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Differential calbindin‐immunoreactivity in dopamine neurons projecting to the rat striatal complex
Author(s) -
Barrot Michel,
Calza Laura,
Pozza Monica,
Le Moal Michel,
Piazza Pier Vincenzo
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2000.01349.x
Subject(s) - calbindin , striatum , dopaminergic , dopamine , nucleus accumbens , neuroscience , tyrosine hydroxylase , neurodegeneration , biology , quinpirole , medium spiny neuron , medicine , calcium , disease
The calcium‐binding protein calbindin‐D 28K is an anatomical marker that has been associated with resistance to neurodegeneration and with the electrophysiological characteristics of neurons. In this study, we compared the presence of calbindin in dopamine neurons projecting to three distinct functional regions of the striatal complex: the striatum, and the core and the shell of the nucleus accumbens. After iontophoretic injections of Fluoro‐Gold in the dopaminergic terminal fields, the presence of tyrosine hydroxylase and calbindin were immunohistochemically assessed in the mesencephalon. It was found that the proportion of cells expressing calbindin was highest in the dopamine cells projecting to the core (72%), intermediate in the cells projecting to the shell (51%) and lowest in the cells projecting to the dorsolateral striatum (2.6%). These results do not support the idea that calbindin is a sufficient condition to confer resistance to neurodegeneration because shell‐projecting neurons seem the most resistant to it. The present data also raise the question of the role of calbindin in the differences in firing characteristics among dopamine neurons projecting to the striatal complex.