Immunocytochemical localization of the alpha 7 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in the rat central nervous system.
Previous molecular cloning studies have revealed that alpha-bungarotoxin binding proteins present in the brain are members of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene family. The alpha 7 subunit is structurally related to the agonist binding subunits present in the central and peripheral nervous systems and, when expressed in Xenopus oocytes, forms functional channels blockable by alpha-bungarotoxin. In the present study, three different monoclonal antibodies raised against the alpha 7 subunit were used to map its distribution throughout the central nervous system of the rat. Immunohistochemical localization revealed that the alpha 7 subunit is expressed in most regions of the brain, being, overall, well correlated with previous "in situ" localization of alpha 7 transcripts and alpha-bungarotoxin autoradiographic binding studies. Particularly strong immunoreactivity was observed in several sensory and motor nuclei of the brainstem as well as the red nucleus. At the cellular level, alpha 7 immunostaining was usually found both in somata and dendrites, whereas axonal and terminal labeling was not observed. The widespread distribution of the alpha 7 subunit polypeptide is consistent with immunoprecipitation data demonstrating that it is a component of the predominant subtype of brain alpha-bungarotoxin-sensitive nicotinic receptors.
Department of Neurochemistry, University of Alicante, Spain.
E
E
Dominguez del Toro
J M
JM
Juiz
X
X
Peng
J
J
Lindstrom
M
M
Criado
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000737:chemistry; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000737:chemistry*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000737:chemistry; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005260:Female; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000032:analysis*; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000032:analysis*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000737:chemistry
D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic