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Miura Y, Senoo A, Doura T, Kiyonaka S. Chemogenetics of cell surface receptors: beyond genetic and pharmacological approaches. RSC Chem Biol 2022; 3:269-287. [PMID: 35359495 PMCID: PMC8905536 DOI: 10.1039/d1cb00195g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Cell surface receptors transmit extracellular information into cells. Spatiotemporal regulation of receptor signaling is crucial for cellular functions, and dysregulation of signaling causes various diseases. Thus, it is highly desired to control receptor functions with high spatial and/or temporal resolution. Conventionally, genetic engineering or chemical ligands have been used to control receptor functions in cells. As the alternative, chemogenetics has been proposed, in which target proteins are genetically engineered to interact with a designed chemical partner with high selectivity. The engineered receptor dissects the function of one receptor member among a highly homologous receptor family in a cell-specific manner. Notably, some chemogenetic strategies have been used to reveal the receptor signaling of target cells in living animals. In this review, we summarize the developing chemogenetic methods of transmembrane receptors for cell-specific regulation of receptor signaling. We also discuss the prospects of chemogenetics for clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuta Miura
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University Nagoya 464-8603 Japan
| | - Akinobu Senoo
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University Nagoya 464-8603 Japan
| | - Tomohiro Doura
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University Nagoya 464-8603 Japan
| | - Shigeki Kiyonaka
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University Nagoya 464-8603 Japan
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Kolesov DV, Sokolinskaya EL, Lukyanov KA, Bogdanov AM. Molecular Tools for Targeted Control of Nerve Cell Electrical Activity. Part II. Acta Naturae 2021; 13:17-32. [PMID: 35127143 PMCID: PMC8807539 DOI: 10.32607/actanaturae.11415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
In modern life sciences, the issue of a specific, exogenously directed manipulation of a cell's biochemistry is a highly topical one. In the case of electrically excitable cells, the aim of the manipulation is to control the cells' electrical activity, with the result being either excitation with subsequent generation of an action potential or inhibition and suppression of the excitatory currents. The techniques of electrical activity stimulation are of particular significance in tackling the most challenging basic problem: figuring out how the nervous system of higher multicellular organisms functions. At this juncture, when neuroscience is gradually abandoning the reductionist approach in favor of the direct investigation of complex neuronal systems, minimally invasive methods for brain tissue stimulation are becoming the basic element in the toolbox of those involved in the field. In this review, we describe three approaches that are based on the delivery of exogenous, genetically encoded molecules sensitive to external stimuli into the nervous tissue. These approaches include optogenetics (overviewed in Part I), as well as chemogenetics and thermogenetics (described here, in Part II), which is significantly different not only in the nature of the stimuli and structure of the appropriate effector proteins, but also in the details of experimental applications. The latter circumstance is an indication that these are rather complementary than competing techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. V. Kolesov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997 Russia
| | - E. L. Sokolinskaya
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997 Russia
| | - K. A. Lukyanov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997 Russia
| | - A. M. Bogdanov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997 Russia
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Abstract
Chemogenetic technologies enable selective pharmacological control of specific cell populations. An increasing number of approaches have been developed that modulate different signaling pathways. Selective pharmacological control over G protein-coupled receptor signaling, ion channel conductances, protein association, protein stability, and small molecule targeting allows modulation of cellular processes in distinct cell types. Here, we review these chemogenetic technologies and instances of their applications in complex tissues in vivo and ex vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deniz Atasoy
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine and Regenerative-Restorative Medicine Research Center (REMER), Istanbul Medipol University , Istanbul , Turkey ; and Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute , Ashburn, Virginia
| | - Scott M Sternson
