mRNA coding for voltage-gated sodium channel β2 subunit in rat central nervous system: cellular distribution and changes following kainate-induced seizures

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 1998-06, Vol.249 (1), p.53-56
• Main Authors: Gastaldi, Marguerite, Robaglia-Schlupp, Andrée, Massacrier, Annick, Planells, Richard, Cau, Pierre
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Central nervous system; Experimental epilepsy; Headache. Facial pains. Syncopes. Epilepsia. Intracranial hypertension. Brain oedema. Cerebral palsy; Kainic acid; Medical sciences; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Non-radioactive in situ hybridization; Rat; Sodium channels; β2 subunit
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-3940(98)00394-2

The cellular distribution of sodium channel β2 subunit mRNA was examined in the central nervous system from adult Wistar rats using a non-radioactive in situ hybridization method with digoxigenin-labeled cRNA probes. The expression of the subunit was strong in cerebral and cerebellar cortex, in medulla oblongata and in the spinal cord whereas heterogeneous in hippocampus. The distribution was evaluated in hippocampus and cerebral cortex from 1 to 72 h after kainate injection and compared to control rats using densitometric analysis. In these areas, a transient increase was seen 1 h after the drug administration, followed, in the hippocampus, by a significant decrease. These variations differ from those we previously reported for α subunits and might play a role in cellular excitability changes occurring in the course of seizures.