Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 28, Issue 18, Pages 4777-4784Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4873-07.2008
Keywords
GABA; glutamate; metabotropic receptors; calcium spikes; sensitive period; transmitter specification
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Funding
- NINDS NIH HHS [R01 NS015918-25, R01 NS015918] Funding Source: Medline
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Neurotransmitter signaling in the mature nervous system is well understood, but the functions of transmitters in the immature nervous system are less clear. Although transmitters released during embryogenesis regulate neuronal proliferation and migration, little is known about their role in regulating early neuronal differentiation. Here, we show that GABA and glutamate drive calcium-dependent embryonic electrical activity that regulates transmitter specification. The number of neurons expressing different transmitters changes when GABA or glutamate signaling is blocked chronically, either using morpholinos to knock down transmitter-synthetic enzymes or applying pharmacological receptor antagonists during a sensitive period of development. We find that calcium spikes are triggered by metabotropic GABA and glutamate receptors, which engage protein kinases A and C. The results reveal a novel role for embryonically expressed neurotransmitters.
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