The Expression of Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase in the Brain of the Mouse During Embryogenesis

Abstract

The distribution of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the process of normal mouse brain growth from embryonic (E) Day 11 to postnatal (P) Day 1 was investigated by means of immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent methods. Our results demonstrated that nNOS positive neurons appeared early in superficial cortex at E11. At E13, nNOS positive neurons were located in lateral hypothalamus and amygdala, and temporarily in medullar and ventral hypothalamic neuroepithelia. From E15 to P0, nNOS positive neurons were distributed in superior and inferior colliculi, positive staining could also be seen in superior and inferior tectal neuroepithelium at E15. From E17 to birth, the medial geniculate nucleus had a high density of nNOS labeling. The distribution of nNOS gradually increased and extended laterally in embryo brain, which in turn implies that NO might be involved in the development of mouse brain. Anat Rec,

Somatostatin+/nNOS+ neurons are involved in delta electroencephalogram activity and cortical-dependent recognition memory

“…Sst-Cre −/− ; Nos1 flox/flox mice that were homozygous for floxed nNOS but not expressing Cre recombinase served as controls for homozygous floxed nNOS and expressing Cre recombinase under the control of an SST promoter (Sst-Cre +/− ; Nos1 flox/ flox mice). In Sst-Cre −/− ; Nos1 flox/flox mice, the pattern of nNOS immunostaining in cortex ( Figure 1A and Supplementary Figure S2B) was consistent with nNOS expression reported in wild-type animals in other studies [26][27][28]. Similar to the reported studies of brain areas expressing nNOS-positive neurons [29], intensely stained immuno-positive nNOS neurons were observed in the cerebral cortex, caudateputamen, hippocampus, pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus, locus coeruleus, laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, interpeduncular nucleus, basal forebrain, and hypothalamus of Sst-Cre −/− ; Nos1 flox/flox control mice (data not shown).…”