Intracellular identification of central noradrenergic and serotonergic neurons by a new double labeling procedure.
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the identity of presumed noradrenergic or serotonergic neurons recorded by single cell techniques in the mammalian brain. A double labeling method was developed in which intracellular injections of a red fluorescing dye (ethidium bromide) could be co-localized with the formaldehyde-induced green fluorescence of norepinephrine or yellow fluorescence of serotonin. By this method, neurons of the rat locus coeruleus that display a characteristic activation-inhibition response to noxious stimuli were confirmed to be noradrenergic; the slow, rhythmically firing neurons of the dorsal raphe nucleus were confirmed to be serotonergic.
D000818:Animals; D004996:Ethidium; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D008125:Locus Coeruleus / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009474:Neurons / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats; D012701:Serotonin / Q000032:analysis*
D012701:Serotonin; D004996:Ethidium; D009638:Norepinephrine