Transient mGlu5R inhibition enhances the survival of granule cell precursors in the neonatal cerebellum.

ABSTRACT: The generation of the most abundant neurons of the cerebellum, the granule cells, relies on a balance between clonal expansion and apoptosis during the first 10 days after birth in the external germinal layer (EGL). The amino acid glutamate controls such critical phases of cell development in other systems through specific receptors such as metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu(5)R). However, the function of mGlu(5)Rs on the proliferation and survival of granule cell precursors (GCPs) remains elusive. We found mGlu(5)R mRNA transcripts in EGL using RT-PCR and observed mGlu(5)R-mediated Ca(2+) responses in GCPs in acute slices as early as postnatal day (P) 2-3. Using in vivo injections of the selective non-competitive mGlu(5)R antagonist 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP) in P7-P9

SUBMITTER: Kubera C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3402690 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature