Cellular localization of tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA and cholecystokinin mRNA-containing cells in the ventral mesencephalon of the common marmoset: effects of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine.

In situ hybridization histochemistry was used to localize tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA and cholecystokinin (CCK) mRNA-expressing cells in the ventral mesencephalon of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and to examine the effects of the dopaminergic (DA) neurotoxin, 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) on these two populations of neurons in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra (SNc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). X-ray film and liquid emulsion autoradiography of brain sections hybridized with an 35S-labelled synthetic 45-mer antisense human TH oligonucleotide probe showed strong hybridization signals and dense populations of TH mRNA expressing cells in the SNc and VTA at all levels, in the control marmoset brain. In the MPTP-treated brain, there was a substantial reduction of TH mRNA in the ventral midbrain. The loss of TH mRNA-expressing cells amounted to 98% in the lateral SNc, 88% in the medial SNc and 33% in the VTA. In situ hybridization of adjacent sections with an 35S-labelled synthetic 45-mer antisense human CCK oligonucleotide probe showed a weak hybridization signal for CCK mRNA in the ventral midbrain of the control brain. Emulsion autoradiography demonstrated CCK mRNA expressing cells in the SNc and VTA at all levels with the number of cells in the VTA similar to that for TH mRNA. However, the number of cells in the SNc expressing CCK mRNA was a fraction (1/4) of that expressing TH mRNA; moreover, the level of expression per cell was substantially less than that for TH mRNA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)