A tale of two receptors: Dual roles for ionotropic acetylcholine receptors in regulating motor neuron excitation and inhibition
Student Authors
Alison PhilbrookBelinda Barbagallo
Academic Program
NeuroscienceUMass Chan Affiliations
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience ProgramFrancis Lab
Neurobiology
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2013-07-01Keywords
Caenorhabditis eleganselectrophysiology
motor behavior
nicotinic receptor
synapse
Behavioral Neurobiology
Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Nicotinic or ionotropic acetylcholine receptors (iAChRs) mediate excitatory signaling throughout the nervous system, and the heterogeneity of these receptors contributes to their multifaceted roles. Our recent work has characterized a single iAChR subunit, ACR-12, which contributes to two distinct iAChR subtypes within the C. elegans motor circuit. These two receptor subtypes regulate the coordinated activity of excitatory (cholinergic) and inhibitory (GABAergic) motor neurons. We have shown that the iAChR subunit ACR-12 is differentially expressed in both cholinergic and GABAergic motor neurons within the motor circuit. In cholinergic motor neurons, ACR-12 is incorporated into the previously characterized ACR-2 heteromeric receptor, which shows non-synaptic localization patterns and plays a modulatory role in controlling circuit function.(1) In contrast, a second population of ACR-12-containing receptors in GABAergic motor neurons, ACR-12GABA, shows synaptic expression and regulates inhibitory signaling.(2) Here, we discuss the two ACR-12-containing receptor subtypes, their distinct expression patterns, and functional roles in the C. elegans motor circuit. We anticipate our continuing studies of iAChRs in the C. elegans motor circuit will lead to novel insights into iAChR function in the nervous system as well as mechanisms for their regulation.Source
Worm. 2013 Jul 1;2(3):e25765. doi: 10.4161/worm.25765. Epub 2013 Jul 17. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.4161/worm.25765Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/33429PubMed ID
24778941Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedRights
Copyright © 2013 Landes Bioscience. This is an open-access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. The article may be redistributed, reproduced, and reused for non-commercial purposes, provided the original source is properly cited.ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.4161/worm.25765