Figure 6
From: Down-regulation of cholinergic signaling in the habenula induces anhedonia-like behavior
Expression of cholinergic system genes in habenula tissue obtained from persons with MDD who died by suicide. (a) The human brain was separated into two hemispheres by slicing through the center of the brain stem and cerebellum. Each hemisphere was sliced coronally into 18–20 slabs (slab 1, frontal lobe; slab 18, occipital lobe) and these slabs were frozen. The habenula is nearly adjacent to the pineal gland and is contained in the 11th of 18 slabs. To isolate habenula samples, a carving tool with a round tip was used to make long grooves one at a time. (c–i) The mRNA expression levels of CHAT, VACHT, CHT, CHRNA3, CHRNB3, and CHRNB4 were evaluated using TaqMan probe-based qRT-PCR. All cholinergic system genes examined were down-regulated in suicide, but not the control CAMK2B gene (b), an excitatory neuronal marker. GAPDH and β-Actin were used as reference genes to normalize qRT-PCR data. Data represent mean ± SEM (CON, Control, n = 11; MDD, n = 12 subjects; *P < 0.05, Mann–Whitney U-test).
