Visualization of central noradrenergic neurons in thick sections by the unlabeled antibody method: a transmitter-specific Golgi image.

Abstract

The unlabeled peroxidase-antiperoxidase method has been used with an antiserum against rat dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) to obtain a three-dimensional image of noradrenergic cell bodies and their processes in thick Vibratome sections of rat brain. This method stains DBH-positive neurons exclusively with a result similar to that of the Golgi method, which makes it possible to analyze the geometric plan of these neurons and their projections in the central nervous system. In 100-micron sections, DBH-positive axons can be followed over long distances, and the results indicate that their distribution in cerebral and cerebellar cortex is not diffuse but has a strict geometric order.