Brain Of Golden Hamster Research Articles

Developmental expression and activity variation of nitric oxide synthase in the brain of golden hamster

Nitric oxide (NO) is the downstream effector after the activation of N-methyl- D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. It is involved in various physiological processes, such as synapse reconstruction and plasticity, neurotoxity and neuronal death. It also participates in the development and maturation of cortical neurons. The expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) during the postnatal development of the visual cortex was investigated by both electron spin resonance (ESR) and Western blot methods. A typical spectrum of (DETC) 2-Fe(II)-NO complex was found in the visual cortex of different age golden hamsters by ESR method. The signal intensity increased after birth, peaked at postnatal day 14 (PD14) and then gradually decreased. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) implied that the NO synthase expression significantly correlated with the developmental processes ( p<0.05). Results of Western blot further confirmed (one-way ANOVA, p<0.05) the developmental relating expression pattern of NO synthase shown by ESR technique.

Vasopressin in the brain of the golden hamster: The distribution of vasopressin binding sites and of immunoreactivity to the vasopressin‐related glycopeptide

Using in vitro light microscopic autoradiography and immunocytochemistry, the distribution of vasopressin binding sites and that of the vasopressin-related glycopeptide are described in the brain of golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus). Vasopressin binding sites and immunoreactive axons were observed in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, in the anterior hypothalamus/median preoptic area, in the medial preoptic nucleus, in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, in the habenular complex, in the thalamic paraventricular nucleus, and in the nucleus of the solitary tract. In addition we observed binding sites in regions where no immunoreactivity could be evidenced: the lateral septal nucleus, the central amygdaloid nucleus, the subiculum, the dentate gyrus, the anterodorsal and anteroventral thalamic nuclei, the superior colliculus, the vestibular nuclei, and in the prepositus hypoglossal nucleus. In the golden hamster, exogenous vasopressin excites single neurones located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and induces flank-marking behavior when microinjected into the preoptic area. Our results provide a morphological basis for similar effects exerted by endogenous vasopressin. A comparison of the present data with those previously described in the rat reveals marked species differences in the brain distribution of vasopressin and of its binding sites.

Immunohistocytochemical localization of tyrosine hydroxylase and serotonin in the brain of golden hamster.

Brains of the golden hamster were examined by immunofluorescent and peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) methods using antibody to tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) or serotonin (5-HT).The localization of monoaminergic nerve cell bodies in the brain of the golden hamster was found to be similar to that of the rat by histofluorescent and immunofluorescent methods. Monoaminergic nerve fibers and terminals were widely distributed throughout the brain. Especially on the supraependymal part of the ventricle, 5-HT-positive varicose fibers were visualized, but a few TH-positive nerve processes in the ventromedial periventricular hypothalamus and in the caudal portion of the locus coeruleus were observed to penetrate into the ventricular lumen.By immunocytochemistry, TH- or 5-HT-positive reaction products were found in the cytoplasm except for cisternae of Golgi apparatus and mitochondria of neurons of Al cell group or raphe dorsalis. TH- or 5-HT-immunoreactive granules were occasionally found in each neuron, and their diameters were 100-140nm for TH or 110-120nm for 5-HT, respectively. Granules contained in nerve fibers were slightly smaller than those contained in nerve cell bodies.