Morphometrical evidence for a complex organization of tyrosine hydroxylase-, enkephalin- and DARPP-32-like immunoreactive patches and their codistribution at three rostrocaudal levels in the rat neostriatum.

TitleMorphometrical evidence for a complex organization of tyrosine hydroxylase-, enkephalin- and DARPP-32-like immunoreactive patches and their codistribution at three rostrocaudal levels in the rat neostriatum.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1988
AuthorsAgnati LF, Fuxe K, Zoli M, Ferraguti F, Benfenati F, Ouimet CC, Walaas SI, Hemmings HC, Goldstein M, Greengard P
JournalNeuroscience
Volume27
Issue3
Pagination785-97
Date Published1988 Dec
ISSN0306-4522
KeywordsAnimals, Automatic Data Processing, Corpus Striatum, Dopamine and cAMP-Regulated Phosphoprotein 32, Enkephalins, Male, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Phosphoproteins, Rats, Rats, Inbred Strains, Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase
Abstract

Tyrosine hydroxylase-like, dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein (Mr = 32,000)-like and enkephalin-like immunoreactive profiles and their codistribution have been evaluated at three rostrocaudal levels of the rat neostriatum by means of a computer-assisted morphometrical method, which allows an objective definition of high density/intensity patches using specific antibodies in combination with the peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique. Our results show that both tyrosine hydroxylase-like, dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-like and enkephalin-like profiles are organized in patches in the rat neostriatum. In the marginal zone, the tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive and dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-like immunoreactive patches both occupied a large part of the total area. Moreover, in this zone, these putative markers for pre- and postsynaptic elements of dopaminergic synapses also showed a complete spatial overlap. In contrast, the enkephalin-like immunoreactive patches in the marginal zone occupied a smaller area, and showed only an incomplete, albeit significant overlap with the tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive/dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-like immunoreactive system. In the central zone, tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive, dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-like immunoreactive and enkephalin-like immunoreactive patches occupied a much smaller part of the total area than did those in the marginal zone. Within the central zone, enkephalin-like immunoreactive patches occupied a significantly larger area than did the tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive and dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-like immunoreactive patches. No consistent pattern of overlap between the three different staining patterns could be seen in the central zone, probably due to the small, inconsistent size of the patches. Trend analysis showed a consistent trend of more tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive and dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-like immunoreactive patches in the dorsal than in the ventral striatum, and a trend of more enkephalin-like immunoreactive patches in the rostral than in the caudal striatum. Our data thus demonstrate that, by using computer-assisted morphometrical techniques, it is possible to describe a non-homogenous but overlapping distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive and dopamine- and cyclic AMP-regulated phosphoprotein-like immunoreactive patches in the rat neostriatum.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Alternate JournalNeuroscience
PubMed ID2908056
Grant ListMH-25504 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States
MH-48099 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States