Gil-Loyzaga P, Cupo A, Eybalin M
INSERM-U.254, Laboratoire de Neurobiologie de l'Audition, CHR Hôpital St. Charles, Montpellier, France.
Brain Res. 1988 Jul 1;470(1):142-5. doi: 10.1016/0165-3806(88)90210-6.
The immunofluorescence technique has been applied to the organ of Corti from developing guinea pigs to detect the immunoreactions to antibodies directed against Met-enkephalin and Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Gly7-Leu8. Four stages of gestation were studied (30, 41, 50 and 62 days). On days 30 and 41 of gestation, no specific fluorescence to both antibodies was seen in the organ of Corti. On day 50, the inner spiral bundle and the tunnel spiral bundle, two areas displaying anti-enkephalin immunoreactivity in the adult, showed a specific immunofluorescence to either the anti-Met-enkephalin and the anti-Met-enkephalin-Arg6-Gly7-Leu8 antibodies. On day 62, these two structures showed an immunofluorescence whose intensity was slightly increased compared with that seen on day 50. In no case, was an immunoreaction in the outer hair cell area seen. These results suggest that the enkephalins, which have been proposed as putative neurotransmitters or neuromodulators of neurons belonging to the lateral olivocochlear system, are present in the organ of Corti at about the time of onset of cochlear function. Thus, the enkephalin-containing lateral efferents may play a role in the early control of cochlear potentials.
免疫荧光技术已应用于发育中的豚鼠的柯蒂氏器，以检测针对甲硫氨酸脑啡肽和甲硫氨酸脑啡肽-精氨酸6-甘氨酸7-亮氨酸8的抗体的免疫反应。研究了妊娠的四个阶段（30、41、50和62天）。在妊娠第30天和第41天，柯蒂氏器中未观察到对两种抗体的特异性荧光。在第50天，成年时显示抗脑啡肽免疫反应性的两个区域，即内螺旋束和隧道螺旋束，对抗甲硫氨酸脑啡肽抗体和抗甲硫氨酸脑啡肽-精氨酸6-甘氨酸7-亮氨酸8抗体显示出特异性免疫荧光。在第62天，这两个结构显示出的免疫荧光强度与第50天相比略有增加。在外毛细胞区域未观察到免疫反应。这些结果表明，被认为是外侧橄榄耳蜗系统神经元的假定神经递质或神经调节剂的脑啡肽，在耳蜗功能开始时大约就存在于柯蒂氏器中。因此，含脑啡肽的外侧传出纤维可能在耳蜗电位的早期控制中起作用。
