Upregulation of STREX splice variant of the large conductance Ca2+-activated potassium (BK) channel in a rat model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

ABSTRACT: Functional properties of large conductance Ca(2+) activated potassium (BK) channels are determined by complex alternative splicing of the Kcnma1 gene encoding the alpha pore-forming subunit. Inclusion of the STREX exon in a C-terminal splice site is dynamically regulated and confers enhanced Ca(2+) sensitivity and channel inhibition via cAMP-dependent phosphorylation. Here, we describe a real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) approach to investigate relative changes in the expression of STREX and ZERO splice variants using a newly designed set of probes and primers for TaqMan-based qPCR analysis of cDNA from the rat dentate gyrus at different time points following pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus. Reduction in Kcnma1 gene expression is associated with a relative increase of STREX splice v

SUBMITTER: Ermolinsky BS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2997846 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature