title: Substance P (neurokinin-1) receptor mRNA is selectively expressed in cholinergic neurons in the striatum and basal forebrain.
abstract: In the striatum substance P (neurokinin-1) receptor, mRNA is selectively localized in large neurons that also express mRNA encoding choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) by in situ hybridization histochemistry. Substance P receptor mRNA is also localized in ChAT mRNA-containing neurons in the medial septum and basal forebrain cell groups. Thus, in the rat forebrain the substance P receptor appears to be expressed selectively by cholinergic neurons. Striatal neurons that contain substance P also utilize gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as a transmitter. These neurons make synaptic contact with striatal cholinergic neurons, which are shown here to express the substance P receptor, and with other GABAergic neurons in the striatum and substantia nigra, which express GABA receptors but not substance P receptors. This suggests that individual striatal neurons may differentially affect target neurons dependent on the receptors expressed by those target neurons.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Gerfen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000235:genetics*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D015342:DNA Probes; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D018040:Receptors, Neurokinin-1; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000235:genetics*; D013373:Substance P / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018040:Receptors, Neurokinin-1; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter; D013373:Substance P; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase