Tachykinin binding sites in the interpeduncular nucleus of the rat: normal distribution, postnatal development and the effects of lesions

Abstract

Tachykinin binding sites in the basal midbrain were labeled in adult and neonatal rats using 125I-Bolton Hunter (BH) substance P (SP) and 125I-BH eledoisin as ligands. In the adult, binding was very low in the tegmentum and raphe adjacent to the interpeduncular nucleus (IPN). Within the IPN, no binding with either ligand was seen in the target subnuclei of the habenular SP and substance K projections, the lateral subnuclei and the cap of the rostral subnucleus. Labeling with 125I-BH-SP was very light and was restricted primarily to the central subnucleus of the IPN while 125I-BH-eledoisin labeling was very dense over the dorsal, the ventral sector of the rostral, the intermediate and the central subnuclei. Lesions of major afferents to the IPN, the fasciculus retroflexus or the locus coeruleus, had no effect on the distribution or density of the binding of either ligand. In rats 0, 4 or 7 days or age. 125I-BH-SP binding was very dense in the ventral tegmental region, the raphe and in the dorsal, rostral and central subnuclei. 125I-BH-eledoisin binding was extremely dense in the raphe and in the dorsal, rostral, intermediate and central subnuclei but was less dense in the ventral tegmentum. Adult levels of binding in the midbrain were established by 11 days of age. Neonatal lesions restricted to the fasciculus retroflexus had no effect on the density of labeling with either ligand in animals allowed to reach adulthood.