VIP-like immunoreactive projections from the dorsal raphe and caudal linear raphe nuclei to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis demonstrated by a double immunohistochemical method in the rat.
To localize the vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-like immunoreactive neurons at the origin of the plexuses of VIP-immunoreactive fibers found in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), we combined iontophoretic injections of the retrograde tracer cholera toxin B-subunit (CTb) with VIP immunocytochemistry. Following CTb injections in the BNST, 2 groups of retrogradely labeled neurons immunoreactive to VIP were detected: (1) a dorso-caudal group localized in the dorsal part of the dorsal raphe nucleus and the adjacent ventro-lateral part of the periaqueductal gray; and (2) a rostral group in the caudal linear raphe nucleus. No double-labeled cells were observed in other nuclei including those of the amygdala and the supramammillary nucleus.
D000818:Animals; D001339:Autonomic Fibers, Preganglionic / Q000737:chemistry; D002772:Cholera Toxin; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry; D011903:Raphe Nuclei / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology*
D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide; D002772:Cholera Toxin