Urotensin II-Immunoreactivity in the Brainstem and Spinal Cord of the Rat
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-1-2001
Description
The distribution of urotensin-II-immunoreactivity (irU-II) was studied in the rat brainstem and spinal cord with the use of an antiserum against the human urotensin II (U-II) peptide. A population of ventral horn neurons in the spinal cord, hypoglossal nucleus, dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, facial motor nucleus, nucleus ambiguus, abducens nucleus and trigeminal motor nucleus exhibited irU-II of varying intensities. The number of irU-II motor neurons was higher in the lumbar segments as compared to that of cervical, thoracic and sacral segments. Double-labeling the sections with U-II- and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-antisera revealed that nearly all irU-II ventral horn and brainstem neurons were ChAT-positive. The result provides the first immunohistochemical evidence of the presence of irU-II in cholinergic motoneurons of the rat spinal cord and brainstem.
Citation Information
Dun, S. L.; Brailoiu, G. C.; Yang, J.; Chang, J. K.; and Dun, N. J.. 2001. Urotensin II-Immunoreactivity in the Brainstem and Spinal Cord of the Rat. Neuroscience Letters. Vol.305(1). 9-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(01)01804-3 PMID: 11356295 ISSN: 0304-3940