title: Identification of connexin 50 and 57 mRNA in A-type horizontal cells of the rabbit retina.
abstract: Horizontal cells (HCs) mediate negative feedback to photoreceptors. In the mammalian retina, there are two types of HCs, which are extensively coupled to neighboring cells through homologous gap junctions. The permeability and therefore the strength of feedback can be regulated by light intensity, dopamine and many other factors. However, the component(s) of the most prominent gap junctions, those between A-type HCs in the rabbit retina, is still unknown. In this study, we compared the sequences of many types of mammalian connexins, obtained partial sequences of rabbit connexin 50 and 57. Using specific primers designed against the rabbit sequences, we identified mRNAs of connexin 50 and/or 57 in visually selected single A-type HC using multiplex RT-PCR.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yueyang Road, Shanghai 200031, China. huanghe@sibs.ac.cn
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shi Gang
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017630:Connexins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D017630:Connexins; D012333:RNA, Messenger