Postnatal development of the alpha1 containing GABAA receptor subunit in rat hippocampus

Here we have studied the developmental expression of alpha1 subunit of the GABAA receptor in comparison with the expression of alpha2 subunit and several GABAergic markers (parvalbumin (PV), calretinin (CR), somatostatin (SOM), neuropeptide Y (NPY) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)). The alpha1 expression (mRNA and protein) was low at birth and increased progressively until the adulthood. This expression pattern was similar to that observed for PV, opposite to that of CR (high at birth and decreased continuously until the adulthood) and differed from that observed for the alpha2 and neuropeptides (SOM, NPY and VIP) (in all cases, a clear peak in expression was observed at P10). We further investigated the expression of alpha1, PV and CR by immunohistochemistry. As expected, the alpha1 and the PV expression were low at birth and increased progressively until the adulthood. Both alpha1 and PV were co-expressed by the same interneuronal population, however, the maturation of the alpha1 subunit preceded to that of PV. Finally, we observed a gradient of maturation between the different fields of the hippocampus proper (CA2-3 preceded to CA1 and DG). This gradient could be related to the high expression of CR positive cells and fibers during the first 10 postnatal days, located principally in the stratum lacunosum moleculare of the CA2-3 layers.