title: Organization of cholinergic, catecholaminergic, serotonergic and orexinergic nuclei in three strepsirrhine primates: Galago demidoff, Perodicticus potto and Lemur catta.
abstract: The nuclear organization of the cholinergic, catecholaminergic, serotonergic and orexinergic systems in the brains of three species of strepsirrhine primates is presented. We aimed to investigate the nuclear complement of these neural systems in comparison to those of simian primates, megachiropterans and other mammalian species. The brains were coronally sectioned and immunohistochemically stained with antibodies against choline acetyltransferase, tyrosine hydroxylase, serotonin and orexin-A. The nuclei identified were identical among the strepsirrhine species investigated and identical to previous reports in simian primates. Moreover, a general similarity to other mammals was found, but specific differences in the nuclear complement highlighted potential phylogenetic interrelationships. The central feature of interest was the structure of the locus coeruleus complex in the primates, where a central compactly packed core (A6c) of tyrosine hydroxylase immunopositive neurons was surrounded by a shell of less densely packed (A6d) tyrosine hydroxylase immunopositive neurons. This combination of compact and diffuse divisions of the locus coeruleus complex is only found in primates and megachiropterans of all the mammalian species studied to date. This neural character, along with variances in a range of other neural characters, supports the phylogenetic grouping of primates with megachiropterans as a sister group.
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Calvey
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Patzke
authors.affiliation: Faculté des Sciences, University of Kisangani, B.P 1232 Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo.
authors.forename: Consolate
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kaswera-Kyamakya
authors.affiliation: Department of African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 13, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium; Laboratory of Histology and Neuropathology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gilissen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Zoo and Wild Animal Health, Copenhagen Zoo, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mads F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Bertelsen
authors.affiliation: Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Pettigrew
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: Paul.Manger@wits.ac.za.
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Manger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D003391:Cranial Nerves / Q000378:metabolism; D005701:Galago / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007900:Lemur / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008125:Locus Coeruleus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D008142:Lorisidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D000068797:Orexins / Q000378:metabolism; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000068797:Orexins; D012701:Serotonin; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase
keywords: Chiroptera; Choline acetyltransferase; Mammalian evolution; Neural systems; Orexin; Serotonin; Tyrosine hydroxylase