title: Expression of GABA transporter mRNAs in the developing and adult rat optic nerve.
abstract: There is electrophysiological evidence of a functional role for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and GABA transporters (GATs) in the neonatal rat optic nerve, and that they are down-regulated during development. The results of the present study demonstrate directly by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that the mRNAs encoding for GAT-1, -2 and -3 are expressed in the optic nerves of both neonatal (5 day old) and adult rats. The results support a role for GABA in the developing rat optic nerve, a typical white matter tract which contains axons and glia, but neither neuronal cell bodies nor synapses. Significantly, the persistence of GAT mRNAs suggests an enduring function for both GABA and glial uptake mechanisms in the adult optic nerve.
authors.affiliation: Division of Physiology, UMDS, Guys' and St. Thomas' Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Howd
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rattray
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Butt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D050485:GABA Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000378:metabolism*; D027361:Organic Anion Transporters; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D050485:GABA Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D027361:Organic Anion Transporters; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C493415:Slc6a1 protein, rat; C092004:Slc6a13 protein, rat; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid