title: The endocannabinoid system within the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the vervet monkey.
abstract: The endocannabinoid system mainly consists of cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1R) and type 2 (CB2R), their endogenous ligands termed endocannabinoids (eCBs), and the enzymes responsible for the synthesis and degradation of eCBs. These cannabinoid receptors have been well characterized in rodent and monkey retinae. Here, we investigated the expression and localization of the eCB system beyond the retina, namely the first thalamic relay, the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN), of vervet monkeys using immunohistochemistry methods. Our results show that CB1R is expressed throughout the dLGN with more prominent labeling in the magnocellular layers. The same pattern is observed for the degradation enzyme, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). However, the synthesizing enzyme N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD) is expressed homogenously throughout the dLGN with no preference for any of the layers. These proteins are weakly expressed in the koniocellular layers. These results suggest that the presence of the eCB system throughout the layers of the dLGN may represent a novel site of neuromodulatory action in normal vision. The larger amount of CB1R in the dLGN magnocellular layers may explain some of the behavioral effects of cannabinoids associated with the integrity of the dorsal visual pathway that plays a role in visual-spatial localization and motion perception.
authors.affiliation: School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Javadi
authors.affiliation: School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bouskila
authors.affiliation: School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: J-F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bouchard
authors.affiliation: School of Optometry, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada; BRAINlab, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; Laboratory of Neuropsychiatry, Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen and Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: maurice.ptito@umontreal.ca.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ptito
mesh_terms: D000581:Amidohydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D063388:Endocannabinoids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D010739:Phospholipase D / Q000378:metabolism; D043884:Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1 / Q000378:metabolism; D050598:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D000099252:Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolases
chemical_list: D000581:Amidohydrolases; D063388:Endocannabinoids; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D010739:Phospholipase D; D043884:Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1; D050598:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D000099252:Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolases
keywords: CB1R; FAAH; NAPE-PLD; cannabinoid receptors; dLGN; monkey