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine and Regenerative-Restorative Medicine Research Center (REMER), Istanbul Medipol University , Istanbul , Turkey ; and Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute , Ashburn, Virginia
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Rosas-Arellano A, Tejeda-Guzmán C, Lorca-Ponce E, Palma-Tirado L, Mantellero CA, Rojas P, Missirlis F, Castro MA. Huntington's disease leads to decrease of GABA-A tonic subunits in the D2 neostriatal pathway and their relocalization into the synaptic cleft. Neurobiol Dis 2018; 110:142-153. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2017.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Revised: 10/12/2017] [Accepted: 11/27/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
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Tadavarty R, Hwang J, Rajput P, Soja P, Kumar U, Sastry B. Are presynaptic GABA-Cρ2 receptors involved in anti-nociception? Neurosci Lett 2015; 606:145-50. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2015.08.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2015] [Revised: 08/25/2015] [Accepted: 08/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Byun K, Kim D, Bayarsaikhan E, Oh J, Kim J, Kwak G, Jeong GB, Jo SM, Lee B. Changes of calcium binding proteins, c-Fos and COX in hippocampal formation and cerebellum of Niemann-Pick, type C mouse. J Chem Neuroanat 2013; 52:1-8. [PMID: 23660496 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2013.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2012] [Revised: 04/09/2013] [Accepted: 04/25/2013] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Niemann-Pick disease, type C (NPC) is an intractable disease that is accompanied by ataxia, dystonia, neurodegeneration, and dementia due to an NPC gene defect. Disruption of calcium homeostasis in neurons is important in patients with NPC. Thus, we used immunohistochemistry to assess the expression levels of calcium binding proteins (calbindin D28K, parvalbumin, and calretinin), c-Fos and cyclooxygenase-1,2 (COX-1,2) in the hippocampal formation and cerebellum of 4 and 8 week old NPC+/+, NPC+/-, and NPC-/- mice. General expression of these proteins decreased in the hippocampus and cerebellum of NPC-/- compared to that in both young and adult NPC+/+ or NPC+/- mice. Parvalbumin, COX-1,2 or c-Fos-immunoreactive neurons were widely detected in the CA1, CA3, and DG of the hippocampus, but the immunoreactivities were decreased sharply in all areas of hippocampus of NPC-/- compared to NPC+/+ and NPC+/- mice. Taken together, reduction of these proteins may be one of the strong phenotypes related to the neuronal degeneration in NPC-/- mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyunghee Byun
- Center for Regenerative Medicine, Lee Gil Ya Cancer and Diabetes Institute, Gachon University, Incheon 406-840, South Korea; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Gachon University Graduate School of Medicine, Incheon 406-799, South Korea
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Yang J, Cheng Q, Takahashi A, Goubaeva F. Kinetic properties of GABA rho1 homomeric receptors expressed in HEK293 cells. Biophys J 2006; 91:2155-62. [PMID: 16798806 PMCID: PMC1557572 DOI: 10.1529/biophysj.106.085431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2006] [Accepted: 06/09/2006] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The rho1 subunit of the ionotropic GABA receptors is thought to contribute to the formation of the GABA(C) receptors with pharmacological and physiological properties distinct from those of GABA(A) receptors. Previous characterization of this subunit expressed in the Xenopus oocytes revealed an ion channel with slow activation and deactivation and no desensitization, quite different from the properties of GABA(C) receptors observed in native cells. We expressed the human rho1 subunit in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells and quantitatively characterized the kinetic properties of these receptors using a rapid drug application device. The rho1 subunit expressed in HEK293 cells exhibited pharmacological and kinetic properties qualitatively identical to those described when rho1 was expressed in the oocytes. An apparent desensitizing current observed during a constant GABA application was determined to be secondary to an E(Cl) shift. Detailed kinetic analyses and parameter estimation for a five-state kinetic model revealed that the channel is best described by a set of rate constants with a notably faster GABA unbinding K(off) rate compared to the parameters proposed for the same subunit expressed in the oocytes. The same subunit expressed in hippocampal neurons showed activation and deactivation kinetics identical to the current characterized in HEK293 cells. The kinetic properties of rho1 subunit expressed in a nonoocyte model system may be better described quantitatively by the rate constants presented here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay Yang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA.
