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Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health

East Tennessee State University

Undergraduate Honors Theses

2012

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Localization And Expression Of Gfrα2 Receptors In Neonatal And Adolescent Mouse Heart., Bryan Gunter May 2012

Localization And Expression Of Gfrα2 Receptors In Neonatal And Adolescent Mouse Heart., Bryan Gunter

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Neurturin (NRTN), a member of the glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor(GDNF) family, is required in the development of parasympathetic cholinergic neurons. It signals through binding to a glycosyl-phophatidyl inositol (GPI)-linked receptor, GDNF family receptor α2 (GFRα2), which couples to Ret tyrosine kinase. Studies of NRTN knockout mice have shown that NRTN is essential for normal cholinergic innervation of the heart, but the precise role of NRTN remains unknown. For NRTN to evoke a biological response, GFRα2 must be localized to the surface of target neurons. The aim of this study was to determine the expression and localization of GFRα2 at …