Nl. Chiaia et al., NEONATAL INFRAORBITAL NERVE TRANSECTION AND BLOCKADE OF AXOPLASMIC-TRANSPORT REDUCE EXPRESSION OF ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE BY THALAMOCORTICAL AXONS, Developmental brain research, 84(2), 1995, pp. 271-277
Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is transiently expressed by ventrobasal th
alamic neurons and their axons in the primary somatosensory cortex and
this enzyme has been used as a marker for these axons in studies conc
erned with cortical development and plasticity. The present experiment
evaluated the effects of both peripheral nerve transection and blocka
de of axoplasmic transport upon the expression of AChE in thalamic axo
n terminals in the primary somatosensory cortex. Both manipulations re
sulted in marked reductions in the density of AChE in thalamocortical
axons and less dramatic decreases in the density of this enzyme in tha
lamic neurons. These results indicate that AChE may not invariably pro
vide unequivocal information about the distribution of somatosensory t
halamocortical axon terminals in developing rodents.