• DOI:10.1006/mcne.2001.0988
• Corpus ID: 15351461

High Abundance of GluR1 mRNA and Reduced Q/R Editing of GluR2 mRNA in Individual NADPH-Diaphorase Neurons

@article{Kim2001HighAO,
  title={High Abundance of GluR1 mRNA and Reduced Q/R Editing of GluR2 mRNA in Individual NADPH-Diaphorase Neurons},
  author={Doo Yeon Kim and Sun Hee Kim and Hyun B. Choi and Chul-ki Min and Byoung Joo Gwag},
  journal={Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience},
  year={2001},
  volume={17},
  pages={1025-1033}
}

• Doo Yeon Kim, S. H. Kim, +2 authors B. Gwag
• Published 1 June 2001
• Biology
• Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience

Striatal and cortical neurons containing NADPH-diaphorase [NADPH-d(+)] are highly vulnerable to excitotoxicity that is induced by activation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)- or kainate-sensitive glutamate receptors. This has been attributed to Ca2+ entry through AMPA/kainate receptors in NADPH-d(+) neurons. In this study, we applied single cell RT-PCR technique to test the hypothesis that differences in levels and processing of the GluR2 subunit would contribute to the selective vulnerability of NADPH-d(+) neurons to AMPA. The nested PCR specific for GluR1-GluR4 showed that rat striatal NADPH-d(+) neurons expressed twice as much GluR1 mRNA as NADPH-d(-) neurons did. The percentage of RNA editing at the Q/R site of GluR2 was 46% in NADPH-d(+) neurons and 92% in NADPH-d(-) neurons. These results suggest that the unedited expression of GluR2 and the reduced ratio of GluR2/GluR1 render NADPH-d(+) neurons highly sensitive to Ca2+-mediated AMPA neurotoxicity. In support of this, most NADPH-d(+) neurons exposed to 100 microM AMPA showed Co2+ uptake and survived AMPA challenge only in the absence of extracellular Ca2+.