Molecular profiling of activated neurons by phosphorylated ribosome capture.

ABSTRACT: The mammalian brain is composed of thousands of interacting neural cell types. Systematic approaches to establish the molecular identity of functional populations of neurons would advance our understanding of neural mechanisms controlling behavior. Here, we show that ribosomal protein S6, a structural component of the ribosome, becomes phosphorylated in neurons activated by a wide range of stimuli. We show that these phosphorylated ribosomes can be captured from mouse brain homogenates, thereby enriching directly for the mRNAs expressed in discrete subpopulations of activated cells. We use this approach to identify neurons in the hypothalamus regulated by changes in salt balance or food availability. We show that galanin neurons are activated by fasting and that prodynorphin neurons restra

SUBMITTER: Knight ZA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3839252 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature