HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 90/4/2531    most recent 00020.2003v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (10) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lin, J. Y. Articles by Lipski, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lin, J. Y. Articles by Lipski, J.

Dendritic Projections and Dye-Coupling in Dopaminergic Neurons of the Substantia Nigra Examined in Horizontal Brain Slices From Young Rats

Division of Physiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, Private Bag 92-019 New Zealand

Submitted 10 January 2003; accepted in final form 7 June 2003

We examined the rostro-caudal dendritic spread of striatally projecting dopaminergic neurons of the Substantia Nigra pars compacta (SNc) and investigated the presence of dye-coupling after labeling these cells with a mixture of lucifer yellow (LY) and neurobiotin (NB) or with LY alone. Whole cell recordings were made from horizontal brain slices (400 µm) obtained from P5-P20 rats. SNc neurons retrogradely labeled with Fluoro-Gold and located in the region containing tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive cells displayed I_h current and other properties characteristic of SNc neurons. To prevent extracellular leakage, dyes were introduced into patch pipettes after the establishment of whole cell configuration, and cells were filled under visual control. In contrast to previous studies conducted in coronal sections that identified dendritic projections of SNc neurons mainly in the medio-lateral and ventral directions, almost all neurons labeled in our study (53/54) additionally displayed a large rostro-caudal dendritic span (649 ± 219 µm). Dye-coupling between SNc neurons was not observed under basal conditions, in the presence of gap junction "openers" (forskolin, trimethylamine), or after neurons were filled with LY using sharp intracellular microelectrodes. As a "positive control," dye-coupling was demonstrated in four hippocampal dentate gyrus neurons that were filled using the same patch pipette technique. In addition, none of the tested SNc cells (n = 12) showed expression of connexin 36 (the "neuronal" connexin) when tested with single-cell RT-PCR. In conclusion, this study revealed extensive rostro-caudal dendritic projections of SNc neurons. Under our in vitro conditions, no evidence was found for dye-coupling among these neurons.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Vandecasteele, J. Glowinski, J.-M. Deniau, and L. Venance Chemical transmission between dopaminergic neuron pairs PNAS, March 25, 2008; 105(12): 4904 - 4909. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. A. Hinckley and L. Ziskind-Conhaim Electrical Coupling between Locomotor-Related Excitatory Interneurons in the Mammalian Spinal Cord. J. Neurosci., August 15, 2006; 26(33): 8477 - 8483. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Guatteo, K. K. H. Chung, T. K. Bowala, G. Bernardi, N. B. Mercuri, and J. Lipski Temperature Sensitivity of Dopaminergic Neurons of the Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta: Involvement of Transient Receptor Potential Channels J Neurophysiol, November 1, 2005; 94(5): 3069 - 3080. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Vandecasteele, J. Glowinski, and L. Venance Electrical Synapses between Dopaminergic Neurons of the Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta J. Neurosci., January 12, 2005; 25(2): 291 - 298. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]