Regional differences in binding of [3H]LSD and [3H]5-HT in calf hippocampal slices revealed by radioautography and rapid filtration studies.

Previous radioautographic experiments demonstrated that binding sites labeled by [3H]5-HT and [3H]LSD in rat brain were seen in all layers of CA1, CA4 and the dentate gyrus but not in fields CA2 and CA3 of the hippocampus. In an attempt to confirm this observation we performed binding assays on homogenates from selected areas of calf hippocampus since the small size of the rat hippocampus precluded using preparations from this animal for this purpose. Studies on homogenates from calf hippocampal regions, were done after we determined that the binding to slices in vitro was similar in the calf and rat. Binding of both [3H]5-HT and [3H]LSD by homogenates of CA1 and dentate gyrus, but not of CA3, was saturable. These studies show that the qualitative differences in binding site distribution within the calf hippocampus seen by radioautography reflect quantitative differences in the densities of binding sites revealed by the homogenate studies.