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Expression of calcium–binding proteins in the diencephalon of the lizard Psammodromus algirus
Author(s) -
Dávila José Carlos,
Guirado Salvador,
Puelles Luis
Publication year - 2000
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 - 10.1002/1096-9861(20001106)427:1<67::aid-cne5>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - pretectal area , parvalbumin , thalamus , diencephalon , calretinin , biology , calbindin , neuroscience , anatomy , posterior commissure , calcium binding protein , calcium , nucleus , midbrain , central nervous system , medicine , immunohistochemistry , immunology
Abstract This work is a study of the distribution pattern of calbindin–D28k, calretinin, and parvalbumin in the diencephalic alar plate of a reptile, the lizard Psammodromus algirus , by using the prosomeric model (Puelles [1995] Brain Behav Evol 46:319–337), which divides the alar plate of the diencephalon into the caudorostrally arranged pretectum (p1), dorsal thalamus plus epithalamus (p2), and ventral thalamus (p3). Calbindin and calretinin are more extensively expressed in the dorsal thalamus than in the neighboring alar regions, and therefore these calcium–binding proteins are particularly suitable markers for delimiting the dorsal thalamus/epithalamus complex from the ventral thalamus and the pretectum. Conversely, parvalbumin is more intensely expressed in the pretectum and ventral thalamus than in the dorsal thalamus/epithalamus complex. Within the dorsal thalamus, calcium–binding protein immunoreactivity reveals a three–tiered division. The pretectum displays the most intense expression of parvalbumin within the diencephalon. Virtually all nuclei in the three sectors of the pretectum (commissural, juxtacommissural, and precommissural) present strong to moderate expression of parvalbumin. We compare the distribution of calcium–binding proteins in the diencephalon of Psammodromus with other vertebrates, with mammals in particular, and suggest that the middle and ventral tiers of the reptilian dorsal thalamus may be comparable to nonspecific or plurimodal posterior/intralaminar thalamic nuclei in mammals, on the basis of the calcium–binding protein expression patterns, as well as the hodological and embryological data in the literature. J. Comp. Neurol. 427:67–92, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.