Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P61278 (somatostatin)
 22,083 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are enriched in the neostriatum and are thought to mediate several actions of glutamate including neuronal excitability, long-term synaptic plasticity, and excitotoxic injury. NMDA receptors are assembled from several subunits (NMDAR1, NMDAR2A-D) encoded by five genes; alternative splicing gives rise to eight isoforms of subunit NMDAR1. We studied the expression of NMDA receptor subunits in neurochemically identified striatal neurons of adult rats by in situ hybridization histochemistry using a double-labeling technique. Enkephalin-positive projection neurons, somatostatin-positive interneurons, and cholinergic interneurons each have distinct NMDA receptor subunit phenotypes. Both populations of striatal interneurons examined express lower levels of NMDAR1 and NMDAR2B subunit mRNA than enkephalin-positive neurons. The three striatal cell populations differ also in the presence of markers for alternatively spliced regions of NMDAR1, suggesting that interneurons preferentially express NMDAR1 splice forms lacking one (cholinergic neurons) or both (somatostatin-positive neurons) alternatively spliced carboxy-terminal regions. In addition, somatostatin- and cholinergic-, but not enkephalin-positive neurons express NMDAR2D mRNA. Thus, these striatal cell populations express different NMDAR-subunit mRNA phenotypes and therefore are likely to display NMDA channels with distinct pharmacological and physiological properties. Differences in NMDA receptor expression may contribute to the relative resistance of striatal interneurons to the neurotoxic effect of NMDA receptor agonists.
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PMID:NMDA receptor subunit mRNA expression by projection neurons and interneurons in rat striatum. 762 52

NMDA receptors are composed of proteins from two families: NMDAR1 and NMDAR2. We used quantitative double-label in situ hybridization to examine in rat brain the expression of NMDAR1, NMDAR2A, NMDAR2B, and NMDAR2C mRNA in six neurochemically defined populations of striatal neurons: preproenkephalin (ENK) and preprotachykinin (SP) expressing projection neurons, and somatostatin (SOM), glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67), parvalbumin (PARV), and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) expressing interneurons. NMDAR1 was expressed by all striatal neurons: strongly in ENK, SP, PARV and ChAT neurons, and less intensely in SOM and GAD67 positive cells. NMDAR2A mRNA was present at moderate levels in all striatal neurons except those containing ChAT. Labeling for NMDAR2B was strong in projection neurons and ChAT interneurons, and only moderate in SOM, GAD67 and PARV interneurons. NMDAR2C was scarce in striatal neurons, but a low level signal was detected in GAD67 positive cells. NMDAR2C expression was also observed in small cells not labeled by any of the markers, most likely glia. These data suggest that all striatal neurons have NMDA receptors, but different populations have different subunit compositions which may affect function as well as selective vulnerability.
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PMID:Expression of NMDA glutamate receptor subunit mRNAs in neurochemically identified projection and interneurons in the striatum of the rat. 988