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Gelman BB, Soukup VM, Schuenke KW, Keherly MJ, Holzer C, Richey FJ, Lahart CJ. Acquired neuronal channelopathies in HIV-associated dementia. J Neuroimmunol 2005; 157:111-9. [PMID: 15579287 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2004.08.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/30/2004] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
A gene expression profile of the human brain cortex was performed in people with HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD) using Affymetrix HG-U133 chips. Messenger RNA transcripts in middle frontal gyrus from subjects with HAD or milder neurocognitive dysfunction were compared to HIV-negative people. The analysis focused on ionic conductance carriers that control membrane excitation. Overexpressed ionic channel genes in brain cortex of subjects with dementia included (1) a calcium-driven K+ channel that prolongs afterhyperpolarization (AHP) current, (2) a leak type of K+ channel that prolongs the AHP, (3) an adenosine receptor that modulates cationic current via G proteins, (4) a G protein-coupled serotonin receptor that modulates cyclic AMP-linked current transduction, (5) a G protein-coupled dopamine receptor, (6) a GABA receptor subunit that conducts chloride current. Underexpressed current generators in the demented subjects included (1) two voltage-gated K+ channels that influence refractory periods and the onset of AHP, (2) a Na+ channel subunit that modifies current inactivation and the onset of the AHP, (3) a neuronal type of voltage-sensitive Ca+ channel that controls postsynaptic membrane excitability, (4) a metabotropic glutamate receptor that regulates cationic gating via G protein coupling, (5) A specific Galpha protein that transduces metabotropic cationic current, (6) an NMDA receptor subunit, (7) a glycine receptor subunit that modulates chloride current. These gene expression shifts probably occurred in neurons because they were not present in gyral white matter. Acquired neuronal channelopathies were not associated with a generalized shift of neuronal or glial cell markers, which suggest that they were not an artifact produced by neurodegeneration and/or glial cell proliferation. Channelopathies were not correlated with a generalized increase of inflammatory cell transcripts and were present in demented people without, and with HIV encephalitis (HIVE). We surveyed experimentally induced perturbations of these channels to determine the implications for brain function. Eleven experimental channelopathies produced decreased neuronal firing frequencies and pacemaker rates in model neurons; seven channelopathies increase neuronal firing rates experimentally. The implied disruption of neuronal excitability is consistent with some features of HAD, including its potential reversibility after HIV-1 replication is suppressed, the abnormal electroencephalographic recordings, the lack of clear-cut correlation with neurodegeneration and the lack of strict correlation with brain inflammation. The channelopathy concept may have wide relevance to the subcortical dementias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin B Gelman
- Texas NeuroAIDS Research Center Department of Pathology, Rt 0785, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0785, USA.
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Yang L, Omori K, Omori K, Otani H, Suzukawa J, Inagaki C. GABAC receptor agonist suppressed ammonia-induced apoptosis in cultured rat hippocampal neurons by restoring phosphorylated BAD level. J Neurochem 2003; 87:791-800. [PMID: 14535961 DOI: 10.1046/j.1471-4159.2003.02069.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Ammonia-induced apoptosis and its prevention by GABAC receptor stimulation were examined using primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons. Ammonia (0.5-5 mm NH4Cl) dose-dependently induced apoptosis in pyramidal cell-like neurons as assayed by double staining with Hoechst 33258 and anti-neurofilament antibody. A GABAC receptor agonist, cis-4-aminocrotonic acid (CACA, 200 microm), but not GABAA and GABAB receptor agonists, muscimol (10 micro m) and baclofen (50 microm), respectively, inhibited the ammonia (2 mm)-induced apoptosis, and this inhibition was abolished by a GABAC receptor antagonist (1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridin-4-yl)methylphosphinic acid (TPMPA, 15 microm). Expression of all three GABAC receptor subunits was demonstrated in the cultured neurons by RT-PCR. The ammonia-treatment also activated caspases-3 and -9 as observed in immunocytochemistry for PARP p85 and western blot. Such activation of the caspases was again inhibited by CACA in a TPMPA-sensitive manner. The anti-apoptotic effect of CACA was blocked by inhibitors for MAP kinase kinase and cAMP-dependent protein kinase, PD98059 (20 microm) and KT5720 (1 microm), suggesting possible involvement of an upstream pro-apoptotic protein, BAD. Levels of phospho-BAD (Ser112 and Ser155) were decreased by the ammonia-treatment and restored by coadministration of CACA. These findings suggest that GABAC receptor stimulation protects hippocampal pyramidal neurons from ammonia-induced apoptosis by restoring Ser112- and Ser155-phospho-BAD levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Yang
