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Ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors show unique postsynaptic, presynaptic, and glial localizations in the dorsal cochlear nucleus
Author(s) -
Petralia Ronald S.,
Wang YaXian,
Zhao HuiMin,
Wenthold Robert J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9861(19960826)372:3<356::aid-cne3>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - biology , metabotropic glutamate receptor , ampa receptor , dorsal cochlear nucleus , metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 , neuroscience , immunolabeling , microbiology and biotechnology , glutamate receptor , cochlear nucleus , receptor , biochemistry , brainstem , immunology , immunohistochemistry
Abstract The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) is a major brain center for integration of auditory information, and excitatory amino acid neurotransmission plays a central role in the processing of this information. In this study, the distribution of glutamate receptors was examined with preembedding immunocytochemistry, using 14 antibodies to ionotropic (GluR1, GluR2/3, GluR4, GluR5‐7, GluR6/7, KA2, NR1, NR2A/B, delta 1/2) and metabotropic (mGluR1α, mGluR2/3, mGluR5) glutamate receptor subtypes. Each of these antibodies produced a specific immunolabeling pattern, including a variety of postsynaptic, presynaptic, and glial localizations. Some antibodies showed widespread distribution patterns, notably the antibodies to the α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionate (AMPA) receptor subunits, GluR2 and GluR3, and the N ‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunit, NR1. In contrast, antibodies to other glutamate receptor subunits produced more restricted distribution patterns, especially that to GluR1, which stained the outer neuropil of the DCN, cartwheel cells, and a small population of presumptive interneurons associated with the dorsal acoustic stria, but produced little or no staining in fusiform cells or deep DCN neurons. Staining of the postsynaptic density and membrane of the granule cell‐parallel fiber/cartwheel cell spine synapse was most prevalent with delta 1/2 and mGluR1α antibodies. A unique pattern of staining was found with mGluR2/3 antibody—with staining concentrated in Golgi cells and unipolar brush cells of the middle to deep DCN. Distribution of some glutamate receptors in the DCN shows similarities to that of the cerebellum, where delta 2 and mGluR1α may modulate neurotransmission at parallel fiber synapses, while mGluR2 and/or mGluR3 may modulate mossy terminal function. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.