Mesostriatal dopaminergic axons transiently express high levels of NILE during development.
The distribution of nerve growth factor-inducible large external (NILE) glycoprotein in the developing mesostriatal dopaminergic system was studied by immunolabeling prenatal, postnatal, and adult rat brains for both NILE and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). NILE-immunoreactive (NILE-IR) material outlined the TH-immunoreactive (TH-IR) neurons in the ventral mesencephalon at ages E14, E15, and E16 but not at later ages. Fascicles of TH-IR axons in the developing mesostriatal dopaminergic tract were strongly immunoreactive for NILE from E15 through E20. In the postnatal brain, NILE-IR material no longer clearly outlined the fascicles of dopaminergic axons as they ran from the mesencephalon to the striatum. In the striatum of postnatal and adult rats, NILE-IR material was diffusely distributed through the neuropil. Our observations suggest that NILE may play a role in guidance of growing dopaminergic axons in the developing mesostriatal tract and aggregation of the dopaminergic axons into fascicles.
Neurology Service, VA Medical Center, San Diego, California 92161.
C W
CW
Shults
L
L
Alberti
T A
TA
Kimber
W B
WB
Stallcup
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1; D051381:Rats; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine