title: Expression of NMDA receptors and Ca2+-impermeable AMPA receptors requires neuronal differentiation and allows discrimination between two different types of neural stem cells.
abstract: Glutamate and its receptors are ascribed a pivotal role during acitivity-dependent neurogenesis. Nevertheless, their precise expression patterns during embryonic and adult differentiation remain elusive. An in vitro-approach that includes cells representing embryonic as well as adult neural stem cells that are both amenable to retinoic acid treatment is well-suited for assessing the developmental regulation of ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). The chosen system provides a continuous time line from embryonic to adult neurogenesis via two distinguishable cell populations, namely neuroepithelial precursors (NEPs) and radial glia-like neural stem cells (NSCs). We investigated the expression of cell type-specific differentiation markers and iGluR subunits before and after neuronal induction. A quantitative PCR assay was established for the determination of a hypothetical correlation of neuronal differentiation and iGluR expression. The NMDAR subunits NR1 and NR2B as well as the AMPAR subunit GluR2 present in Ca(2+)-impermeable AMPARs were found to be upregulated at the mRNA level in differentiated neuroepithelial precursors, indicating their likely contribution to neurotransmission after the first establishment of neuronal networks. Furthermore, with this approach, discrimination between NEPs and NSCs regarding their iGluR subunit expression patterns before and after the induction of neuronal differentiation was possible and pointed to diverse functions in these two cell types carried out by differentially assembled iGluRs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry I, Receptor Biochemistry, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Muth-Köhne
authors.forename: Svenja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pachernegg
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karus
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Faissner
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hollmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D051379:Mice; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium; D018091:Receptors, AMPA; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D014212:Tretinoin; C409466:NR1 NMDA receptor; C120997:NR2A NMDA receptor