Comparison of α2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit mRNA expression in the central nervous system of rats and mice

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) alpha 2 subunit was the first neuronal nAChR to be cloned. However, data for the distribution of alpha 2 mRNA in the rodent exists in only a few studies. Therefore, we investigated the expression of alpha 2 mRNA in the rat and mouse central nervous systems using nonradioactive in situ hybridization histochemistry. We detected strong hybridization signals in cell bodies located in the internal plexiform layer of the olfactory bulb, the interpeduncular nucleus of the midbrain, the ventral and dorsal tegmental nuclei, the median raphe nucleus of the pons, the ventral part of the medullary reticular nucleus, the ventral horn in the spinal cord of both rats and mice, and in a few Purkinje cells of rats, but not of mice. Cells that moderately express alpha 2 mRNA were localized to the cerebral cortex layers V and VI, the subiculum, the oriens layer of CA1, the medial septum, the diagonal band complex, the substantia innominata, and the amygdala of both animals. They were also located in a few midbrain nuclei of rats, whereas in mice they were either few or absent in these areas. However, in the upper medulla oblongata alpha 2 mRNA was expressed in several large neurons of the gigantocellular reticular nucleus and the raphe magnus nucleus of mice, but not of rats. The data obtained show that a similar pattern of alpha 2 mRNA expression exists in both rats and mice, with the exception of a few regions, and provide the basis for cellular level analysis.