distribution of gabaergic interneurons and dopaminergic cells in the functional territories of the human striatumgaba ergic中间神经元的分布和多巴胺能细胞的功能地区人类的纹状体.pdfVIP

Distribution of GABAergic Interneurons and Dopaminergic Cells in the Functional Territories of the Human Striatum ´ 1 ¤ ´ 2 ´ ´ 2 Javier Bernacer * , Lucıa Prensa , Jose Manuel Gimenez-Amaya ´ ´ ´ ´ 1 Laboratorio de Neuromorfologıa Funcional, Clınica Universitaria de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, 2 Departamento de Anatomıa, Histologıa y Neurociencia, Facultad de ´ Medicina, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Abstract Background: The afferent projections of the striatum (caudate nucleus and putamen) are segregated in three territories: associative, sensorimotor and limbic. Striatal interneurons are in part responsible for the integration of these different types of information. Among them, GABAergic interneurons are the most abundant, and can be sorted in three populations according to their content in the calcium binding proteins calretinin (CR), parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin (CB). Conversely, striatal dopaminergic cells (whose role as interneurons is still unclear) are scarce. This study aims to analyze the interneuron distribution in the striatal functional territories, as well as their organization regarding to the striosomal compartment. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used immunohistochemical methods to visualize CR, PV, CB and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) positive striatal neurons. The interneuronal distribution was assessed by stereological methods applied to every striatal functional territory. Considering the four cell groups altogether, their density was higher in the associative (2120 691 cells/ 3 3