Summary
The Catecholaminergic innervation of neurons containing growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) was examined by use of a method which combined either 5-hydroxydopamine (5-OHDA) uptake or autoradiography after intraventricular injection of 3H-noradrenaline with immunocytochemistry for GRF in the same tissue sections at the electron-microscopic level. In the ventrolateral part of the arcuate nucleus of the rat hypothalamus a large number of immunonegative axon terminals were found to make synaptic contact with GRF-like immunoreactive (GRF-LI) cell bodies and processes. 3H-noradrenaline autoradiography or 5-OHDA-labeling combined with GRF immunocytochemistry revealed that axon terminals labeled with 3H-noradrenaline or 5-OHDA make synaptic contact with the GRF-LI nerve cell bodies and processes. These findings indicate that catecholamine-containing neurons innervate GRF neurons to regulate GRF secretion via synapses in the rat arcuate nucleus.
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Sato, A., Shioda, S. & Nakai, Y. Catecholaminergic innervation of GRF-containing neurons in the rat hypothalamus revealed by electron-microscopic cytochemistry. Cell Tissue Res. 258, 31–34 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223141
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00223141