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Localization of serotonin within tanycytes of the rat median eminence

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Summary

Formaldehyde and glyoxylic acid histochemical methods were employed to examine monoamine fluorescence of the rat median eminence. Tanycytes of the median eminence contained a yellow histofluorescence which was verified with microspectrofluorometry as due to the presence of serotonin. Catecholamine-containing varicosities, arranged in linear profiles throughout the depth of the median eminence, were observed. These linear profiles appeared to follow the contours of serotonin-containing tanycytes. Organculture experiments supported the hypothesis that the serotonin associated with tanycytes is localized within the tanycytes and does not arise from an extrahypothalamic source of nerve terminals. These data provide evidence that a tanycytic catecholamine-indoleamine morphological juxtaposition occurs in a manner reminiscent of that of another circumventricular organ, the pineal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Anatomy and Neurology, University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York, USA

    John R. Sladek Jr. & Celia D. Sladek

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  1. John R. Sladek Jr.
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  2. Celia D. Sladek
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Supported by USPHS Grants NS11642 and AM-19761

USPHS Career Development Awardee NS-00259

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Sladek, J.R., Sladek, C.D. Localization of serotonin within tanycytes of the rat median eminence. Cell Tissue Res. 186, 465–474 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00224935

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