Abstract
Fragile X mental retardation syndrome is caused by the transcriptional silence of FMR1. Here, a quantitative PCR technique was used to examine the effect of Fmr1p on the expression of GABAA β subunits in different mouse brain regions. Our results demonstrated the reduction of GABAA β2 mRNA in all brain regions assessed, and the reduction of GABAA β3 mRNA in the cortex, suggesting that the expression of GABAA β subunits is transcriptionally regulated by Fmr1p. This finding may help to establish the link between the transcriptional profile of the GABAergic inhibitory system and the development of fragile X mental retardation syndrome.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Michelle Esposito and Paulina Konarzewska for the helpful discussion and comments on the manuscript. We are grateful to our laboratory colleagues for the technical assistance. This work was supported by an NSF grant (MCB-0919218) and PSC-CUNY awards (61164–0039 and 62180–0040) to C.-H.S. and by the Fragile X Research Foundation (FRAXA) to A.E.I.
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Hong, A., Zhang, A., Ke, Y. et al. Downregulation of GABAA β Subunits is Transcriptionally Controlled by Fmr1p. J Mol Neurosci 46, 272–275 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-011-9531-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-011-9531-5