title: Mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons expressing neuromedin K receptor (NK3): a double immunocytochemical study in the rat.
abstract: By using a double immunocytochemical method we examined the distribution of dopaminergic neurons expressing neuromedin K receptor (NKR; NK3) in the rat brain. The distribution of NKR-like immunoreactive (-LI) neurons completely overlapped that of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-LI neurons in the retrorubral field (A8), substantia nigra (A9), ventral tegmental area and nucleus raphe linealis (A10). Completely or partially overlapping distributions of NKR- and TH-LI neurons were found in certain regions of the hypothalamus (A11-A15) and olfactory bulb (A16). Neurons showing both NKR- and TH-like immunoreactivities, however, were only found in A8-A10: All of the NKR-LI neurons displayed TH-like immunoreactivity, and about 71-86% of the TH-LI neurons expressed NKR-like immunoreactivity. The present results provided morphological evidence for physiological modulation of dopaminergic neurons by tachykinins through NKR in A8-A10.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and K.K. Leung Brain Research Centre, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Z L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004298:Dopamine / Q000032:analysis*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018042:Receptors, Neurokinin-3 / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D018042:Receptors, Neurokinin-3; D004298:Dopamine