SDF-1alpha-mediated modulation of synaptic transmission in rat cerebellum |
| |
Authors: | Limatola C Giovannelli A Maggi L Ragozzino D Castellani L Ciotti M T Vacca F Mercanti D Santoni A Eusebi F |
| |
Institution: | Dipartimento Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', Roma, Italy. limatola@axrma.uniroma1.it |
| |
Abstract: | The functional expression of the seven-transmembrane domain G protein-coupled chemokine receptor CXCR-4/fusin in rat nerve cell was demonstrated by staining with a polyclonal anti-CXCR-4 Ab, and by evaluating the calcium responses to the physiological agonist stromal-derived cell factor-1alpha (SDF-1alpha) in both cerebellar granule cells in culture and Purkinje neurons (PNs) in cerebellar slices. Cerebellar glial, granule and Purkinje cells showed a pronounced staining for CXCR-4. Furthermore, cultured granule cells exhibited Ca2+ transients elicited by the application of SDF-1alpha, both in cell bodies and in neuronal processes. Whole-cell patch-clamped PNs in cerebellar slices responded to SDF-1alpha application by a slow inward current followed by an increase of both intracellular Ca2+ level and spontaneous synaptic activity. In particular, the SDF-1alpha-induced slow inward current was considerably reduced by ionotropic glutamate receptor blockers, but developed fully in a medium in which synaptic transmission was inhibited, indicating that this current might be, at least in part, mediated by extrasynaptic glutamate, possibly released from the surrounding glial and/or nerve cells. Taken together, these findings indicate a functional involvement of CXCR-4 in the modulation of synaptic transmission, adding another member to the repertoire of the chemokine receptors exerting a neuromodulatory role in the cerebellum. |
| |
Keywords: | cerebellar granule cells cerebellar slice chemokine receptors CXCR-4 glutamatergic neurotransmission Purkinje neurons SDF-1α |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|