Fig. 3.
Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of Nav channel mRNAs in laser microdissection-captured, immunofluorescence-identified SNr GABA neurons and nigral DA neurons. β-Actin mRNA was used as internal control. mRNA semiquantification was performed using the comparative crossing point (Cp) method in the form of 2−ΔCp. 2−ΔCp values for NaV mRNAs were normalized to those in SNr GABA neurons. NaV1.1, NaV1.6, NaVβ1, and NaVβ4 mRNAs were higher in SNr GABA neurons than in nigral DA neurons, whereas NaV1.2, NaVβ2, and NaVβ3 mRNAs were lower in SNr GABA neurons than in nigral DA neurons. The difference in the expression of these NaV genes between SNr GABA neurons and nigral DA neurons was significant with P < 0.005.