Differential expression of three classes of voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels during maturation of the rat cerebellum in vitro

• Published in: Brain research. Developmental brain research 1999-06, Vol.115 (2), p.161-170
• Main Authors: Falk, T, Muller, Y L, Yool, A J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Calcium Channels - drug effects; Calcium Channels - physiology; Cells, Cultured; Cerebellum - drug effects; Cerebellum - embryology; Cerebellum - physiology; Embryonic and Fetal Development - physiology; Ion Channel Gating; Membrane Potentials - drug effects; Membrane Potentials - physiology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Templates, Genetic; Tetraethylammonium - pharmacology; Up-Regulation
• ISSN: 0165-3806
• DOI: 10.1016/S0165-3806(99)00060-7

Voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels provide a mode of Ca(2+) influx that is essential for intracellular signaling in many cells. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to assess the relative amounts of mRNAs encoding three classes of Ca(2+) channels (alpha1A, alpha1B and alpha1E) during development, in cultures established from prenatal rat cerebellar cortex. Ca(2+) channel transcript levels were standardized to a constitutive marker (cyclophilin). For all three classes of Ca(2+) channels, transcript levels were highest at early stages (4-10 days in vitro) and declined with age. This developmental pattern was differentially regulated by a depolarizing agent, tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA, 1 mM). Chronic depolarization yielded a significant elevation in transcript levels for alpha1B (N-type) and alpha1E (R-type) Ca(2+) channels during neuronal maturation (10-21 days in vitro), but dramatically suppressed transcript levels for the alpha1A (P-type) Ca(2+) channel at all stages of development. The effects of TEA on alpha1A, alpha1B and alpha1E transcript levels were mimicked by increasing external K(+) (from 5 to 10 mM). The regulatory effects of depolarization on transcript levels were dependent on extracellular Ca(2+) for alpha1E but not for alpha1A. For alpha1B, transcript levels depended on extracellular Ca(2+) only for increased K(+) as the depolarizing stimulus, but not for TEA. These results suggest that levels of Ca(2+) channel transcripts in rat cerebellum are developmentally regulated in vitro and can be influenced differentially by transmembrane signaling via chronic depolarization and Ca(2+) entry. Dynamic regulation of Ca(2+) channel expression may be relevant to the different functional roles of Ca(2+) channels and their regional localization within neurons.