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Localization of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate‐diaphorase activity in electrosensory and electromotor systems of a gymnotiform teleost, Apteronotus leptorhynchus
Author(s) -
Turner Ray W.,
Moroz Leonid L.
Publication year - 1995
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.903560209
Subject(s) - biology , electric fish , nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate , neuroscience , nucleus , nadph dehydrogenase , electroreception , anatomy , midbrain , nitric oxide , nitric oxide synthase , microbiology and biotechnology , central nervous system , biochemistry , sensory system , endocrinology , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , oxidase test , enzyme
The distribution of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate‐diaphorase (NADPH‐d) activity was determined in electrosensory and electromotor systems of the weakly electric gymnotiform teleost Apteronotus leptorhynchus as an indicator of putative nitric oxide synthase‐containing cells. NADPH‐d activity was detected in electroreceptors and in afferent nerves of both ampullary and type I and type II tuberous organs. All cell bodies within the anterior lateral line nerve ganglion were positive for NADPH‐d activity, as were the primary afferent axons and termination fields in the medullary electrosensory lateral line lobe. In the corpus cerebelli and valvula cerebelli, NADPH‐d label was present in Purkinje cell somata, mossy fiber synaptic glomeruli, granule cells, and parallel fibers. In the midbrain, NADPH‐d activity was apparent in layer VIIIB of the torus semicircularis dorsalis and in electrosensory laminae of the optic tectum. NADPH‐d was particularly associated with diencephalic electrosensory and electromotor nuclei, including the prepacemaker nucleus, the nucleus subelectrosensorius, and the central posterior nucleus of the thalamus. Intense NADPH‐d activity was present in pacemaker and relay cells of the medullary pacemaker nucleus but was absent from a novel class of smaller cells in this structure. Relay cell axons and spinal electromotor neurons and their axons within the electric organ were positive for NADPH‐d activity. These results indicate that putative nitric oxide synthase‐containing neurons in Apteronotus are localized preferentially to electrosensory and electromotor structures, suggesting a role for nitric oxide in determining the activity of cells involved in detecting or generating weakly electric fields. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.