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Expression of the small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel, SK3, in the olfactory ensheathing glial cells of rat brain

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Abstract

Olfactory sensory neurons are wrapped by ensheathing glial cells in the olfactory nerve layer (ONL). Neither functional roles nor electrical properties of ensheathing glial cells have been, as yet, fully clarified. Four subunits (SK1–4) of small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (SK) channels have been cloned. In the present study, immunohistochemical analyses showed that SK3 channels are expressed in ensheathing glial cells in the rat olfactory bulb, in addition to neuronal cells in other regions. Western blotting analysis demonstrated that SK3 was predominantly expressed in the olfactory bulb, thalamus, moderately in the hippocampus and cerebellum and modestly in the cerebral cortex of the rat brain. SK3 immunoreactivity was detected in the ONL of the olfactory bulb, neural cell body and fibers of the substantia nigra and hypothalamus. SK3 immunoreactivity was quite intense in the outer (superficial) part of the ONL. SK3-immunoreactive structures were overlapped with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), but not with vimentin, markers for glial cells and olfactory sensory axons, respectively. Immunoelectron microscopy showed that SK3 immunoreactivity was localized in thin processes that enfolded fascicles of immunonegative olfactory nerve axons. These results indicate that SK3 is expressed specifically in the olfactory ensheathing glial cells in olfactory regions.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Dr. G.S. Drummond (WellSpring Pharmaceutical Corporation, N.J., USA) for critical reading of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Pharmacology, Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuencho, 599-8531, Sakai, Osaka, Japan

    Akikazu Fujita, Tadayoshi Takeuchi & Fumiaki Hata

  2. Department of Pathology and Research, Sakai Municipal Hospital, 590-0064, Sakai, Osaka, Japan

    Jun Hanai

Authors
  1. Akikazu Fujita
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  2. Tadayoshi Takeuchi
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  3. Jun Hanai
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  4. Fumiaki Hata
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Correspondence to Akikazu Fujita.

Additional information

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid to A.F. for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan, and by scholarship from Ono Pharmaceutical Company, and by Narishige Neuroscience Research Foundation.

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Fujita, A., Takeuchi, T., Hanai, J. et al. Expression of the small conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel, SK3, in the olfactory ensheathing glial cells of rat brain. Cell Tissue Res 313, 187–193 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-003-0752-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-003-0752-y

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