| Literature DB >> 15019947 |
Susanne A Kuhn1, Frank K H van Landeghem, Robert Zacharias, Katrin Färber, Angelika Rappert, Sanja Pavlovic, Anja Hoffmann, Christiane Nolte, Helmut Kettenmann.
Abstract
gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) can act as a neuroprotective agent besides its well-established role as the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS. Here we report that microglial cells express GABA(B) receptors indicating that these prominent immunocompetent cells in the brain are a target for GABA. Agonists of GABA(B) receptors triggered the induction of K(+) conductance in microglial cells from acute brain slices and in culture. Both subunits of GABA(B) receptors were identified in cultured microglia by Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry, and were detected on a subpopulation of microglia in situ by immunohistochemistry. In response to facial nerve axotomy, we observed an increase in GABA(B) receptor expressing microglial cells in the facial nucleus. We activated microglial cells in culture with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce the release of interleukin-6 and interleukin-12p40. This release activity was attenuated by simultaneous activation of the GABA(B) receptors indicating that GABA can modulate the microglial immune response.Entities:
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Year: 2004 PMID： 15019947 DOI： 10.1016/j.mcn.2003.10.023
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Mol Cell Neurosci ISSN： 1044-7431 Impact factor: 4.314