymerase chain reaction
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , March 1994 , pp. 379 - 387
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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