A triple-label analysis demonstrating that enkephalin-, somatostatin- and neurotensin-like immunoreactivities are expressed by a single population of amacrine cells in the chicken retina.

Abstract

The combined results of previous double-label analyses provide evidence suggesting that the neuroactive peptides, enkephalin, somatostatin and neurotensin are expressed by a single population of amacrine cells in the chicken retina. In the present study, triple-label immunofluorescence histochemistry was used to confirm this relationship. An examination of more than fifteen thousand cells in sections collected from throughout the retina revealed that all labelled cells are immunopositive for endogenous enkephalin-, somatostatin- and neurotensin-like immunoreactivity. Therefore, these results reveal the presence of a single population of chicken amacrine cells, each member of which is characterized by its expression and presumed utilization of all three of these neuroactive peptides. However, the functional implications of the possibility of multiple signalling through these cells remain to be elucidated.