Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 4, 2191-2199, Copyright © 1984 by Society for Neuroscience
Afferent specific localization of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in cingulate cortex
BA Vogt
The laminar distribution of acetylcholine receptors in rat cingulate cortex
and their localization to axons of neurons in the anterior thalamic nuclei
(ATN) were evaluated with the muscarinic antagonist
[3H]propylbenzilylcholine mustard (PrBCM) in vitro. Specific binding of
PrBCM in granular area 29 was heterogeneous, with a 57% variation from the
highest binding in layer Ia to the lowest in layer II-III. In contrast,
binding in area 24 was homogeneous, with only a 14% variation. The
heterogeneity of PrBCM binding almost exactly duplicated the distribution
of termination of ATN afferents in layers I to IV of area 29c. Four
experiments indicated that 50% of the excess binding in layers Ia and IV
was due to axonal receptor sites. First, ATN lesions abolished 41% and 27%
of total specific binding in layers Ia and IV, respectively. Second, an
undercut procedure that totally deafferented layers I to Va showed changes
similar to those following ATN lesions, suggesting that other afferents to
these layers may not have muscarinic receptors associated with them. Third,
the sequence of losses in receptor binding and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)
activity was evaluated 2, 3, 5, 9, and 14 days following ATN lesions. Since
AChE was present in ATN axons, as evidenced by early postlesion losses, the
correlation of both losses as well as previous analyses of axon
degeneration in this cortex confirmed that these receptors were in axons.
Fourth, binding peaks in layers Ia and IV remained in area 29c following
destruction of virtually all neurons with the neurotoxin ibotenic acid.
This is the first evidence that the activity of a major neocortical
thalamic afferent may be regulated by axonal acetylcholine receptors.