title: An electron microscopic observation of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter-immunoreactive fibers in the rat dorsal raphe nucleus.
abstract: By using immunocytochemistry with an antibody directed against the vesicular acetylcholine transporter, many cholinergic neuronal processes were found to be immunopositive in the dorsal raphe nucleus. At the electron microscopic level, most of these processes were found to be axons. The immunopositive axon terminals made synapses on immunonegative dendrites and their spines whereas rare synapses were found between the immunopositive axon terminals and the immunonegative neuronal perikarya. Occasionally, the dendrites postsynaptic to an immunopositive axon terminal also received a synapse from an immunonegative axon terminal. The synapses made by the immunopositive axon terminals were usually symmetric and had a short active zone. Fewer immunostained dendrites were found, and they usually received asymmetric synapses from nonimmunostained axon terminals. The existence of cholinergic axon terminals and the synapses made by these terminals support the physiological data indicating that acetylcholine plays a role in the pain inhibition system in the dorsal raphe nucleus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. qpwang@med.showa-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Q P
authors.initials: QP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ochiai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D003712:Dendrites / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011903:Raphe Nuclei / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D050494:Vesicular Acetylcholine Transport Proteins; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; C493461:Slc18a3 protein, rat; D050494:Vesicular Acetylcholine Transport Proteins; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins