Development of the sigma-1 receptor in C-terminals of motoneurons and colocalization with the N,N′-dimethyltryptamine forming enzyme, indole-N-methyl transferase
Neuroscience January 5, 2012 T.A. Mavlyutov, M.L. Epstein, P. Liu et al. 77 citations
The sigma-1 receptor (S1R) is linked to modulating ion channels and G-protein-coupled receptors. In the central nervous system, S1R is expressed throughout but is especially enriched in mouse spinal motor neurons, where it localizes to subsurface cisternae of cholinergic postsynaptic densities called C-terminals. S1R first appears in the endoplasmic reticulum of mouse spinal motor neurons late in embryonic development and concentrates at C-terminals only during the second week after birth. The enzyme indole-N-methyl transferase (INMT), which produces the sigma-1 ligand dimethyltryptamine (DMT), is also found at postsynaptic sites of C-terminals near S1R, suggesting that DMT is synthesized locally to activate S1R in motor neurons.