Deficiency of Thyroid Hormone Reduces Voltage-Gated Na+ Currents as Well as Expression of Na+/K+-ATPase in the Mouse Hippocampus |
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Authors: | Sivaraj Mohana Sundaram Romy Marx Heiko M. Lesslich Irmgard D. Dietzel |
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Affiliation: | 1.Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biochemistry II, Ruhr University, 44780 Bochum, Germany; (S.M.S.); (R.M.); (H.M.L.);2.International Graduate School for Neuroscience, Ruhr University, 44780 Bochum, Germany;3.Nanoscopy Group, Central Unit for Ionbeams and Radionuclides (RUBION), Ruhr University, 44780 Bochum, Germany |
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Abstract: | Mice lacking functional thyroid follicular cells, Pax8−/− mice, die early postnatally, making them suitable models for extreme hypothyroidism. We have previously obtained evidence in postnatal rat neurons, that a down-regulation of Na+-current density could explain the reduced excitability of the nervous system in hypothyroidism. If such a mechanism underlies the development of coma and death in severe hypothyroidism, Pax8−/− mice should show deficits in the expression of Na+ currents and potentially also in the expression of Na+/K+-ATPases, which are necessary to maintain low intracellular Na+ levels. We thus compared Na+ current densities in postnatal mice using the patch-clamp technique in the whole-cell configuration as well as the expression of three alpha and two beta-subunits of the Na+/K+-ATPase in wild type versus Pax8−/− mice. Whereas the Na+ current density in hippocampal neurons from wild type mice was upregulated within the first postnatal week, the Na+ current density remained at a very low level in hippocampal neurons from Pax8−/− mice. Pax8−/− mice also showed significantly decreased protein expression levels of the catalytic α1 and α3 subunits of the Na+/K+-ATPase as well as decreased levels of the β2 isoform, with no changes in the α2 and β1 subunits. |
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Keywords: | thyroid hormone congenital hypothyroidism hippocampal neurons Na+ current density Na+/K+-ATPase mouse brain triiodo-L-thyronine |
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