Week 2 Flashcards
Why do we need to understand synaptic plasticity?
Get indication of underlying mechanism of learning and memory
What topology does glutamate receptor subunit have?
Tetrameric complexes with the helix region forming the pore
Pore = analogues to voltage gates ion channels
Once glutamates receptor have been identified on the molecular level
Possible to investigate where in the brain it is expressed
Investigate the different combinations to subunits that come together to form functioning ion channels
What are majority of AMPA receptors
In the CNS
Main mediators of fast, excitatory, glutamatergic transmission in the brain
Receptors that are heteromers
What does AMPA receptors comprise?
GluR2 subunits
AMPA receptors that have the GluR2 subunits
Impermeable to calcium in neurons
GluR2 subunits - form majority of these receptors in the brain
In the absence of GluR2
AMPA receptors are permeable to sodium, potassium and calcium
What is predominant in the forebrain?
- GluR2 and GluR1
With low levels of GluR3 and GluR4
What does AMPA receptors mediate at most excitatory synapse in the CNS?
- Mediate postsynaptic depolarisation as a consequence of a net influx of sodium ions
What are the 2 different techniques to investigate the expression of GluR1 subunits in the rat brain?
- MRNA in-situ hybridisation
2. Immunohistochemistry
Who was the first person to describe neurons in the brain using very primitive microscopy methods?
- Purkinje
2. See cell bodies of neurons because there was no staining techniques
What technique enables you to visualise the entire neurons?
- Golgi staining
What can antibodies be used for in the cerebellar cortex?
- Visualise the actual proteins GluR1 subunits in the dendrite in the molecular layer of cerebellar cortex
- Cannot see axons because the axons are not expressing the protein
Where doesn’t the messenger RNA go beyond?
The cell body
Only visualising the cells expressing the gene
What evidence show that kainate receptors are found?
- Pre and post synaptically in synapses in many regions of the brain
- Pre- and postsynaptic localisation
What is not uniquely associated with nervous system?
Ionotropic glutamate receptors
What structure is different from the ACH/GABA/Glycine type receptors?
The ionotropic glutamate receptors
Nicotinic ACH/GABA/Glycine family
Evolved completely independently from inotropic glutamate receptors as mediators or inhibitory of synaptic transmission
What are homologous of ACH/GABA/glycine receptors?
Prokaryotic
Where has ionotropic glutamate receptors been found?
Outside the animal kingdom
What is the most intensively studied plant species?
Arabidopsis
What is important to recognise when studying the brain?
Often we are dealing with genes mediating neurotransmission which have homologous in completely different organisms that doesn’t have nervous system
What are some examples of genes in Arabidopsis that mediate responses to light?
- Clade I - GLR1.1
- Clade II - GLR2.1
- Clade III - GLR 3.1
What primitive plant can fairly live in watery environment?
Mosses
What has Glutamate receptor like (GLR) family have been implicated in?
- Defence against pathogens
- Reproduction
- Control of stomata aperture
- Light signal
What are the GLR genes?
- GLR1
2. GLR2
What does the GLR1 and GLR2 cause?
- Failure of sperm cells to target the female reproductive organs
What do GLR genes encode?
Non-selective Ca2+ permeable channels that can regulate cytoplasmic Ca2+
Why has ionotropic glutamate receptors been conserved throughout plant evolution?
Mediate cell-to-cell communication during sexual reproduction
What fam origins of ionotropic glutamate receptors be traced back to?
Prokaryotic world
What disease is linked to glutamate receptors?
- Rasmussen’s encephalitis
What is Rasmussen’s encephalitis?
A disease that is characterised by seizures in children (<10)
Only in one half of the cortex
Typically blind on one side
Post mortem shows inflammation on affected side of the brain
Treatment: remove the cortical brain tissue on affected side
What is the disease caused by?
Autoantibodies to GluR3
Antibodies to the ligand-binding domain
What shares similarity with bacterial GluRs (GluR0)
Ligand binding domain
How does Rasmussen’s encephalitis develop?
When antibodies to bacterial GluRs cross the blood brain barrier and interact with GluR3s in the brain