Cholinergic neurons distribution

The development of antibodies against ChAT allowed the distribution of neurons producing acetylcholine in the nervous system to be revealed (Mesulam et al., 1983 Armstrong et al., 1983 Jones Beaudet, 1987 Vincent Reiner, 1987). In the context of control of wakefulness and REM sleep two groups of cholinergic neurons are of primary importance. Neurons located in the basal forebrain and medial septum provide the cholinergic innervation of the cerebral... 

It is synthesized within the cholinergic neurons by the transfer of an acetyl group from acetyl coenzyme A to the organic base choline. The specific enzyme choline acetylase is essential for this reaction. Coenzyme A is widely distributed in the body and choline acetylase is synthesized in the cell bodies of the cholinergic neurons. 

In both the nonhuman primates and humans, D2 mRNA was found to be homogeneously distributed in the striosomal and matrix compartments of the caudate nucleus and putamen, with no medial to lateral gradient. At variance with D receptors, D2 receptors were also detected in large, putatively cholinergic neurons. In the ventral portion of the striatum, NAc and olfactory tubercle, D2 receptor mRNA distribution was sparser than in to the dorsal striatum, with islands of tightly packed small cells (Richfield et al., 1987 Huntley et al., 1992 Rappaport et al., 1993 Meador-Woodruff et al., 1996). 

Sofroniew, M. V. and Isacson, O., Distribution of degeneration of cholinergic neurons in the septum following axotomy in different portions of the fimbria-fomix a correlation between degree of cell loss and proximity of neuronal somata to the lesion, J. Chem. Neuroanat., 1, 327, 1988. 

Lavoie B, Parent A (1994a) Pedunculopontine nucleus in the squirrel monkey distribution of cholinergic and monoaminergic neurons in the mesopontine tegmentum with evidence for the presence of glutamate in cholinergic neurons. J Comp Neurol 344 190-209. 

Early anatomical studies have employed acetylcholinesterase (AChE) histochemistry. However, AChE activity is disproportionally high in the cerebellum (reviewed in Silver, 1974), and its widespread distribution in non-cholinergic cells and fiber systems precludes its use as a marker for cholinergic neurons. 

Armstrong DM, Saper CB, Levey AI, Wainer BH, Terry RD (1983) Distribution of cholinergic neurons in rat brain demonstrated by the immunocytochemical localization of choline acetyltransferase. J. Comp. Neurol, 216, 53-68. 

Brashear, H.R., Zaborszky, L. and Heimer, L. (1986) Distribution of GABAergic and cholinergic neurons in the rat diagonal band. Neuroscience, 17, 439-451. 

The apparently wide distribution of cholinergic neurones presumably accounts for the ease with which it is possible to demonstrate drug-induced changes in the acetylcholine content of brain and in the rate of its release from the irrigated cerebral cortex. 

Harkany, T., Hartig, W., Berghuis, R, et al. (2003) Complementary distribution of type 1 cannabinoid receptors and vesicular glutamate transporter 3 in basal forebrain suggests input-specific retrograde signaling by cholinergic neurons. Eur. J. Neurosci. 18 (7), 1979-1992. 

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