Galanin regulates the postnatal survival of a subset of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The neuropeptide galanin colocalizes with choline acetyltransferase, the synthetic enzyme for acetylcholine, in a subset of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain of rodents. Chronic intracerebroventricular infusion of nerve growth factor induces a 3- to 4-fold increase in galanin gene expression in these neurons. Here we report the loss of a third of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum and vertical limb diagonal band of the basal forebrain of adult mice carrying a targeted loss-of-function mutation in the galanin gene. These deficits are associated with a 2-fold increase in the number of apoptotic cells in the forebrain at postnatal day seven. This loss is associated with marked age-dependent deficits in stimulated acetylcholine release, performance in the Morris water maze, and induction of long-term potentiation in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. These data provide unexpected evidence that galanin plays a trophic role to regulate the development and function of a subset of septohippocampal cholinergic neurons.
Publication Date
10-10-2000
Publication Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ISSN
00278424
Volume
97
Issue
21
First Page
11569
Last Page
11574
PubMed ID
11016971
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1073/pnas.210254597
Recommended Citation
O'Meara, Gillian; Coumis, Urania; Ma, Shuang Y.; Kehr, Jan; Mahoney, Sally; Bacon, Andrea; Allen, Shelley J.; Holmes, Fiona; Kahl, Ulrika; Wang, Fu H.; Kearns, Ian R.; Ove-Ogren, Sven; Dawbarn, David; Mufson, Elliott J.; Davies, Ceri; Dawson, Gerard; and Wynick, David, "Galanin regulates the postnatal survival of a subset of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons" (2000). Translational Neuroscience. 1826.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neurobiology/1826