Quantitative regional and ultrastructural localization of the Cav2.3 Subunit of R-type calcium channel in mouse brain
26.09.2012
Parajuli LK, Nakajima C, Kulik A, Matsui K, Schneider T, Shigemoto R, Fukazawa Y.
J Neurosci. 2012;32(39):13555-13567
We characterized the regional and subcellular localization of Cav2.3 at both light and electron microscopic levels. Cav2.3 were found to be predominantly presynaptic in the interpeduncular nucleus, but postsynaptic in other brain regions. In the hippocampus, the proteins were mainly found in dendritic shafts of pyramidal cells. Immunoparticles were also observed over the plasma membrane of dendritic spines. Individual spine heads contained less than 20 particles, with an average density of 260 particles per micrometer3 spine head volume, which is in line with findings of calcium imaging studies. The Cav2.3 density was variable among similar-sized spine heads and did not correlate with the density in the parent dendrite, implying that spines are individual calcium compartments operating autonomously from their parent dendrites.
