scholarly journals Regional distributions of choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase activities in layers of rat cerebellar vermis.

1983 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 927-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
C D Ross ◽  
J T Smith ◽  
D A Godfrey

Entire sagittal sections of rat cerebellar vermis were dissected into microgram-sized samples of molecular, granular, and white matter layers. Assayed activities of choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase were plotted back onto sectional maps of exact sample locations. On the average, the activities of choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase in the granular layer were about four and five times, respectively, those in the molecular layer. The highest activity of both enzymes was in the granular layer of the vestibulocerebellum, the nodulus and ventral uvula (lobules X and IXc of Larsell). This activity might be related to the secondary vestibulocerebellar projection, terminating as mossy fibers in the granular layer of this region. Intermediate levels of activity were found in the granular layer of the dorsal uvula (lobule IX, a and b). The lowest activities of both enzymes in the granular layer were in the culmen (lobule V). A 7.1-fold difference in choline acetyltransferase activity and a 4.5-fold difference in acetylcholinesterase activity were found between the granular layer of lobules V and X. The numerical density of aggregates of acetylcholinesterase staining product in the granular layer correlated much better with assayed acetylcholinesterase activity than with choline acetyltransferase activity.

1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1237-1246 ◽  
Author(s):  
P M Packman ◽  
D A Godfrey ◽  
A D Williams ◽  
F M Matschinsky

The quantitative histochemical distribution of acetylcholinesterase and choline acetyltransferase activity has been measured in individual hypothalamic nuclei and median eminence, as well as in entire hypothalamic sections by a mapping technique. There was an 18-fold range of nuclear choline acetyltransferase activity with highest activities in the lateral preoptic nucleus and median eminence. There was a nine-fold range of nuclear acetylcholinesterase activity with highest activities in the lateral preoptic and magnocellular nuclei and lowest activity in the median eminence. The substantial gradients of choline acetyltransferase activity found in the hypothalamus indicate the importance of using a technique that provides an objective, permanent record of contiguous sample locations thereby allowing detailed analysis of tissue areas using, but not dependent on, anatomical boundaries.


Author(s):  
Е.И. Захарова ◽  
З.И. Сторожева ◽  
А.Т. Прошин ◽  
М.Ю. Монаков ◽  
А.М. Дудченко

Цель - исследование холинергической синаптической организации функций обучения и памяти у крыс с разными когнитивными способностями. Методы. Крыс обучали на пространственной обстановочной модели в водном лабиринте Морриса. Через 2-3 сут. после окончания тренировок животных декапитировали, из неокортекса и гиппокампа с помощью центрифугирования выделяли субфракции синаптических мембран и синаптоплазмы легких и тяжелых синаптосом. В синаптических субфракциях определяли активность ключевого фермента холинергических нейронов холинацетилтрансферазы (ХАТ). Сравнивали результаты тестирования (время достижения скрытой платформы) и активность фермента у способных и неспособных к обучению крыс. Результаты. Были выявлены: 1) различия в холинергической организации исследованных функций в процессе обучения у способных и неспособных к обучению крыс, в том числе: положительные корреляции активности ХАТ в синапсах проекционных нейронов неокортекса у способных крыс со временем достижения платформы на промежуточных этапах обучения и в синапсах проекционных нейронов гиппокампа у неспособных крыс на позднем этапе обучения; разнонаправленные корреляции активности ХАТ в синапсах, предположительно, интернейронов гиппокампа (фракция тяжелых синаптосом) у способных и неспособных крыс на начальном и позднем этапах обучения; 2) индивидуальность холинергической организации функций на всех этапах обучения. Выводы. Полученные данные свидетельствуют в пользу представлений о специфике холинергической организации функций пространственного обстановочного обучения у крыс с выраженными и слабыми способностями к обучению, а также избирательной роли холинергических интернейронов гиппокампа на исходном этапе обучения и в консолидации памяти. In order to expand the knowledge about neuronal organization of the cognitive functions required for understanding plastic processes in the brain, we investigated the cholinergic synaptic organization of learning and memory functions in rats with different cognitive abilities. Methods. Rats were trained on a contextual situation model in the Morris water maze. At 2-3 days after the end of training, animals were decapitated, and subfractions of synaptic membranes and synaptoplasm of light and heavy synaptosomes were isolated from the cortex and the hippocampus by centrifugation. In synaptic subfractions, activity of the key enzyme of cholinergic neurons, choline acetyltransferase, was measured. We compared the test results (latent period to reach the hidden platform) and the enzyme activity in capable (lower quartile) and incapable of learning rats (upper quartile). Results. The following was found: 1) differences in the cholinergic organization of studied functions in capable and uncapable of learning rats during training, including: positive correlations of choline acetyltransferase activity in synapses of projection neurons in the cortex of capable rats with latency to reach the platform at intermediate stages of training and in the hippocampus ofincapable rats at late stages of training; multidirectional correlations of choline acetyltransferase activity in synapses of hippocampal, presumably, interneurons (heavy synaptosomes) in capable and incapable rats at early and late stages of training; 2) distinctness of the cholinergic organization of functions at all stages of training. Conclusions. The study demonstrated for the first time a specificity of the cholinergic organization of functions in spatial situational learning of rats with strong and poor learning abilities and a selective role of hippocampal cholinergic interneurons at the initial stage of learning and in memory consolidation.


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