title: Quantitative light microscopic autoradiography of [3H]hemicholinium-3 binding sites in the rat central nervous system: a novel biochemical marker for mapping the distribution of cholinergic nerve terminals.
abstract: The distribution of specific [3H]hemicholinium-3 ( [3H]HC-3) binding sites sites throughout the rat forebrain was studied by means of quantitative light microscopic autoradiography. Tissue sections were labeled with 2.5 nM [3H]HC-3, apposed to tritium-sensitive film for 2 months and analyzed by computer-assisted densitometry. Regions of intense [3H]HC-3 labeling include the caudate-putamen, nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercle, amygdala, habenula and the granule cell layer of the dentate gyrus. Little or no specific binding was detected in the corpus callosum, a white matter region. This distribution of specific [3H]HC-3 binding sites is compatible with a selective labeling of central cholinergic nerve terminals.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D001665:Binding Sites; D002799:Cholinergic Fibers / Q000378:metabolism*; D004027:Diencephalon / Q000378:metabolism*; D006426:Hemicholinium 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009445:Neuroanatomy / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013687:Telencephalon / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006426:Hemicholinium 3