0000000000026172
AUTHOR
Ulrich Schütz
showing 3 related works from this author
Expression of the α4 isoform of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in the fetal human cerebral cortex
2001
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are likely to play an important role in neuronal migration during development. Furthermore, the alpha4 receptor subunit gene is related to a hereditary juvenile form of epilepsy. Only little information is available, however, on the expression of cerebrocortical nicotinic acetylcholine receptors during human fetal development. Using non-isotopic in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, we have studied the distribution of the alpha4 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor mRNA and protein in the human frontal cortex at middle (17-24 weeks of gestation) and late (34-42 weeks of gestation) fetal stages. Both, alpha4 receptor mRNA and alpha4 rece…
Expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits in the cerebral cortex in Alzheimer's disease: histotopographical correlation with amyloid pl…
1999
Impairment of cholinergic transmission and decreased numbers of nicotinic binding sites are well-known features accompanying the cognitive dysfunction seen in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In order to elucidate the underlying cause of this cholinoceptive dysfunction, the expression of two pharmacologically different nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits (alpha4, alpha7) was studied in the cerebral cortex of Alzheimer patients as compared to controls. Patch-clamp recordings of 14 dissociated neurons of control cortices showed responses suggesting the existence of alpha4- and alpha7-containing functional nAChRs in the human cortex. In cortices of Alzheimer patients and controls, the p…
Molecular Histochemistry of Nicotinic Receptors in Human Brain
1997
Only a decade ago the existence and functional significance of central nervous nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) was still a subject of controversy. Today, the importance of this receptor class for signal transduction in human brain in normal and pathological conditions has become quite evident. nAChRs have turned out to be important pharmacological targets in disorders like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (Arneric et al., 1994). One prerequisite to understand nAChR function is a detailed study of the cellular distribution of nAChR subtypes. In recent years several human-specific data have been made available. This paper attempts to show actual developments in this field, summarizing the e…