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Mapping of the colocalization of calretinin and tyrosine hydroxylase in the rat substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area

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Abstract

The distribution of calretinin (CR), a calcium binding protein, was compared with that of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of dopamine, throughout the rostrocaudal extent of the rat subsantia nigra (SN) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). After mapping the cells using double-labelling immunofluorescence, it was possible to distinguish three distinct cell types: cells immunoreactive for CR only, cells immunoreactive for TH only, and cells in which the two proteins were colocalized (CR+TH). Colocalized cells in rat brain sections comprised approximately 40–55% of the fluorescent labelled cells in the SN compacta, 30–40% in the VTA, and 55–80% in the SN lateralis. Colocalized cells in the SN reticulata were infrequent except in the more caudal sections where a majority of the TH-immunoreactive cells also contained CR. The percentage of CR cells that contained TH was approximately 80% in the SN compacta and averaged 65% in the VTA. Overall, the percentage of TH-immunoreactive cells which also contained CR was approximately 50% in the SN compacta and 45% in the VTA. These data reveal a significant degree of colocalization of CR in dopamine-producing cells of the SN and VTA and suggest the need for studies concerning the fate of these individual cell types following experimental manipulations.

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  1. Laboratory of Clinical Sciences, National Institute of Mental Health, Building 10, Room 3D-48, 20892, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Krystyna R. Isaacs & David M. Jacobowitz

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  1. Krystyna R. Isaacs
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  2. David M. Jacobowitz
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Isaacs, K.R., Jacobowitz, D.M. Mapping of the colocalization of calretinin and tyrosine hydroxylase in the rat substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area. Exp Brain Res 99, 34–42 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00241410

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00241410

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