Journal
NEUROREPORT
Volume 12, Issue 7, Pages 1437-1441Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200105250-00028
Keywords
glial cells; Kir family; immunocytochemistry; inwardly rectifying K+ channels; neurons; retina
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Funding
- NCI NIH HHS [RCMI-G12RR03035] Funding Source: Medline
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We show by immunocytochemistry in frog retina that most members of the Kir subfamily are expressed in specific neuronal compartments. However, Kir 6.1, the pore-forming subunit of K-ATP channels, is expressed exclusively in glial Muller cells. Muller cell endfeet display strong Kir 6.1 immunolabel throughout the retina, whereas the somata are labeled only in the retinal periphery. This spatial pattern is similar to that of Kir 4.1, of the ratio of inward to outward K+ currents, and of spermine/spermidine immunoreactivity. We suggest that the co-expression of Kir 4.1 and Kir 6.1 subunits may enable the cells to maintain their high K+ conductance and hyperpolarized membrane potentials both at high ATP levels (Kir 4.1) and during ATP deficiency (Kir 6.1). NeuroReport 12:1437-1441 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
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