O'Meara G, Coumis U, Ma SY, Kehr J, Mahoney S, Bacon A, Allen SJ, Holmes F, Kahl U, Wang FH, Kearns IR, Ove-Ogren S, Dawbarn D, Mufson EJ, Davies C, Dawson G, Wynick D. Galanin regulates the postnatal survival of a subset of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2000;
97:11569-74. [PMID:
11016971 PMCID:
PMC17241 DOI:
10.1073/pnas.210254597]
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Abstract
The neuropeptide galanin colocalizes with choline acetyltransferase, the synthetic enzyme for acetylcholine, in a subset of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain of rodents. Chronic intracerebroventricular infusion of nerve growth factor induces a 3- to 4-fold increase in galanin gene expression in these neurons. Here we report the loss of a third of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum and vertical limb diagonal band of the basal forebrain of adult mice carrying a targeted loss-of-function mutation in the galanin gene. These deficits are associated with a 2-fold increase in the number of apoptotic cells in the forebrain at postnatal day seven. This loss is associated with marked age-dependent deficits in stimulated acetylcholine release, performance in the Morris water maze, and induction of long-term potentiation in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. These data provide unexpected evidence that galanin plays a trophic role to regulate the development and function of a subset of septohippocampal cholinergic neurons.
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