Immunohistochemical study on the distribution of the voltage-gated potassium channels in the gerbil cerebellum

Although there have been many studies on the regional distribution of Kv channels in the rat and mouse cerebellum, there are no reports about Kv channel distribution in the gerbil, which is used as an ischemia animal model. Therefore, we aimed to investigate differences in the spatial patterning of Kv channel alpha-subunit isoforms in the gerbil cerebellum. The greatest concentration of Kv 1.2 was found in the basket cell axon plexus and terminal regions around the Purkinje cells. Kv 1.1 immunoreactivity was also concentrated in this area although the staining intensity was relatively lower. Both Purkinje cell layer and granular layer were intensely stained with anti-Kv 1.3 and Kv 1.6 antibodies, whereas immunoreactivities for Kv 1.4 and Kv 1.5 were detected in the Purkinje cell bodies with much lower intensity in the molecular and granular layers. In the cerebellar nuclei, the cell bodies of cerebellar output neurons showed strong immunoreactivities for Kv 1.2, Kv 1.4, and Kv 1.6 with moderate staining for Kv 1.3 and Kv 1.5 in the cell bodies. This study on the differential localization patterns of Kv1 channel subunits in the gerbil cerebellum may provide helpful guidelines for correlating current types with particular channels and useful data for the future investigations on the pathological conditions such as ischemia and epilepsy. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.