Extensive GJD2 Expression in the Song Motor Pathway Reveals the Extent of Electrical Synapses in the Songbird Brain.

ABSTRACT: Birdsong is a precisely timed animal behavior. The connectivity of song premotor neural networks has been proposed to underlie the temporal patterns of neuronal activity that control vocal muscle movements during singing. Although the connectivity of premotor nuclei via chemical synapses has been characterized, electrical synapses and their molecular identity remain unexplored. We show with in situ hybridizations that GJD2 mRNA, coding for the major channel-forming electrical synapse protein in mammals, connexin 36, is expressed in the two nuclei that control song production, HVC and RA from canaries and zebra finches. In canaries' HVC, GJD2 mRNA is extensively expressed in GABAergic and only a fraction of glutamatergic cells. By contrast, in RA, GJD2 mRNA expression is widespread in gluta

SUBMITTER: Alcami P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8615078 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature