Postnatal development of voltage-dependent calcium channels in the mouse brain disclosed by the Xenopus oocyte assay |
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| Authors: | R W Cohen A T Campagnoni C D Hull |
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| Institution: | Mental Retardation Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles. |
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| Abstract: | We assessed the ontogeny of murine voltage-dependent calcium channels by extracting mRNA from brains of mice at different postnatal ages and injecting the mRNA into oocytes of the frog, Xenopus laevis. Voltage-dependent Ca2(+)-activated Cl- channels were measured to assess the presence of Ca2(+) channels. When compared with water-injected oocytes (controls), an increase in Ca2(+) channels was not detected until postnatal day 7. The number of Ca2+ channels peaked between 9 and 18 days and began to decline by 35 days. Bath application of barium, serotonin and the Ca2+ channel antagonist, verapamil, to mRNA-injected oocytes confirmed the presence of Ca2+ channels. |
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