EXPRESSION OF NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTOR mRNA AS A FUNCTION OF AGE IN WHOLE HIPPOCAMPUS PREPARATIONS FROM WISTAR RATS EXPRESSION OF NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTOR mRNA AS A FUNCTION OF AGE IN WHOLE HIPPOCAMPUS PREPARATIONS FROM WISTAR RATS

by Welch, Kasey C

Whole hippocampus preparations, isolated bilaterally, from untreated Wistar rats at various ages (10-90 days old) were analyzed for the mRNA expression of the alpha 2, alpha 3, alpha 4, alpha 5, alpha 7, beta 2, beta 3, and beta 4 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits. To do so, RNA was isolated from acutely isolated hippocampal samples, converted to cDNA by means of a reverse transcription reaction, then analyzed with quantitative real-time PCR to determine the relative levels of the mRNAs the cells were expressing at the age when the samples were obtained. The relative expression of the levels of RNA were then compared across age groups by subunits and across subunits by ages. The results suggest that all eight subunits are expressed throughout the life of the rat and that the subunit expression for the Hippocampus varies only slightly as a rat develops.