RT-PCR reveals muscarinic acetylcholine receptor mRNA in the pre-Bötzinger complex.
Muscarinic receptors mediate the postsynaptic excitatory effects of acetylcholine (ACh) on inspiratory neurons in the pre-Bötzinger complex (pre-BötC), the hypothesized site for respiratory rhythm generation. Because pharmacological tools for identifying the subtypes of the muscarinic receptors that underlie these effects are limited, we probed for mRNA for these receptors in the pre-BötC. We used RT-PCR to determine the expression of muscarinic receptor subtypes in tissue punches of the pre-BötC taken from rat medullary slices. Cholinergic receptor subtype M(2) and M(3) mRNAs were observed in the first round of PCR amplification. All five subtypes, M(1)-M(5), were observed in the second round of amplification. Our results suggest that the majority of muscarinic receptor subtypes in the pre-BötC are M(2) and M(3), with minor expression of M(1), M(4), and M(5).
Lai
J
J
Department of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1763, USA.
Shao
X M
XM
Pan
R W
RW
Dy
E
E
Huang
C H
CH
Feldman
J L
JL
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D017931:DNA Primers; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D043643:Receptor, Muscarinic M1; D043585:Receptor, Muscarinic M2; D043587:Receptor, Muscarinic M3; D043588:Receptor, Muscarinic M4; D043642:Receptor, Muscarinic M5; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic / Q000235:genetics*; D012125:Respiratory Center / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D017931:DNA Primers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D043643:Receptor, Muscarinic M1; D043585:Receptor, Muscarinic M2; D043587:Receptor, Muscarinic M3; D043588:Receptor, Muscarinic M4; D043642:Receptor, Muscarinic M5; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic