Distribution and characterization of the glutamate receptors in the CNS of ataxic mutant mouse.

In a search for neurochemical involvement in cerebellar ataxia, Rolling Mouse Nagoya (C3Hf/Nem-rol), which shows only hypoplasia of the cerebellum but no pathological configuration of the cerebellar structure, was used to study glutamate receptors in the CNS. Kainic acid binding sites were significantly decreased in the thalamus, hypothalamus, pons, and cerebellum, and in the frontal cortex of both the ataxic mutant mouse and the non-ataxic heterozygote. Only spinal cord and midbrain of the ataxic mutant mouse showed decreased distribution of kainate binding sites in the membrane fraction. Among enzymes responsible for supplying glutamate to the receptor, GDH showed higher activity in the spinal cord of the ataxic mutant mouse.