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Compartmentation of NADPH‐diaphorase activity in the mouse cerebellar cortex
Author(s) -
Hawkes Richard,
Turner Ray W.
Publication year - 1994
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.903460404
Subject(s) - cerebellum , purkinje cell , cerebellar cortex , granule cell , granular layer , biology , nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate , parallel fiber , nitric oxide synthase , neuroscience , nitric oxide , nadph dehydrogenase , immunocytochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , climbing fiber , biophysics , biochemistry , central nervous system , endocrinology , enzyme , dentate gyrus , oxidase test
The mammalian cerebellum is built around an array of parasagittal bands of Purkinje cells that can be demonstrated by immunocytochemical staining for the differentiation antigen zebrin II. Climbing and Mossy fiber afferents also terminate in bands, and the afferent terminal fields and the Purkinje cell bands are aligned. The convergence of mossy and climbing fiber pathways onto the Purkinje cells, which are the sole output of the cerebellar cortex, is a characteristic feature of cerebellar circuitry. Previous studies showed that when both afferent pathways are activated synchronously there develops a long‐term depression of synaptic efficacy at the parallel fiber‐Purkinje cell synapse. Two second messenger pathways mediate long‐term depression: one involves diacylglyceroland protein kinase C, and the other involves nitric oxide that is generated by a nitric oxide synthase. We have studied the distribution of nitric oxide synthase in the adult Mouse cerebellum by using nicatinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)‐diaphorase histochemistry. NADPH‐diaphorase activity is found mainly in the granule and basket cells. Within the granular layer NADPH‐diaphorase activity is expressed nonuniformly patches of granule cells and synaptic glomeruli. The patches are yseen in all lobules, are reproducible from individual to individual, and are topographically ordered with respect to the Purkinje cell compartments as revealed by using anti‐zebrin II immunocytochemistry. These data imply that nitric oxide‐dependent, long‐term depression may only involve a subset of mossy fiber/granule cell projections, and that one role for nitric oxide may be to refine cerebellar receptive fields. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.