Showing papers by "Patrick L. McGeer published in 1980"

Choline acetyltransferase-containing neurons in rodent brain demonstrated by immunohistochemistry

Abstract: Choline acetyltransferase was demonstrated in neuronal structures of the rodent central nervous system by immunohistochemistry through the application of Fab fragments obtained from monospecific antiserums to human choline acetyltransferase. The specificity of the antiserum for the enzyme was confirmed by the staining of both the ventral horn motor neurons in the rat spinal cord and the neuromuscular junction of the guinea pig diaphragm. Enzyme-containing cell bodies were observed in frontal sections of rat and guinea pig brain in the neostriatum, accumbens, nucleus of the diagonal band, medial septum, and olfactory tubercle. Positively staining fibers and probable nerve terminals were also found in the olfactory tubercle field and other areas of the basal forebrain. The results provide information on the distribution of the cholinergic systems in the rostral forebrain of the rodent.

Purification and immunochemical properties of choline acetyltransferase from human brain

Abstract: Choline acetyltransferase (CAT) was purified to homogeneity from 363 g of human neostriatum by means of ammonium sulfate and protamine sulfate fractionation, followed by chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex, hydroxyapatite, phosphocellulose, and agarose-hexane-Co A columns. The final product migrated as a single component on 7.5% gels with or without SDS. It had a molecular weight of 66,000 daltons and a specific activity of 7.3 μmol acetylcholine formed per milligram protein per minute. Antibodies prepared in rabbits gave single precipitin lines against this protein on Ouchterlony immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis plates. The CAT-anti-CAT IgG complex migrated as a single band on gel electrophoresis, establishing the monospecificity of the antibodies. Strong cross-reactivity to the IgG was obtained with CAT from rat, rabbit, and guinea pig, but only weak reactivity with chicken. Fab fragments were prepared from the rabbit IgG and were used to stain CAT-containing neurons in the spinal cord and nerve endings at the neuromuscular junction using the PAP technique.

Metabolic alterations in an animal model of Huntington's disease using the 14C-deoxyglucose method.

Abstract: Various brain regions showing altered glucose uptake in an animal model of Huntington’s disease (HD) were identified by the 14C-2-deoxy- glucose (DG) autoradiographic technique. Rats with kainic acid (KA) lesions of the neostriatum were used as an animal model of HD. KA-injected animals showed reduced utilization of DG in the injected neostriatum as well as in the ipsilateral rostral sulcal cortex, dentate fascia of hippocampus, ventromedial nucleus of the thalamus and cortico-bulbar tract. By contrast, enhanced uptake was found in the ipsilateral globus pallidus, entopeduneular nucleus, the area lateral to the lateral hypothalamus, the lateral habenular nucleus and pars reticulata of the substantia nigra. The results provide interesting in vivo metabolic and functional information on brain circuits involved in motor Performance.