Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors On Nt2 Precursor Cells And Hnt (Nt2-N) Neurons

Department

neurobiology

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This is the first report, to our knowledge, of prominent, natural expression of nAChR α4, α6 and α9 subunits in a human, neuronally-committed cell line. We performed studies with specific reference to the expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) to further characterize a human, postmitotic, transplantable, with a neuronal phenotype, cell line called hNT (also called NT2-N). hNT cells acquire a distinctive neuronal phenotype upon differentiation from their NT2 precursors. Immunocytochemical studies showed that NT2 cells were strongly immunopositive for α4 or α7 subunits, moderately immunopositive for α3/α5 subunits, and weakly immunopositive for β2 or β4 subunits, whereas hNT neurons showed positive, strong-to-moderate immunostaining for all of these nAChR subunits. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) mRNA analyses indicated that levels of α7 subunit messages were similar in both NT2 and hNT cells, whereas α2, α10, and β3 subunit transcripts were not detected. Levels of α3, α5, and β4 subunit messages were lower in hNT neurons than in NT2 precursors. However, α4 and β2 subunit messages were present in NT2 precursors but were greatly induced in hNT neurons. Levels of α6 and α9 subunit messages, not detectable in NT2 precursors, rose to high levels in hNT neurons. hNT cell nAChR subunit message levels were comparable to (α4, α5, β4) or higher than (α6, α9, β2) levels in adult human brain. NT2 and hNT cells may provide an excellent model for studies of neurogenesis, roles played by nAChR in differentiation and neurodegeneration, and effects of neuronal differentiation on nAChR expression. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Publication Date

11-15-2002

Publication Title

Developmental Brain Research

ISSN

01653806

Volume

139

Issue

1

First Page

73

Last Page

86

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1016/S0165-3806(02)00513-8

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