- Department of Pharmacology, Kansai Medical University, Moriguchi, Osaka, Japan
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Wisden W, Cope D, Klausberger T, Hauer B, Sinkkonen ST, Tretter V, Lujan R, Jones A, Korpi ER, Mody I, Sieghart W, Somogyi P. Ectopic expression of the GABA(A) receptor alpha6 subunit in hippocampal pyramidal neurons produces extrasynaptic receptors and an increased tonic inhibition. Neuropharmacology 2002; 43:530-49. [PMID: 12367600 DOI: 10.1016/s0028-3908(02)00151-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
We generated transgenic (Thy1alpha6) mice in which the GABA(A) receptor alpha6 subunit, whose expression is usually confined to granule cells of cerebellum and cochlear nuclei, is ectopically expressed under the control of the pan-neuronal Thy-1.2 promoter. Strong Thy1alpha6 subunit expression occurs, for example, in deep cerebellar nuclei, layer V iscocortical and hippocampal pyramidal cells and dentate granule cells. Ligand binding and protein biochemistry show that most forebrain alpha6 subunits assemble as alpha6betagamma2-type receptors, and some as alpha1alpha6betagamma2 and alpha3alpha6betagamma2 receptors. Electron microscopic immunogold labeling shows that most Thy1-derived alpha6 immunoreactivity is in the extrasynaptic plasma membrane of dendrites and spines in both layer V isocortical and CA1pyramidal cells. Synaptic immunolabeling is rare. Consistent with the alpha6 subunits' extrasynaptic localization, Thy1alpha6 CA1 pyramidal neurons have a five-fold increased tonic GABA(A) receptor-mediated current compared with wild-type cells; however, the spontaneous IPSC frequency and the mIPSC amplitude in Thy1alpha6 mice decrease 37 and 30%, respectively compared with wild-type. Our results strengthen the idea that GABA(A) receptors containing alpha6 subunits can function as extrasynaptic receptors responsible for tonic inhibition and further suggest that a homeostatic mechanism might operate, whereby increased tonic inhibition causes a compensatory decrease in synaptic GABA(A) receptor responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Wisden
- Department of Clinical Neurobiology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 364, Germany.
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White B, Osterwalder T, Keshishian H. Molecular genetic approaches to the targeted suppression of neuronal activity. Curr Biol 2001; 11:R1041-53. [PMID: 11747845 DOI: 10.1016/s0960-9822(01)00621-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how the diverse cells of the nervous system generate sensations, memories and behaviors is a profound challenge. This is because the activity of most neurons cannot easily be monitored or individually manipulated in vivo. As a result, it has been difficult to determine how different neurons contribute to nervous system function, even in simple organisms like Drosophila. Recent advances promise to change this situation by supplying molecular genetic tools for modulating neuronal activity that can be deployed in a spatially and temporally restricted fashion. In some cases, targeted groups of neurons can be 'switched off' and back 'on' at will in living, behaving animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- B White
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Department, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
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FRAME MARYD, MIANO JOSEPHM, YANG JAY, RIVERS RICHARDJ. Localized Adenovirus-Mediated Gene Transfer Into Vascular Smooth Muscle in the Hamster Cheek Pouch. Microcirculation 2001. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1549-8719.2001.tb00187.