Localization of chat-like immunoreactivity in the vestibular endorgans of the rat.
In vertebrates acetylcholine (ACh) has been generally considered as a neurotransmitter of the vestibular efferent system. The precise localization and innervation of the cholinergic nerve endings in the vestibular sensory periphery is still unknown. We examined choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-like immunoreactivity in all five endorgans of the rat vestibule with light and electron microscopy using a modified pre-embedding immunostaining technique. The results were: (1) ChAT-like immunoreactivity was widespread in all five endorgans of the vestibule and confined to the vesiculated efferent nerve endings. (2) Two types of ChAT-like immunostained nerve endings can be identified according to their size and innervation pattern: a large nerve ending and a small--middle size one. (3) Vestibular endorgans differ in their ChAT-like immunoreactivity: staining is dense in the macula of the utricule and the three ampullary cristae, but less so in the macula of the saccule. (4) We found also a regional difference of the ChAT-like immunostaining in ampullary crista. ChAT-like immunostained nerve endings were predominant in the periphery close to the semilunar plane, and less in density in the central area. These findings demonstrate that ACh is a major neurotransmitter in the vestibular efferent system.[1]References
- Localization of chat-like immunoreactivity in the vestibular endorgans of the rat. Kong, W.J., Egg, G., Hussl, B., Spoendlin, H., Schrott-Fischer, A. Hear. Res. (1994) [Pubmed]
Annotations and hyperlinks in this abstract are from individual authors of WikiGenes or automatically generated by the WikiGenes Data Mining Engine. The abstract is from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.About WikiGenesOpen Access LicencePrivacy PolicyTerms of Useapsburg