Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 215, Issue 2, 6 September 1996, Pages 71-74
Neuroscience Letters

Expression of two neuronal nicotinic receptor subunits in innervated and denervated adult rat muscle

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Abstract

The presence of transcripts coding for various α and β subunits of neuronal acetylcholine receptors was investigated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on RNA extracted from innervated and denervated adult rat muscles. The results indicate that mRNAs coding for the neuronal α4 and β2 subunits are expressed by adult muscles. Unlike avian embryonic muscle tissue, mRNA coding for α7 and β4 subunit was undetectable. Denervation did not significantly modify the expression levels of the α4 and β2 subunit-specific mRNAs. The results complement our previous immunohistochemical data and suggest that neuronal acetylcholine receptors are expressed by adult muscle tissue and may play a role in the control of muscle function.

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  • Cited by (0)

    C.S. is supported by Telethon (Dottorato in Farmacologia e Tossicologia, University of Milano, Italy).

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