Abstract
The distribution of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) encoding the 67 kDa isoform of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD 67), a rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of γ-aminobutyric acid, and preproenkephalin (PPE), the precursor of enkephalin, was analysed in the rat nucleus accumbens (NAS) taking in account its compartmentation in ‘core’ (NAS core) and ‘shell’ (NAS shell). While GAD 67 mRNA levels were more abundant (+48%) in NAS shell than in NAS core, hybridization signals for PPE mRNA were mainly found in NAS core. At a cellular level, hybridization signals for GAD 67 mRNA were present in 75% and 80% of neurons NAS shell and NAS core, respectively. The level of GAD 67 mRNA found higher in the NAS shell corresponds in fact to a greater density of neurons in NAS shell than in the NAS core. The hybridization signals for PPE mRNA were observed in very few neurons of NAS shell and in around half of the neurons in NAS core. Besides this medio to lateral difference, GAD 67 and PPE mRNAs were distributed in NAS core according to a rostro-caudal gradient, the content of both mRNAs being higher in the rostral part than the caudal part of this area.
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