Wang Q P, Guan J L, Ochiai H, Nakai Y
Department of Anatomy, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Brain Res Bull. 1998 Aug;46(6):555-61. doi: 10.1016/s0361-9230(98)00061-6.
By using immunocytochemistry with an antibody directed against the vesicular acetylcholine transporter, many cholinergic neuronal processes were found to be immunopositive in the dorsal raphe nucleus. At the electron microscopic level, most of these processes were found to be axons. The immunopositive axon terminals made synapses on immunonegative dendrites and their spines whereas rare synapses were found between the immunopositive axon terminals and the immunonegative neuronal perikarya. Occasionally, the dendrites postsynaptic to an immunopositive axon terminal also received a synapse from an immunonegative axon terminal. The synapses made by the immunopositive axon terminals were usually symmetric and had a short active zone. Fewer immunostained dendrites were found, and they usually received asymmetric synapses from nonimmunostained axon terminals. The existence of cholinergic axon terminals and the synapses made by these terminals support the physiological data indicating that acetylcholine plays a role in the pain inhibition system in the dorsal raphe nucleus.
通过使用针对囊泡乙酰胆碱转运体的抗体进行免疫细胞化学研究，发现许多胆碱能神经元突起在中缝背核呈免疫阳性。在电子显微镜水平上，这些突起中的大多数被发现是轴突。免疫阳性轴突终末与免疫阴性树突及其棘形成突触，而在免疫阳性轴突终末与免疫阴性神经元胞体之间发现的突触很少。偶尔，免疫阳性轴突终末的突触后树突也会接受来自免疫阴性轴突终末的突触。免疫阳性轴突终末形成的突触通常是对称的，且活性区较短。发现的免疫染色树突较少，它们通常接受来自未免疫染色轴突终末的不对称突触。胆碱能轴突终末的存在以及这些终末形成的突触支持了生理学数据，表明乙酰胆碱在中缝背核的疼痛抑制系统中发挥作用。
