Functional Neuron Marker Antibody Sampler Kit

Background

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of the neurotransmitter dopamine and other catecholamines, and acts as a marker for dopaminergic neurons (1,2). Choline O-acetyltransferase (ChAT) is the enzyme that catalyzes synthesis of acetylcholine (ACh) in the central and peripheral nervous system. ChAT is found in high levels within cholinergic neurons and can be used to measure their functional states (3). Vesicular glutamate transporters 1 and 2 (VGLUT1 and VGLUT2) are responsible for transporting the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate into synaptic vesicles of glutamatergic neurons. VGLUT1 and VGLUT2 are complimentarily expressed and act as markers for glutamatergic neurons (4). Glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) is the main enzyme that synthesizes GABA from glutamate. GABA producing neurons, called GABAergic neurons, utilize GABA as their major inhibitory neurotransmitter with both isoforms of GAD, GAD1, and GAD2, acting as functional markers for these neurons (5). β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that mediates the actions of catecholamines, mainly through stimulation by epinephrine (adrenaline), in the central and peripheral nervous system (6,7). Serotonin receptor 4 (5-HTR4) is an excitatory GPCR that activates the cyclic AMP (cAMP)-PKA pathway (8,9). 5-HTR4 is located post-synaptically on serotonergic neurons (10).