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Updated: Aug 25, 2026
Profiling Voltage-gated Potassium Channel mRNA Expression in Nigral Neurons using Single-cell RT-PCR Techniques
Published on: September 27, 2011
Single-cell RT-PCR analysis of GIRK channels expressed in rat locus coeruleus and nucleus basalis neurons
Takeharu Kawano1, Peng Zhao, Shigehiro Nakajima
1Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology (m/c 512), University of Illinois at Chicago, 808 South Wood Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Abstract:
G protein-coupled inward rectifier potassium channels (GIRK, Kir3) play a crucial role in determining neuronal excitability. Currently, four mammalian GIRK members (GIRK1-4) have been genetically identified. We have been investigating physiological properties of GIRKs in cultured noradrenergic neurons from the locus coeruleus (LC) and cholinergic neurons from the nucleus basalis (NB). Yet, precise information is lacking about which types of GIRK channels are present in these neurons. We performed single-cell RT-PCR on these cultured neurons. In 13 noradrenergic LC neurons, GIRK1, GIRK2, GIRK3, and GIRK4 mRNAs existed in 12, 13, nine, and six neurons, respectively. In six cholinergic NB neurons, GIRK1, GIRK2, GIRK3, and GIRK4 mRNAs existed in six, four, one, and three neurons, respectively. Therefore, GIRK1 and GIRK2 mRNAs are most frequently encountered in both LC and NB neurons.
