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Development of vasoactive‐intestinal‐polypeptide‐immunoreactive neurons in the rat occipital cortex: A combined immunohistochemical‐autoradiographic study
Author(s) -
Cavanagh Marion E.,
Parnavelas John G.
Publication year - 1989
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/cne.902840410
Subject(s) - vasoactive intestinal peptide , biology , immunohistochemistry , cortex (anatomy) , endocrinology , medicine , neuropeptide , vasoactive , cell bodies , receptor , central nervous system , neuroscience , immunology , biochemistry
The postnatal development of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)‐immunoreactive neurons, previously labeled with [ 3 H]thymidine on embryonic days E14‐E22, has been studied in the rat occipital cortex. Immunohistochemistry combined with autoradiography showed very little evidence of an “inside‐out” pattern of maturation. Most VIP neurons are generated between E17 and E21 and are found in layers II‐IV of the cortex, but their position within these layers is not dictated by their date of birth. There is evidence of a temporal maturation since E17 VIP neurons were seen first (at day 7) and E21 last. Peak numbers of VIP neurons were generated on E19. The numbers of VIP‐immunoreactive neuronal somata detected in the cortex increased from the first week after birth to the third week and declined thereafter. However VIP‐immunoreactive dendrites were still visible, suggesting that VIP levels in the cell bodies were very low, and not that there was a loss of neurons.