Differentiation/maturation of neuropeptide Y neurons in the corpus callosum is promoted by brain-derived neurotrophic factor in mouse brain slice cultures.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is widely distributed throughout both the central and peripheral nervous systems in mammals, and plays a role in various functions such as neural modifications affecting feeding, cardiovascular dynamics, or neural diseases. Many NPY neurons exist not only in gray matter in the central nervous system or ganglia in the peripheral system, but also in white matter such as the corpus callosum (cc) especially during development. The functions and regulation of callosal NPY neurons are not well understood, though NPY neurons in the cerebral cortex or hypothalamus are known to be regulated by neurotrophic factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). We examined the effect of BDNF on NPY neurons in the cc using organotypic slice cultures to clarify the regulation of callosal NPY neurons. A 3-week administration of BDNF significantly increased the number of NPY-immunopositive neuronal cell bodies and fibers in the cc rather than in the cerebral cortex as assessed with immunohistochemistry. Electron microscopy demonstrated that the NPY immunoreactivity mainly occurred in the regions associated with accumulating synaptic or cored vesicles. NPY-positive fibers had some contacts with several other neuronal fibers and glial processes. BDNF affected these fine structures of NPY neuronal fibers in the cc. These results suggest that BDNF takes part in the development, maturation, and maintenance of NPY neurons in the cc.