PMID: 8604049Mar 15, 1996Paper

Immunocytochemical localization of group III metabotropic glutamate receptors in the hippocampus with subtype-specific antibodies

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
S R BradleyP J Conn

Abstract

The metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) mGluR4 and mGluR7 have been postulated to serve as presynaptic autoreceptors in the hippocampal formation. The cellular and synaptic localization of these proteins in the hippocampus, however, is not known. Polyclonal antibodies that specifically react with mGluR4a or mGluR7 were produced and used for immunocytochemical localization of these receptor proteins. Immunoblot analysis with mGluRs expressed in stably transfected baby hamster kidney cells suggests that each of the antibodies reacts specifically with the appropriate mGluR subtype but not with other mGluRs. Both antibodies recognized native proteins in rat brain with molecular weights similar to the molecular weights of the bands in mGluR-transfected cell lines. The distribution of mGluR4a immunoreactivity was fairly uniform in all brain regions. Immunoreactivity for mGluR7 was variable in different brain regions and closely paralleled the previously reported distribution of mGluR7 mRNA. Immunocytochemistry with light and electron microscopy (EM) revealed that immunoreactivities for mGluR4a and mGluR7 are widely but differentially distributed throughout the hippocampal formation. Staining with antibodies directed against mGl...Continue Reading

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