K. Takatsuji et al., A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUBSTANCE-P RECEPTOR AND RETINAL FIBERS IN THERAT SUPRACHIASMATIC NUCLEUS, Brain research, 698(1-2), 1995, pp. 53-61
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus controls many of
the circadian rhythms in mammalian species. In the present study, we
investigated the location of substance P receptor (SPR)-containing neu
rons in the rat SCN, using a specific antibody against SPR, which corr
esponds to the NK-1 subtype of tachykinin receptors, and also examined
the synaptic relationship between SPR-containing neurons and retinal
fibers at the ultrastructural level. An SPR-immunoreactive meshwork of
labeled somata and dendrites was identified in the SCN. The strongest
SPR-immunoreactivity was observed in the dorsal and lateral parts of
the SCN. Many labeled somata were identified there and their dendrites
protruded ventrally from their somata. A few SPR-immunoreactive somat
a were observed also in the ventral part of the SCN and within the opt
ic tract. In the SCN of eye-enucleated animals, degenerating retinal f
ibers were shown to terminate on SPR-immunoreactive dendrites forming
asymmetrical axo-dendritic contacts.