Wetts R, Vaughn J E
Division of Neurosciences, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Durate, CA 91010.
Neuroscience. 1994 Dec;63(4):1117-24. doi: 10.1016/0306-4522(94)90577-0.
Phenotypic diversity underlies the complex functioning of the nervous system. One characteristic in which neurons differ from one another is the kind of molecules that they use for intercellular signalling. The classical neurotransmitter acetylcholine, synthesized by the enzyme choline acetyltransferase, is used by five groups of neurons in the rat spinal cord. Another messenger is nitric oxide, which is synthesized by nitric oxide synthase. Neurons that express nitric oxide synthase can be stained specifically by NADPH diaphorase histochemistry. In the spinal cord, approximately five groups of neurons are labeled by the diaphorase reaction, and some of these populations overlap with cholinergic groups. To determine the proportions of neurons that co-express choline acetyltransferase and nitric oxide synthase, we performed choline acetyltransferase immunocytochemistry and diaphorase histochemistry on single sections of rat spinal cord. Some cell types were single-labeled: somatic motor neurons were choline acetyltransferase-immunoreactive only, and neurons in lamina II were diaphorase-positive only. Four cell groups included double-labeled cells. Autonomic motor neurons were either double-labeled (62%) or choline acetyltransferase-only (37%), partition cells in lamina VII were double-labeled (54%) or choline acetyltransferase-only (45%), neurons in laminae III-V of the dorsal horn were double-labeled (70%) or diaphorase-only (27%), and neurons surrounding the central canal were double-labeled (56%), choline acetyltransferase-only (23%) or diaphorase-only (21%). These data indicate that certain spinal cord populations may be heterogeneous with regard to the intercellular messenger phenotypes involving acetylcholine and nitric oxide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
表型多样性是神经系统复杂功能的基础。神经元彼此不同的一个特征是它们用于细胞间信号传递的分子种类。由胆碱乙酰转移酶合成的经典神经递质乙酰胆碱，被大鼠脊髓中的五组神经元所使用。另一种信使分子是一氧化氮，它由一氧化氮合酶合成。表达一氧化氮合酶的神经元可以通过NADPH黄递酶组织化学进行特异性染色。在脊髓中，大约有五组神经元通过黄递酶反应被标记，其中一些群体与胆碱能群体重叠。为了确定共表达胆碱乙酰转移酶和一氧化氮合酶的神经元比例，我们在大鼠脊髓的单个切片上进行了胆碱乙酰转移酶免疫细胞化学和黄递酶组织化学。一些细胞类型是单标记的：躯体运动神经元仅对胆碱乙酰转移酶呈免疫反应，而板层II中的神经元仅对黄递酶呈阳性。四个细胞组包含双标记细胞。自主运动神经元要么是双标记的（62%），要么仅对胆碱乙酰转移酶呈阳性（37%），板层VII中的分隔细胞是双标记的（54%）或仅对胆碱乙酰转移酶呈阳性（45%），背角板层III-V中的神经元是双标记的（70%）或仅对黄递酶呈阳性（27%），围绕中央管的神经元是双标记的（56%）、仅对胆碱乙酰转移酶呈阳性（23%）或仅对黄递酶呈阳性（21%）。这些数据表明，某些脊髓群体在涉及乙酰胆碱和一氧化氮的细胞间信使表型方面可能是异质的。（摘要截于250字）
