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Combined immunohistochemical and retrograde tracing reveals little evidence of innervation of the rat dentate gyrus by midbrain dopamine neurons

  • Research Article
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Frontiers in Biology

Abstract

Although the functional neuroanatomy of the midbrain dopamine (mDA) system has been well characterized, the literature regarding its capacity to innervate the hippocampal formation has been inconsistent. The lack of expression of definitive markers for dopaminergic fibers, such as the dopamine transporter, in the hippocampus has complicated studies in this area. Here we have used immunohistochemical techniques to characterize the tyrosine hydroxylase expressing fiber network in the rat hippocampus, combined with retrograde tracing from the dentate gyrus to assess the capacity for afferent innervation by mDA neurons. The results indicate that virtually all tyrosine hydroxylase fibers throughout the hippocampus are of a noradrenergic phenotype, while the overlying cortex contains both dopaminergic and noradrenergic fiber networks. Furthermore, retrograde tracing from the dentate gyrus robustly labels tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus but not mDA neurons.

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Author notes

  1. Jordan L. Wright

    Present address: Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia

    Charlotte M. Ermine, Jordan L. Wright, Clare L. Parish, Davor Stanic & Lachlan H. Thompson

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  1. Charlotte M. Ermine
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  2. Jordan L. Wright
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  3. Clare L. Parish
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Correspondence to Charlotte M. Ermine.

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Ermine, C.M., Wright, J.L., Parish, C.L. et al. Combined immunohistochemical and retrograde tracing reveals little evidence of innervation of the rat dentate gyrus by midbrain dopamine neurons. Front. Biol. 11, 246–255 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-016-1404-4

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