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Peripheral nerve stimulation increases fos immunoreactivity without affecting type II Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, glutamic acid decarboxylase, or GABAA receptor gene expression in cat spinal cord

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Abstract

Expression patterns of the immediate early gene c-fos and of other genes including those for the α-subunit of type II Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMKIIα), 67-kDa glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), and the α1-, β2-, and γ2-subunits of the GABAA receptor were described in the spinal cord of normal cats and following peripheral nerve stimulation. As revealed by in situ hybridization histochemistry, CaMKIIα messenger RNA (mRNA) is normally distributed only in cells of Rexed's laminae I–IV, whereas GAD mRNA is expressed by subpopulations of cells in all laminae, with the heaviest hybridization signal found in laminae I–III and medial parts of laminae V and VI. The three GABAA receptor subunits have varying expression patterns in the laminae. All of them are expressed by many cells located in the base of the dorsal horn and the intermediate zone, but only the γ2-subunit is intensely expressed by motoneurons. Single-pulse, electrical stimulation of the sciatic or median and ulnar nerves of anesthetized cats at a pulse rate of 1/s for 6–8 h failed to induce observable changes in gene expression for CaMKIIα, GAD, or for the three subunits of the GABAA receptor; although immunoreactivity for the protein products of c-fos (or c-fos-related genes) was markedly upregulated in some neurons of the dorsal horn and the intermediate zone. Therefore, under the present experimental conditions, upregulation of the immediate early gene c-fos (or c-fos-related genes) is not associated with changes in expression of late-effector genes potentially involved in central nervous system plasticity.

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  1. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California, 92717-1280, Irvine, CA, USA

    F. Liang & E. G. Jones

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  1. F. Liang
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  2. E. G. Jones
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Liang, F., Jones, E.G. Peripheral nerve stimulation increases fos immunoreactivity without affecting type II Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, glutamic acid decarboxylase, or GABAA receptor gene expression in cat spinal cord. Exp Brain Res 111, 326–336 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00228722

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00228722

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