Perisomatic glutamatergic axon terminals: a novel feature of cortical synaptology revealed by vesicular glutamate transporter 1 immunostaining

The cellular localization of the vesicular glutamate transporter 1, VGLUT1, was studied in the rat cerebral cortex with immunocytochemical techniques. VGLUT1 immunoreactivity (ir) was localized to punctate structures dispersed in the neuropil of all cortical layers as well as around the profile of s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience 2004, Vol.123 (2), p.547-556
Main Authors: Alonso-Nanclares, L, Minelli, A, Melone, M, Edwards, R.H, Defelipe, J, Conti, F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Carrier Proteins - metabolism
Carrier Proteins - ultrastructure
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
glutamate
Glutamine - metabolism
Immunoblotting
Immunohistochemistry
Male
Membrane Transport Proteins
Microscopy, Electron
neocortex
Neocortex - metabolism
Neocortex - ultrastructure
Neuropil - metabolism
Neuropil - ultrastructure
Presynaptic Terminals - metabolism
Presynaptic Terminals - ultrastructure
Pyramidal Cells - metabolism
Pyramidal Cells - ultrastructure
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
spillout
synapses
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1
Vesicular Transport Proteins
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Summary:The cellular localization of the vesicular glutamate transporter 1, VGLUT1, was studied in the rat cerebral cortex with immunocytochemical techniques. VGLUT1 immunoreactivity (ir) was localized to punctate structures dispersed in the neuropil of all cortical layers as well as around the profile of somata and proximal dendritic segments of virtually all pyramidal neurons. Using a correlative light and electron microscopic method, we found that VGLUT1 ir is expressed in axon terminals forming synapses exclusively with dendritic shafts and spines. Perisomatic VGLUT1-positive terminals never formed synapses with the pyramidal cell bodies to which they were in apposition, but formed asymmetric synapses with adjacent neuropilar dendritic elements. The high probability of a close spatial relationship between glutamatergic and GABAergic terminals in perisomatic regions suggests that spilled-out glutamate may act on inhibitory axon terminals innervating the soma of cortical pyramidal neurons.
ISSN:0306-4522
1873-7544
DOI:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2003.09.033