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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Profiling Voltage-gated Potassium Channel mRNA Expression in Nigral Neurons using Single-cell RT-PCR Techniques
Published on: September 27, 2011
Gene transcription of brain voltage-gated potassium channels is reversibly regulated by oxygen supply
Howard M Prentice1, Sarah L Milton, Daniela Scheurle
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton 33431, USA. hprentic@fau.edu
Abstract:
Voltage-dependent potassium channels (Kv channels) are important determinants of brain electrical activity. Hypoxia may be an important modifier, because several voltage-gated K+ channels are reversibly blocked by acute hypoxia and are thought to act as oxygen sensors. Here we show, using the anoxia-tolerant turtle brain (Trachemys scripta) as a model, that brain Kv1 channel transcription is reversibly regulated by oxygen supply. We found that in turtle brains exposed to 4-h anoxia Kv1 transcripts were reduced to 18.5% of normoxic levels. Kv1 channel mRNA levels were restored to normal within 4 h of subsequent reoxygenation. Our results provide clear evidence that brain Kv channel expression is sensitive to oxygen supply and indicate an important mechanism that matches brain activity to oxygen supply.
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