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Larger intercellular variation in (Q/R) editing of GluR6 than GluR5 revealed by single cell RT-PCR
K V Christensen1, W M Dai, J D Lambert
1Department of Molecular and Structural Biology C.F. Mollers Allé, University of Aarhus, Denmark.
Abstract:
RNA editing of the pre-mRNA encoding the kainate receptor subtypes determines the Ca2+ permeability and the rectifying properties of the receptors in which these are assembled. GluR6 pre-mRNA contains three characterized editing sites: Q/R, IN and the Y/C, whereas GluR5 pre-mRNA contains only the (Q/R) site. Single cell RT-PCR was used on cultured cortical neurons to determine the relative expression and editing levels of the kainate receptor subunits encoding mRNA. The analysis showed a large intercellular variation in editing efficiency. The overall lower level of GluR5 editing, in the culture, compared to GluR6 editing is a result of an approximately 60% lower editing efficiency of GluR5 pre-mRNA, within single cells, compared with GluR6.