This report describes the distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive (TH-ir) structures in the brain of the goldfish (Carassius auratus). The localization of TH-ir cell groups revealed by immunocytochemical techniques is largely in accordance with catecholamine distribution previously reported in teleosts by using monoamine fluorescence; however, in the telencephalon and diencephalon, several new cell groups are elucidated. In the telencephalon, TH-ir cell bodies are observed in the olfactory bulb, area ventralis telencephali, and the central zone of the area dorsalis telencephali. TH-ir fibers and terminals are moderately dense throughout the telencephalon except for a sparse innervation of the area dorsalis, pars medialis. Immunostained cells are present in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and magnocellular and parvicellular components of the preoptic nucleus. Immunoreactive fibers from preoptic cells can be traced caudally in two main tracts to the infundibulum. Dense immunoreactivity around cells in the pituitary provides anatomical support for catecholamine involvement in the neuroendocrine axis probably via preopticohypophysial connections. At middiencephalic levels, immunoreactive cells are present in the ventral thalamus, nucleus pretectalis periventricularis, pars ventralis, and paraventricular organ pars anterioris. In the caudal diencephalon, TH-ir cells are seen within the posterior tuberal nuclei and dorsal to posterior recess. No immunostained cells are observed in the midbrain. In the hindbrain, tyrosine hydroxylase containing cells comprise three groups similar to that described using Falck-Hillarp histofluorescence (Parent et al., '78), i.e., isthmal, central medullary, and medullospinal groups. Tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity is interpreted as evidence for the presence of catecholamines and not only provides an anatomical basis for the functional significance of catecholamines in teleosts, but may be useful in elucidating homologous structures in tetrapod vertebrates, although certain sites of immunoreactivity may prove to be unique to teleosts.
The organization of presumptive dopamine- and norepinephrine-synthesizing neurons in the brains of goldfish is described by using antibodies to tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) with avidin-biotin immunocytochemical techniques. In the hindbrain, TH-immunoreactive (IR) and DBH-IR cell bodies are located together in the following three regions: (1) dorsomedial medulla in the post-obecular region, (2) medullary tegmentum from the level of the greatest expansion of the vagal lobes to the medullospinal transition, and (3) isthmal tegmentum dorsolateral to the medial longitudinal fasciculus. Elsewhere in the brain, TH-IR neurons were visualized in eight distinct forebrain neuronal groups; DBH-IR cell bodies were not observed. Fibers and terminals IR for TH and DBH were most dense in forebrain periventricular regions, i.e. adjacent to the third ventricle, and specifically around the lateral and preoptic recesses. In the telencephalon, a dense innervation of TH- and DBH-IR fibers was noted within the area dorsalis, pars lateralis and pars dorsalis. Within the area dorsalis, pars centralis TH-IR fibers were dense; DBH-IR fibers were not visualized in this region. The presence of both dopamine- and norepinephrine-synthesizing neurons in the isthmal and medullary tegmentum and in the dorsomedial medulla provides evidence indicating that these regions are homologous to the locus ceruleus, medullary reticular nucleus and area postrema, respectively, in tetrapod brains. In addition, the remarkably dense innervation of TH-IR and DBH-IR fibers and terminals in periventricular regions of the hypothalamus and within the telencephalon suggests that there are potential similarities in the catecholaminergic innervation of forebrain regions of teleost and mammalian brains.
Immunocytochemical studies on the localization of peptides at the ultrastructural level have most frequently involved the application of the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method of immunocytochemistry and the use of the preembedding or postembedding staining procedures. The present study was designed to determine the depth of penetration of Vibratome tissue sections by immunoreagents used in the preembedding method in which immunostaining of unembedded fixed tissue sections is accomplished prior to tissue dehydration and embedment. Our
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