Heterogeneous choline acetyltransferase staining in cholinergic neurons

Abstract

We studied the features of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) distribution in cholinergic structures of the central and peripheral nervous systems; specifically in the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of embryo (E20), newborn, or adult rats using a goat polyclonal antibody. We found that this anti-ChAT antibody selectively labels both central and peripheral cholinergic structures. We observed cholinergic neurons with weak immunoreactivity. We demonstrated that at all stages of ontogeny that we studied, four groups of cholinergic neurons occurred in the cervical part of the spinal cord, viz., the small neurons of the dorsal horns, neurons of Rexed’s lamina X, neurons of the area of Rexed’s laminae VI–VII, and cells of the ventral horns. Interneurons of Rexed’s laminae VI–VII exhibited maximum ChAT reactivity as compared to other groups of cholinergic neurons of the spinal cord at all developmental stages we studied. We found an increase in the number of immunopositive cells of lamina X from E20 stage to the early postnatal and mature stages. In the peripheral cholinergic structures, i.e., the DRG, of the rat, all neurons expressed ChAT at all stages of ontogeny.