Catecholaminergic Properties of Cholinergic Neurons and Synapses in Adult Rat Ciliary Ganglion
The Journal of Neuroscience, November 1987, 7(11): 35743587 Catecholaminergic Properties of Cholinergic Neurons and Synapses in Adult Rat Ciliary Ganglion Story C. Landis,’ Patrick C. Jackson,l,a John R. Fredieu,l,b and Jean ThibauW ‘Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, and 2CoIlege de France, Paris, France Parasympathetic neurons of the ciliary ganglion are inner- The developmental mechanisms responsible for these mixed vated by preganglionic cholinergic neurons whose cell bod- transmitter phenotypes and the functional consequences re- ies lie in the brain stem; the ganglion cells in turn provide main to be elucidated. cholinergic innervation to the intrinsic muscles of the eye. Noradrenergic innervation of the iris is supplied by sympa- thetic neurons of the superior cervical ganglion. Using im- The ciliary ganglion is classified as a parasympathetic ganglion munocytochemical and histochemical techniques, we have based on anatomical, biochemical, and pharmacological crite- examined the ciliary ganglion of adult rats for the expression ria. The ganglion lies close to its target tissues, the iris and ciliary of cholinergic and noradrenergic properties. As expected, body; the preganglionic neurons lie in the brain stem (Warwick, the postganglionic ciliary neurons possessed detectable 1954; Loewy et al., 1978; Johnson and Purves, 198 1). In the levels of choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity (ChAT- cat, the mammal studied most extensively, the ganglion contains IR). Unexpectedly, many ciliary neurons also exhibited im- high levels of ChAT, reflecting enzyme present in both pregan- munoreactivity for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH-IR). Some had glionic terminals and postganglionic perikarya (Buckley et al., dopamine&hydroxylase-like (DBH-IR) immunoreactivity, but 1967).
[Show full text]