Colocalization of GAD-like immunoreactivity and 3H-GABA uptake in amacrine cells of rabbit retina.

Rabbit retinas were double labeled to determine the degree of colocalization of glutamic-acid-decarboxylase-like immunoreactivity (GAD-like IR) and 3H-GABA uptake using light (LM) and electron microscopic (EM) autoradiography. Both GAD-like IR and 3H-GABA uptake were found in amacrine cell bodies in the inner nuclear layer (INL) as well as in cell bodies in the ganglion cell layer (GCL), and throughout the inner plexiform layer. GAD-like IR was found in 32% of the amacrine cells in the INL, 86% of which also showed 3H-GABA uptake; 3H-GABA uptake was observed in 38% of the amacrine cells. However, only 72% of these cells showed GAD-like IR. Labeled cells in the GCL were only 10-15% as common as similarly labeled cells in the INL. As in the INL, all GAD-positive cells in the GCL were double labeled, but only 53% of the cells taking up 3H-GABA were double labeled. We suggest that labeled cells in the GCL were ganglion cells rather than displaced amacrine cells. Cells, in both the INL and GCL, that showed 3H-GABA uptake but no GAD-like IR had a higher average grain density than double-labeled cells, indicating that uptake by these cells was specific. The relevance to GABAergic function of 3H-GABA uptake without an indication of GAD-like IR is yet to be determined. Statistical analysis at the EM level showed that one-third of the GAD-positive synaptic terminals of amacrine cells were double labeled after a 4-month exposure. Longer exposures at the EM level should reveal a higher percentage of GAD-positive terminals because at the LM level, one-half of the double-labeled cell bodies were "lightly" labeled with grains. The high degree of colocalization of GAD-like IR and 3H-GABA uptake suggests that both markers may be useful for labeling GABAergic neurons in the rabbit retina.