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Volume 16, Number 16, Issue of August 15, 1996 pp. 4872-4880
Copyright ©1996 Society for Neuroscience

Plasticity in GABA_A Receptor Subunit mRNA Expression by Hypothalamic Magnocellular Neurons in the Adult Rat

Received March 18, 1996; revised May 15, 1996; accepted May 15, 1996.

Valérie S. Fénelon and Allan E. Herbison

Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge CB2 4AT, United Kingdom

The magnocellular hypothalamic neurons exhibit a substantial degree of structural and functional plasticity over the time of pregnancy, parturition, and lactation. This study has used in situ hybridization techniques to examine whether the content of ₁, ₂, ₂, and ₂ GABA_A receptor subunit mRNAs expressed by these cells fluctuates over this period. A process of regional, followed by cellular and then topographical, analyses within the supraoptic (SON) and posterior paraventricular (PVN) nuclei revealed that an increase in magnocellular ₁ subunit mRNA content occurred during the course of pregnancy up to day 19, after which a decline in expression was detected on the day of parturition. Significant fluctuations of this nature were observed only in the oxytocin neuron-enriched regions of the SON and PVN. The expression of ₂, ₂, and ₂ subunit mRNAs in the SON and PVN and of all subunit mRNAs in the cingulate cortex did not change over this period. During lactation, ₂ subunit mRNA content within the PVN increased significantly on day 14 of lactation as compared with day 7, and topographical analysis suggested that it involved principally magnocellular vasopressin neurons.

These results demonstrate the cell- and subunit-specific regulation of GABA_A receptor mRNA expression within the hypothalamic magnocellular system. In particular, they suggest that fluctuations in ₁ subunit expression may contribute to the marked variations in electrical activity exhibited by magnocellular oxytocin neurons at the time of parturition. More generally, they provide evidence in support of GABA_A receptor plasticity within a physiological context in the adult rat brain.

Key words: GABA_A receptor subunit; in situ hybridization; lactation; oxytocin; paraventricular nucleus; parturition; pregnancy; supraoptic nucleus; vasopressin

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