title: Synaptic terminals wrapped in the somatic cytoplasm of pigmented neurons in the human locus ceruleus.
abstract: We examined the locus ceruleus (LC) of 59 autopsied individuals whose ages at death ranged from 5 to 108 years. Immunocytochemistry with synaptic vesicle-specific 38-kDa protein (SVP) revealed that clusters of SVP-like immunoreactive coarse granules were present in the somatic cytoplasm of some pigmented neurons in all individuals examined. These SVP-like immunoreactive granules were confirmed electron microscopically to be contained in synaptic terminals which were wrapped in the somatic cytoplasm of pigmented LC neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Niigata University, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwanaga
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ikuta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008125:Locus Coeruleus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D009474:Neurons / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010858:Pigmentation; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C489782:SVP-38 protein, human