Fig. 1.

RT-PCR indicates expression of the P2X₇ receptor in spinal cord and medulla oblongata. Agarose gel electrophoresis of PCR products obtained after reverse transcription of total RNA. RT-PCR analysis revealed the presence of P2X₇ transcripts in RNA extracted from spinal cord (lane 1) and medulla (lane 2). No amplified products were detected when using water or RNA as template (lanes 3, 4, 5,8). Veracity of the amplified products was confirmed by cloning the PCR product into pGEM T-Easy followed by DNA sequencing. As a positive control, the PCR products for the housekeeping gene hprt were also detected in both tissues (lanes 6,7). Products resulting from a 1 kb molecular weight marker are indicated in lane M, and the bands correspond to the calculated size for all PCR products.