Name: profiling voltage-gated potassium channel mrna expression in nigral neurons using single-cell rt-pcr techniques
Uploaded: 2011-09-27T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Profiling Voltage-gated Potassium Channel mRNA Expression in Nigral Neurons using Single-cell RT-PCR Techniques at JoVE.com

This work was supported by NIH grants R01DA021194 and R01NS058850.

1. Brain slice preparation
<ol>
	<li>Young (15-40 days old) male and female Sprague-Dawley rats are used. (We also use this same protocol in mice.) Under deep urethane anesthesia, animals are decapitated and the brain is quickly dissected out. Then 300 &mu;m-thick coronal brain slices containing the midrostral part of substantia nigra are cut on a Leica vibratome (VT-1200S). The slice cutting procedure is performed in an ice-cold, oxygenated high sucrose cutting solution containing (in mM): 220 sucrose, 2.5 KCl, 1.25...

<ol>
	<li>J, . <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Tuning+pacemaker+frequency+of+individual+dopaminergic+neurons+by+Kv4.3L+and+Kchip3.1+transcription.">Tuning pacemaker frequency of individual dopaminergic neurons by Kv4.3L and Kchip3.1 transcription.</a> EMBO J. 20, 5715-5724 (2001).</li><li>Surmeier, D. J., Song, W. J., Yan, Z. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Coordinated+expression+of+dopamine+receptors+in+neostriatal+medium+spiny+neurons.">Coordinated expression of dopamine receptors in neostriatal medium spiny neurons.</a> J. Neurosci. 16, 6579-6591 (1996).</li><li>Zhou, F. W., Matta, S. G., Zhou, F. -. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Constitutively+active+TRPC3+channels+regulate+basal+ganglia+output+neurons.">Constitutively active TRPC3 channels regulate basal ganglia output neurons.</a> J. Neurosci. 28, 473-482 (2008).</li><li>Zhou, F. W., Jin, Y., Matta, S. G., Xu, M., Zhou, F. -. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=An+ultra-short+dopamine+pathway+regulates+basal+ganglia+output+neurons.">An ultra-short dopamine pathway regulates basal ganglia output neurons.</a> J. Neurosci. 29, 10424-10435 (2009).</li><li>Ding, S., Matta, S. G., Zhou, F. -. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Kv3-like+potassium+channels+are+required+for+sustained+high-frequency+firing+in+Basal+Ganglia+output+neurons.">Kv3-like potassium channels are required for sustained high-frequency firing in Basal Ganglia output neurons.</a> J. Neurophysiol. 105, 554-570 (2011).</li><li>Zhou, F. W., Xu, J. J., Zhao, Y., Ledoux, M. S., Zhou, F. -. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Opposite+functions+of+histamine+H1+and+H2+receptors+and+H3+receptors+in+substantia+nigra+pars+reticulata.">Opposite functions of histamine H1 and H2 receptors and H3 receptors in substantia nigra pars reticulata.</a> J. Neurophysiol. 96, 1581-1591 (2006).</li></ol>

The combination of patch clamp recording in brain slice with scRT-PCR we demonstrated here provide an excellent method to investigate the mRNA expression profiles for ion channels, receptors, and key enzymes for neurotransmitter synthesis in individually characterized neurons. This is particularly useful when the protein in question can not be detected and localized using other methods such as immunohistochemistry due to low expression level and/or lack of suitable antibody (Surmeier et al. 1996; Zhou et al. 2009). The h...

<img src="/files/ftp_upload/3136/3136table1.jpg" alt="Table 1" /> 
Table 1. Key reagents and equipment
<img src="/files/ftp_upload/3136/3136table2.jpg" alt="Table 2" /> 
Table 2. Primer pairs for rat neuronal Kv3 channel, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and glutamic acid decarboxylase 1 (GAD1) mRNAs for scRT-PCR

profiling voltage-gated potassium channel mrna expression in nigral neurons using single-cell rt-pcr techniques