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Cheng Q, Burkat PM, Kulli JC, Yang J. GABA(C) rho(1) subunits form functional receptors but not functional synapses in hippocampal neurons. J Neurophysiol 2001; 86:2605-15. [PMID: 11698546 DOI: 10.1152/jn.2001.86.5.2605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to control the physiological and pharmacological properties of synaptic receptors is a powerful tool for studying neuronal function and may be of therapeutic utility. We designed a recombinant adenovirus to deliver either a GABA(C) receptor rho(1) subunit or a mutant GABA(A) receptor beta(2) subunit lacking picrotoxin sensitivity [beta2(mut)] to hippocampal neurons. A green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter molecule was simultaneously expressed. Whole cell patch-clamp recordings demonstrated somatic expression of both bicuculline-resistant GABA(C) receptor-mediated and picrotoxin-resistant GABA(A) receptor-mediated GABA-evoked currents in rho(1)- and beta(2)(mut)-transduced hippocampal neurons, respectively. GABAergic miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs) recorded in the presence of 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxalene-2,3-dione, Mg(2+), and TTX revealed synaptic events with monoexponential activation and biexponential decay phases. Despite the robust expression of somatic GABA(C) receptors in rho(1)-neurons, no bicuculline-resistant mIPSCs were observed. This suggested either a kinetic mismatch between the relatively brief presynaptic GABA release and slow-activating rho(1) receptors or failure of the rho(1) subunit to target properly to the subsynaptic membrane. Addition of ruthenium red, a presynaptic release enhancer, failed to unmask GABA(C) receptor-mediated mIPSCs. Short pulse (2 ms) application of 1 mM GABA to excised outside-out patches from rho(1) neurons proved that a brief GABA transient is sufficient to activate rho(1) receptors. The simulated-IPSC experiment strongly suggests that if postsynaptic GABA(C) receptors were present, bicuculline-resistant mIPSCs would have been observed. In contrast, in beta(2)(mut)-transduced neurons, picrotoxin-resistant mIPSCs were observed; they exhibited a smaller peak amplitude and faster decay compared with control. Confocal imaging of transduced neurons revealed rho(1) immunofluorescence restricted to the soma, whereas punctate beta(2)(mut) immunofluorescence was seen throughout the neuron, including the dendrites. Together, the electrophysiological and imaging data show that despite robust somatic expression of the rho(1) subunit, the GABA(C) receptor fails to be delivered to the subsynaptic target. On the other hand, the successful incorporation of beta(2)(mut) subunits into subsynaptic GABA(A) receptors demonstrates that viral transduction is a powerful method for altering the physiological properties of synapses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Q Cheng
- Department of Pharmacology/Physiology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York 14641, USA
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Filippova N, Sedelnikova A, Tyler WJ, Whitworth TL, Fortinberry H, Weiss DS. Recombinant GABA(C) receptors expressed in rat hippocampal neurons after infection with an adenovirus containing the human rho1 subunit. J Physiol 2001; 535:145-53. [PMID: 11507165 PMCID: PMC2278778 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7793.2001.00145.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2001] [Accepted: 06/22/2001] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
1. A recombinant adenovirus was generated with the human rho1 GABA(C) receptor subunit (adeno-rho). Patch-clamp and antibody staining were employed to confirm functional expression of recombinant rho1 receptors after infection of human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293 cell line), human embryonic retinal cells (911 cell line), dissociated rat hippocampal neurons and cultured rat hippocampal slices. 2. Standard whole-cell recording and Western blot analysis using rho1 GABA(C) receptor antibodies revealed that recombinant rho1 receptors were expressed in HEK293 and 911 cells after adeno-rho infection and exhibited properties similar to those of rho1 receptors after standard transfection. 3. Cultured rat hippocampal neurons (postnatal day (P)3-P5) did not show a native GABA(C)-like current. After adeno-rho infection, however, a GABA(C)-like current appeared in 70-90 % of the neurons. 4. Five days after infection, expression of GABA(C) receptors in hippocampal neurons significantly decreased native GABA(A) receptor currents from 1200 +/- 300 to 150 +/- 70 pA (n = 10). The native glutamate-activated current was unchanged. 5. Hippocampal slices (P8) did not show a native GABA(C)-like current, although recombinant rho1 receptors could be expressed in cultured hippocampal slices after adeno-rho infection. 6. These data indicate that an adenovirus can be used to express recombinant GABA(C) receptors in hippocampal neurons. This finding could represent an important step towards the gene therapy of CNS receptor-related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Filippova
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, 1719 Sixth Avenue South CIRC 410, Birmingham, AL 35294-0021, USA
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