Highly conductive carbon nanotube matrix accelerates developmental chloride extrusion in central nervous system neurons by increased expression of chloride transporter KCC2.

ABSTRACT: Exceptional mechanical and electrical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNT) have attracted neuroscientists and neural tissue engineers aiming to develop novel devices that interface with nervous tissues. In the central nervous system (CNS), the perinatal chloride shift represents a dynamic change that forms the basis for physiological actions of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as an inhibitory neurotransmitter, a process of fundamental relevance for normal functioning of the CNS. Low intra-neuronal chloride concentrations are maintained by a chloride-extruding transporter, potassium chloride cotransporter 2 (KCC2). KCC2's increasing developmental expression underlies the chloride shift. In neural injury, repressed KCC2 expression plays a co-contributory role by corrupting inhibitory neurotransmi

SUBMITTER: Liedtke W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3822771 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature