Gao B, Moore R Y
Department of Psychiatry, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
J Biol Rhythms. 1996 Jun;11(2):172-9. doi: 10.1177/074873049601100209.
The rat suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is comprised of neurons that contain gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) colocalized with one or more peptides. In the present study, the authors employed in situ hybridization histochemistry to determine whether the human SCN also contains GABA neurons using synthetic oligonucleotide probes complementary to sequences of two isoforms of the GABA-forming enzyme, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), GAD65, and GAD67. Most, if not all, SCN neurons appear to express both GAD65 mRNA and GAD67 mRNA with the content of GAD67 greater than GAD65. Both isoforms also are expressed in some neurons of the anterior hypothalamic area, in small neurons of the paraventricular nucleus but not in the supraoptic nucleus. These data indicate that neurons in the human SCN, like those in rodents, use GABA as a neurotransmitter.
大鼠视交叉上核（SCN）由含有γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）并与一种或多种肽共定位的神经元组成。在本研究中，作者使用原位杂交组织化学方法，利用与γ-氨基丁酸合成酶谷氨酸脱羧酶（GAD）的两种同工型GAD65和GAD67序列互补的合成寡核苷酸探针，来确定人类SCN中是否也含有GABA能神经元。大部分（如果不是全部的话）SCN神经元似乎都表达GAD65 mRNA和GAD67 mRNA，且GAD67的含量高于GAD65。这两种同工型也在前下丘脑区域的一些神经元、室旁核的小神经元中表达，但在视上核中不表达。这些数据表明，人类SCN中的神经元与啮齿动物中的神经元一样，将GABA用作神经递质。
