title: Immunochemical and immunohistochemical localization of parvalbumin in rat nervous tissues.
abstract: The contents of parvalbumin in various nervous tissues of the rat were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and its cellular distribution was immunohistochemically examined by peroxidase-antiperoxidase methods. The antibody, raised in rabbits using rat skeletal muscle parvalbumin, did not cross-react with other Ca2+-binding proteins such as calmodulin or S-100 proteins. The RIA demonstrated the wide distribution of the antigen, with very high levels in the cerebellum (3,217 +/- 519 ng/mg protein). The immunohistochemical description by Celio and Heizmann [Nature 293, 300-302 (1981)] was confirmed concerning the existence of the antigen in Purkinje cells of the cerebellum; nonpyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex; and medium-sized cells of the olfactory bulb, hippocampus, and reticular nucleus of the thalamus. In addition to these neurons, we found the parvalbumin-like immunoreactivity in the large neurons of the superior vestibular nucleus and the neurons of the medial superior olive nucleus. In the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-containing nuclei such as substantia nigra, caudatoputamen, and globus pallidus, parvalbumin-positive cells and fibers were rare. In the medial lemniscus of the midbrain which contains no GABA, parvalbumin-immunoreactive fibers were prominent. The possibility was discussed that parvalbumin exists in a specific population of neurons that differ from those containing GABA.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000032:analysis; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009132:Muscles / Q000032:analysis; D009420:Nervous System / Q000032:analysis*; D009474:Neurons / Q000032:analysis; D010320:Parvalbumins / Q000032:analysis*; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000032:analysis; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000032:analysis; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D009124:Muscle Proteins; D010320:Parvalbumins; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid