Differential expression of cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript-immunoreactivity in the rat spinal preganglionic nuclei.
The distribution of cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript-like immunoreactivity (CART-LI) was investigated in the rat spinal cords with the use of an antiserum against the CART peptide fragment 55-102. CART-LI fibers were concentrated in the superficial layers of the dorsal horn of all segments. In addition to CART-LI fibers, intensely labeled somata were detected in the intermediolateral cell column (IML) and other sympathetic preganglionic nuclei of the thoracolumbar segments. In the lumbosacral segments, CART-LI fibers but not somata were seen in the sacral parasympathetic nucleus. Double-labeling the spinal sections with choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-antisera and CART-antisera revealed that the large majority of ChAT-positive somata in the sympathetic preganglionic nuclei were CART-positive, whereas ChAT-positive somata in the parasympathetic preganglionic nuclei were CART-negative. Our results show that CART-LI is selectively expressed in a population of sympathetic preganglionic neurons (SPNs), but not in parasympathetic preganglionic neurons (PPNs) of the rat.
Dun
S L
SL
Department of Pharmacology, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, P.O. Box 70577, Johnson City, TN 37614, USA.
Chianca
D A
DA
Dun
N J
NJ
Yang
J
J
Chang
J K
JK
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005726:Ganglia, Parasympathetic / Q000378:metabolism; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000378:metabolism; D008161:Lumbosacral Region; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism*; D000098882:Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Protein
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D000098882:Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Protein