Effect of glutamate on glutamine synthetase and glutamate transporter gene expression in MeCP2-null astrocytes.

<p><b>A–C.</b> Effects of Glu on Glu clearance-related genes in wild-type (white column) and MeCP2-null (gray column) astrocytes. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of Glu clearance-related genes, EAAT1 (<b>A</b>), EAAT2 (<b>B</b>), and GS (<b>C</b>), was performed in the control and MeCP2-null astrocytes 12 or 24 h after treatment with 1.0 mM Glu. The bands corresponding to PCR products were quantified by densitometry, normalized against HPRT levels, and expressed as % of controls (equals 100%). Bars represent the means ± SE of samples from 3–4 independent experiments (*p<0.05, **p<0.01). <b>D–F.</b> Comparison of the effects of Glu on EAAT1, EAAT2 or GS expression in the control and MeCP2-null astrocytes. The ratio of EAAT1/HPRT (<b>D</b>), EAAT2/HPRT (<b>E</b>) or GS/HPRT (<b>F</b>) in each treatment group was normalized against that of the non-treated astrocytes from each group. Bars represent the means ± SE of samples from 3–5 independent experiments (*p<0.05). Numbers in each column indicate the total number of samples analyzed.