Undifferentiated embryonic stem cells express ionotropic glutamate receptor mRNAs.

Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) do not only mediate the majority of excitatory neurotransmission in the vertebrate CNS, but also modulate pre- and postnatal neurogenesis. Most of the studies on the developmental role of iGluRs are performed on neural progenitors and neural stem cells (NSCs). We took a step back in our study by examining the role of iGluRs in the earliest possible cell type, embryonic stem cells (ESCs), by looking at the mRNA expression of the major iGluR subfamilies in undifferentiated mouse ESCs.

Plasticity in D1-like receptor expression is associated with different components of cognitive processes.

Dopamine D1-like receptors consist of D1 (D1A) and D5 (D1B) receptors and play a key role in working memory. However, their possibly differential contribution to working memory is unclear. We combined a working memory training protocol with a stepwise increase of cognitive subcomponents and real-time RT-PCR analysis of dopamine receptor expression in pigeons to identify molecular changes that accompany training of isolated cognitive subfunctions.

Functional excitatory GABAA receptors precede ionotropic glutamate receptors in radial glia-like neural stem cells.

The involvement of neurotransmission in neuronal development is a generally accepted concept. Nevertheless, the precise regulation of neurotransmitter receptor expression is still unclear. To investigate the expression profiles of the most important ionotropic neurotransmitter receptors, namely GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)Rs), NMDA receptors (NMDARs), and AMPA receptors (AMPARs), quantitative RT-PCR, immunoblot analysis and patch clamp studies were performed in in vitro-generated neural stem cells (NSCs).

Quantitative analysis of cotransfection efficiencies in studies of ionotropic glutamate receptor complexes.

Transient transfection of cultured mammalian cells is widely employed in the study of ionotropic glutamate receptors. Heteromeric expression is usually achieved by simultaneous transfection of various combinations of glutamate receptor subunit-encoding cDNAs. This approach is based on an "all-or-none" assumption, rarely verified experimentally, that any given cell expresses all subunits present during transfection.