Varga C, Grosche J, Brauer K, Seeger J, Harkany T, Hartig W (2002) Cholinergic neurons in the rabbit forebrain: Chemoarchitecture, in vivo labeling, immunolesions. Neuroscience 2002 Abstracts 35.3. Society for Neuroscience, Orlando, FL.
Summary: While the rabbit basal forebrain and its cholinergic components became useful targets for modeling of neuropathological changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease, their neuroanatomical organization is still largely elusive. Hence, we focused on (i) the number of cholinergic basal forebrain neurons (CBFN)in the major nuclei based on choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunoperoxidase labeling, (ii) the density of ChAT-immunoreactive fibers in distinct neocortical and hippocampal areas, (iii) mapping of projecting CBFN by low-affinity neurotrophin receptor p75 (p75NTR ) staining and (iv) the double fluorescence labeling of ChAT and the neuronal markers p75NTR, nitric oxide synthase (NOS), calbindin, calretinin, parvalbumin, tyrosine hydroxylase and substance P. While cholinergic interneurons were found in the hippocampus, they were not detectable in the neocortex. CBFN were shown to abundantly co-express p75NTR, except in the substantia innominata and ventral pallidum. Whereas cholinergic neurons were devoid of most investigated markers, a subset also contained calbindin or NOS. The selective in vivo labeling of CBFN was achieved with intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) injected carbocyanine 3-conjugated ME20.4IgG that recognizes an extracellular epitope of p75NTR. Parallel experiments revealed that the i.c.v. injection of ME20.4IgG-saporin conjugates led to the specific immunolesion of cholinergic cells in about one week, whereas long-term effects of the immunotoxin remain to be further elucidated.
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