Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026
Investigating Functional Regeneration in Organotypic Spinal Cord Co-cultures Grown on Multi-electrode Arrays
Published on: September 23, 2015
Localization of Activin and Activin Receptors in Rat Spinal Motoneurons
S.-Y. Ying1, Z. Zhang, C.K. Haun
1Department of Cell and Neurobiology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif., USA.
Abstract:
The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether rat spinal motoneurons (a) produce activin protein and (b) transcribe mRNAs coding for the betaA-subunit of activin and activin receptors II and IIB. The production of activin was determined by immunocytochemistry. The expression and localization of the mRNAs were elucidated by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and in situ hybridization techniques. We have observed that activin A protein was produced and mRNAs encoding activin betaA-subunit and activin receptors II and IIB were expressed by motoneurons of the rat spinal cord. Furthermore, the identity of RT-PCR products was confirmed by DNA sequencing. It is concluded that activin may have a functional role in the maintenance of rat spinal motoneurons. Copyright 1996 S. Karger AG, Basel
