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μ Opiate receptor immunoreactivity in rat central nervous system

  • Anatomy of Opioid Receptors
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Abstract

Immunoreactivity corresponding to the C-terminus of the rat μ opiate receptor can be detected by light microscopy in fiber- and terminal-like patterns in a number of rat brain and spinal cord regions, and in immunoreactive perikarya in several of these regions. Especially abundant fiber- and terminal-like patterns were localized to superficial layers of the spinal cord dorsal horn and nucleus caudalis of the spinal tract of the trigeminal, the nucleus of the solitary tract, nucleus ambiguous, locus coeruleus, interpeduncular nucleus, medial aspect of the lateral habenular nucleus, presumed “striasomes” of the caudate-putamen and nucleus accumbens. Moderate fiber and terminal densities were found in the ventral tegmental area, more medial aspects of the thalamus and hypothalamus, and several amygdaloid nuclei. Immunostained perikarya were prominent in the nucleus accumbens and also observed in the middle layers of the cerebral cortex, septum and diagonal band, preoptic area, medial thalamic and habenular nuclei, locus coeruleus, nucleus ambiguous, nucleus of the solitary tract, trigeminal nucleus caudalis and spinal cord substantia gelatinosa zones. Many of these localizations correspond well with the previously-determined autoradiographic distributions of μ opiate receptor ligand binding, and with reports of μ opiate receptor immunoreactivity determined using other antisera. Electron microscopic immunohistochemical studies reveal details of the membrane distribution of the μ receptor in nucleus accumbens, caudate/putamen, locus coeruleus, and spinal cord. These results suggest largely neuronal and largely extrasynaptic distributions of μ receptors that show differential patterns of perikaryal, dendritic, and/or axonal immunostaining in different central nervous system zones. Identification of these distributions adds substantially to data identifying the cellular localization of the principal opiate receptor involved in both analgesic and addictive processes.

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Author notes

  1. Akiyoshi Moriwaki

    Present address: Department of Physiology, Okayama University Medical School, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, 700, Okayama, Japan

  2. Jia-Bei Wang

    Present address: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, UMAB, 21201, Baltimore, Maryland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Neurobiology Branch Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH, USA

    Akiyoshi Moriwaki & Jia-Bei Wang

  2. Dept. of Neurology and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 21224, Baltimore, Maryland

    Elizabeth van Bockstaele, Peter Cheng & Virginia Pickel

  3. Division of Neurobiology, Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Cornell University Medical College, 10021, New York, New York

    Adena Svingos

  4. Molecular Neurobiology, Box 5180, 21224, Baltimore, Maryland

    George R. Uhl

Authors
  1. Akiyoshi Moriwaki
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  2. Jia-Bei Wang
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  3. Adena Svingos
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  4. Elizabeth van Bockstaele
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  5. Peter Cheng
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  6. Virginia Pickel
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  7. George R. Uhl
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Special issue dedicated to Dr. Eric J. Simon.

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Moriwaki, A., Wang, JB., Svingos, A. et al. μ Opiate receptor immunoreactivity in rat central nervous system. Neurochem Res 21, 1315–1331 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02532373

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