TY - JOUR
T1 - ACTH1-39 inputs to mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic neurons
T2 - Light and electron microscopic examination
AU - Liang, Chang Lin
AU - Kozlowski, Gerald P.
AU - Joseph, Shirley A.
AU - German, Dwight C.
PY - 1992/10/26
Y1 - 1992/10/26
N2 - Single- and double-labeling immunocytochemical staining procedures were used to examine the relationship between adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)-containing nerve terminals and dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the rat midbrain, using both light and electron microscopy. At the light microscopic level, ACTH neuronal processes were found largely in restricted regions occupied by the mesolimbic and mesocortical DA neurons. At the electron microscopic level, in the central linear nucleus, ACTH axon terminals made symmetric and asymmetric synaptic contacts with DA dendrites, as well as appositions with unlabeled axon terminals which, in turn, synapsed upon DA dendrites. These data suggest that ACTH functions as a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator in the brain, and such ACTH-DA synapses may be important for stress-induced changes in mesocorticolimbic DA neuronal activity.
AB - Single- and double-labeling immunocytochemical staining procedures were used to examine the relationship between adrenocorticotropin (ACTH)-containing nerve terminals and dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the rat midbrain, using both light and electron microscopy. At the light microscopic level, ACTH neuronal processes were found largely in restricted regions occupied by the mesolimbic and mesocortical DA neurons. At the electron microscopic level, in the central linear nucleus, ACTH axon terminals made symmetric and asymmetric synaptic contacts with DA dendrites, as well as appositions with unlabeled axon terminals which, in turn, synapsed upon DA dendrites. These data suggest that ACTH functions as a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator in the brain, and such ACTH-DA synapses may be important for stress-induced changes in mesocorticolimbic DA neuronal activity.
KW - Adrenocorticotropin
KW - Immunocytochemistry
KW - Rat
KW - Tyrosine hydroxylase
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U2 - 10.1016/0304-3940(92)90177-9
DO - 10.1016/0304-3940(92)90177-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 1361979
AN - SCOPUS:0026613696
SN - 0304-3940
VL - 146
SP - 79
EP - 83
JO - Neuroscience Letters
JF - Neuroscience Letters
IS - 1
ER -