GDNF family receptor α-1 in the catfish: Possible implication to brain dopaminergic activity.

GDNF family receptor α-1 in the catfish: Possible implication to brain dopaminergic activity.
Brain Res Bull. 2018 May 11;:
Authors: Mamta SK, Senthilkumaran B
Abstract
Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a potent trophic factor that preferentially binds to GDNF family receptor α-1 (GFRα-1) by regulating dopaminergic (DA-ergic) neurons in brain. Present study aimed to evaluate the significance of GFRα-1 expression during early brain development in catfish. Initially, the full-length cDNA of GFRα-1 was cloned from adult brain which showed high homology with other vertebrate counterparts. Quantitative PCR analysis of tissue distribution revealed ubiquitous expression of GFRα-1 in the tissues analyzed with high levels in female brain and ovary. Significant higher expression was evident in brain at 75 and 100 days post hatch females than the respective age-match males. High expression of GFRα-1 was evident in brain during the spawning phase in comparison to other reproductive phases. Localization of GFRα-1 revealed its presence in preoptic area-hypothalamus which correlated well with the expression profile in discrete areas of brain in adult catfish. To investigate further, transient silencing of GFRα-1 through siRNA resulted in lower expression levels of GFRα-1, which further downregulated the expression of certain brain-specific genes. Expression level of GFRα-1 in brain was significantly diminished upon ...

Source: Brain Research Bulletin - May 11, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: Mamta SK, Senthilkumaran B Tags: Brain Res Bull Source Type: research