In mammalian central nervous system, different types of neurons with diverse molecular and functional characteristics are intermingled with each other, difficult to separate and also not easily identified by their morphology. Thus, it is often difficult to analyze gene expression in a specific neuron type. Here we document a procedure that combines whole-cell patch clamp recording techniques with single-cell reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (scRT-PCR) to profile mRNA expression in different types of neurons in the substantial nigra. Electrophysiological techniques are first used to record the neurophysiological and functional properties of individual neurons. Then, the cytoplasm of single electrophysiologically characterized nigral neurons is aspirated and subjected to scRT-PCR analysis to obtain mRNA expression profiles for neurotransmitter synthesis enzymes, receptors, and ion channels. The high selectivity and sensitivity make this method particularly useful when immunohistochemistry can not be used due to a lack of suitable antibody or low expression level of the protein. This method is also applicable to neurons in other brain areas.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Profiling Voltage-gated Potassium Channel mRNA Expression in Nigral Neurons using Single-cell RT-PCR Techniques at JoVE.com

Profiling Voltage-gated Potassium Channel mRNA Expression in Nigral Neurons using Single-cell RT-PCR Techniques

Neurons are first characterized electrophysiologically. Then the cytoplasm from the recorded neuron is aspirated and subjected to reverse transcription-PCR analysis to detect the expression of mRNAs for neurotransmitter synthesis enzymes, ion channels, and receptors.

In mammalian central nervous system, different types of neurons with diverse molecular and functional characteristics are intermingled with each other, ...

Research

JoVE Journal

Neuroscience

Dissection and Culture of Commissural Neurons from Embryonic Spinal Cord

Commissural neurons have been widely used to investigate the mechanisms underlying axon guidance during embryonic spinal cord development. The cell bodies ...

Single-cell Profiling of Developing and Mature Retinal Neurons

Highly specialized, but exceedingly small populations of cells play important roles in many tissues. The identification of cell-type specific markers and ...

Recording Light-evoked Postsynaptic Responses in Neurons in Dark-adapted, Mouse Retinal Slice Preparations Using Patch Clamp Techniques

The retina is the gateway to the visual system. To understand visual signal processing mechanisms, we investigate retinal neural network functions. ...

Subcellular Patch-clamp Recordings from the Somatodendritic Domain of Nigral Dopamine Neurons

Dendrites of dopaminergic neurons receive and convey synaptic input, support action potential back-propagation and neurotransmitter release. Understanding ...

Reliable Identification of Living Dopaminergic Neurons in Midbrain Cultures Using RNA Sequencing and TH-promoter-driven eGFP Expression

In Parkinson&#39;s Disease (PD) there is widespread neuronal loss throughout the brain with pronounced degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the SNc, ...

Quantification of Endosome and Lysosome Motilities in Cultured Neurons Using Fluorescent Probes

In the brain, membrane trafficking systems play important roles in regulating neuronal functions, such as neuronal morphology, synaptic plasticity, ...

Adeno-associated Virus-mediated Transgene Expression in Genetically Defined Neurons of the Spinal Cord

Selective manipulation of spinal neuronal subpopulations has mainly been achieved by two different methods: 1) Intersectional genetics, whereby double or ...

Making, Testing, and Using Potassium Ion Selective Microelectrodes in Tissue Slices of Adult Brain

Potassium ions significantly contribute to the resting membrane potential of cells and, therefore, extracellular K+ concentration is a crucial regulator ...

Single-cell RNA Sequencing of Fluorescently Labeled Mouse Neurons Using Manual Sorting and Double In Vitro Transcription with Absolute Counts Sequencing (DIVA-Seq)

Single-cell RNA Sequencing of Fluorescently Labeled Mouse Neurons Using Manual Sorting and Double In Vitro Transcription with Absolute Counts Sequencing DIVA-Seq

Single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is now a widely implemented tool for assaying gene expression. Commercially available single-cell RNA-sequencing ...

Single-Cell Electroporation across Different Organotypic Slice Culture of Mouse Hippocampal Excitatory and Class-Specific Inhibitory Neurons

Electroporation has established itself as a critical method for transferring specific genes into cells to understand their function. Here, we describe a ...