Ontogeny of kainate receptor gene expression in the developing rat midbrain and striatum.

Kainate (KA) receptors are a family of ionotropic glutamate receptors, which mediate the excitatory synaptic transmission in various areas of the mammalian CNS. We have studied the expression pattern of the genes encoding for KA receptor subunits (Glur5-1, Glur5-2, Glur6, Glur7, KA1 and KA2) in rat prenatal (E), postnatal and adult ventral mesencephalon (MES) and striatum (STR) and in fetal midbrain primary cultures. Each receptor subunit shows a unique area- and temporal-expression pattern.