N-terminal splice variants of the NMDAR1 glutamate receptor subunit: differential expression in human and monkey brain.
The distribution of the mRNA coding for the two N-terminal splice variants of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor 1 (NMDAR1) subunit of the glutamate NMDA receptor was studied on whole-hemisphere human and macaca fascicularis brain sections by in-situ hybridisation. Synthetic oligonucleotides directed against NMDAR1a and NMDAR1b variants showed a specific distribution that was similar in human and monkey brain, with the NMDAR1a isoform present in the majority of the NMDA receptors, and the NMDAR1b variant present at high levels only in the cortex and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. The distribution of the mRNAs for the NMDAR1pan and NMDAR1a subunit reported in this study support previous findings in rodent brain, while the restricted distribution of the NMDAR1b variant found in human and monkey suggests some important differences in the composition of the NMDA receptor in rodents and primates.
Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, UK. meonip@novell5.bham.ac.uk
P
P
Meoni
B H
BH
Bunnemann
D G
DG
Trist
N G
NG
Bowery
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate