title: Glutamate decarboxylase immunoreactive neurons in rat neostriatum: their morphological types and populations.
abstract: Morphological types and populations of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD)-immunoreactive neurons in rat neostriatum (Str) were studied. Str of colchicine-treated animals contained 3 types of neurons immunoreactive for GAD. The first type, which makes up 80-84% of Str neurons, was medium in size and showed moderate intensity GAD-staining. The somatic morphology of the neurons was identical to the medium-spiny projection neuron. The second type, 3-5% of Str neurons, was small to medium in size and was intensely stained for GAD. The somata of the neurons were round or oval and contained a narrow ring of cytoplasm surrounding the nucleus, which often had nuclear invaginations. There were only a few in each section of the third type, which were large, polygonal, and intensely stained, GAD-immunoreactive neurons, including all 3 types, ranged from 85-87% of the total neuron population. The present study indicated that GABAergic neurons in the Str are not a single morphological type and that most Str projection neurons are GABAergic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee-Memphis 38163.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kita
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kitai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase