title: Neurotransmitter receptor analysis in transgenic mouse models.
abstract: One of the characteristic findings in human Huntington's disease (HD) is the alteration of neurotransmitter receptors. To a remarkable degree, transgenic HD mouse models recapitulate neurotransmitter receptor alterations. Neurotransmitter receptors can be assessed at the protein level by using receptor-binding autoradiography. One can also measure levels of receptor messenger RNA with in situ hybridization (ISH), employing either oligonucleotide or ribonucleotide probes. Both of these techniques-receptor-binding autoradiography and in situ hybridization-yield quantitative and regionally specific information regarding neurotransmitter receptors. We describe techniques for performing receptor-binding autoradiography and two types of in situ hybridization using oligonucleotide and ribonucleotide probes. With receptor binding and ISH, one can obtain quantitative region-specific assessments of neurotransmitter receptor alteration, a key pathologic event in HD pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease and Department of Neurolofy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, USA.
authors.forename: Caroline L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Benn
authors.forename: Laurie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.forename: Jang-Ho J
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D001483:Base Sequence; D015342:DNA Probes; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter