Embryonic and postnatal expression of four gamma-aminobutyric acid transporter mRNAs in the mouse brain and leptomeninges.

The distribution of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporter mRNAs (mGATs) was studied in mouse brain during embryonic and postnatal development using in situ hybridization with radiolabeled oligonucleotide probes. Mouse GATs 1 and 4 were present in the ventricular and subventricular zones of the lateral ventricle from gestational day 13. During postnatal development, mGAT1 mRNA was distributed diffusely throughout the brain and spinal cord, with the highest expression present in the olfactory bulbs, hippocampus, and cerebellar cortex. The mGAT4 message was densely distributed throughout the central nervous system during postnatal week 1; however, the hybridization signal in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus decreased during postnatal weeks 2 and 3, and in adults, mGAT4 labeling was restricted largely to the olfactory bulbs, midbrain, deep cerebellar nuclei, medulla, and spinal cord. Mouse GAT2 mRNA was expressed only in proliferating and migrating cerebellar granule cells, whereas mGAT3 mRNA was absent from the brain and spinal cord throughout development. Each of the four mGATs was present to some degree in the leptomeninges. The expression of mGATs 2 and 3 was almost entirely restricted to the pia-arachnoid, whereas mGATs 1 and 4 were present only in specific regions of the membrane. Although mGATs 1 and 4 may subserve the classical purpose of terminating inhibitory GABAergic transmission through neuronal and glial uptake mechanisms, GABA transporters in the pia-arachnoid may help to regulate the amount of GABA available to proliferating and migrating neurons at the sub-pial surface during perinatal development.