title: Striatal cells containing aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase: an immunohistochemical comparison with other classes of striatal neurons.
abstract: In a previous study, we described a population of striatal cells in the rat brain containing aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase, the enzyme involved in the conversion of L-DOPA into dopamine. We have also presented evidence that these cells produce dopamine in the presence of exogenous L-DOPA. In this paper, we further characterize these striatal aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase-containing cells in order to determine whether they form a subclass of one of the known categories of striatal neurons or if they represent a novel cell type. Using immunohistochemical methods, we compared the morphology and distribution of the aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase-immunolabeled cells with those of other classes of striatal neurons. Our results show that both the morphology and distribution of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase-immunolabeled cells are very distinctive and do not resemble those of cells labeled for other striatal neuronal markers. Double-labeling procedures revealed that aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase cells do not co-localize somatostatin or parvalbumin, and only a very small percentage of them co-localize calretinin. However, the population of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase cells label intensely for GABA.Overall, our results suggest that these aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase-containing cells represent a class of striatal GABAergic neurons not described previously.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0603, USA. mura@tox.biol.ethz.ch
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mura
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Linder
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Groves
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001142:Aromatic-L-Amino-Acid Decarboxylases / Q000032:analysis*; D015415:Biomarkers; D064032:Calbindin 2; D064026:Calbindins; D048429:Cell Size; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000032:analysis; D002799:Cholinergic Fibers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology; D003714:Denervation; D004298:Dopamine / Q000032:analysis; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007395:Interneurons / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D016627:Oxidopamine; D010320:Parvalbumins / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000032:analysis; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000032:analysis; D013565:Sympatholytics; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000032:analysis; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C576512:Calb2 protein, rat; D064032:Calbindin 2; D064026:Calbindins; D010320:Parvalbumins; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G; D013565:Sympatholytics; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide; D013004:Somatostatin; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D016627:Oxidopamine; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase; D001142:Aromatic-L-Amino-Acid Decarboxylases; D004298:Dopamine