Postnatal Development of the Acetylcholine System in Different Parts of the Rat Cerebellum

Abstract

The components of the cholinergic nervous system, i.e., choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase, sodium‐dependent high‐affinity choline uptake, acetylcholine, and the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, in the developing archi‐ and paleocerebellum of the rat have been investigated by biochemical methods. A close correlation between the development of the different elements of the system has been demonstrated in the two areas. The cholinergic structure develops first in the archicerebellum, which displays high levels of choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase, acetylcholine, and sodium‐dependent high‐affinity choline uptake. The paleocerebellum receives a sparser cholinergic innervation during development. The differences in the values for these components in the cerebellum as a whole may reflect the development of cholinergic and noncholinergic neuronal structures. It is concluded that the development of the cholinergic system cannot be analyzed in the cerebellum as a whole; rather specific regions such as the archi‐, paleo‐, or neocerebellum must be examined.

Distribution of Acetylcholinesterase in the Granular Layer of the Cerebellum of the Rhesus Monkey <i>(Macaca mulatta</i><i>)</i>

“…The region with the highest density was the flocculonodular lobe, followed by lobules VII-IX. This distribution is simi lar to the general levels of AChE activity described for monkeys [Hess and Voogd, 1986], cats [Phillis, 1968] and rats [Csillik et al, 1963;Kasa et al, 1965Kasa et al, , 1982. Although Hess and Voogd [1986] observed high levels of AChE activity only in lobules VII, IX and X, lo bule VIII had a density similar to that of lobules VII and IX in the present results.…”

Presynaptic Cholinergic Mechanisms in the Rat Cerebellum: Evidence for Nicotinic, but Not Muscarinic Autoreceptors

“…Furthermore, the results of the present study suggest that functional presynaptic autoreceptors are similar to the nicotinic receptor present on cerebellar Purkinje cells (K-BTXsensitive), but different from the nicotinic receptors which are found on inhibitory interneurons in the cerebellum, because the latter were shown to be a-BTXsensitive (De La Garza et al, 1987b. Numerous studies have indicated that muscarinic receptors are present in the rat cerebellum: however, the majority of studies have used relatively nonselective ligands such as quinuclidinyl benzylate (QNB) to label these receptors (Yamamura and Snyder, 1974;Kasa et al, 1982;Mallol et al, 1984). Recently, it has been proposed that there is muscarinic receptor heterogeneity within the CNS, including the cerebellum (Hammeret al, 1980(Hammeret al, , 1986Lapchak et al, 1989~).…”

“…Most studies upon the central cholinergic nervous system have concentrated on brain regions rich or relatively so in cholinergic markers, like hippocampus, cerebral cortex, or striatum (Kasa, 1986). The cerebellum contains measurable, but low amounts of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) (Goldberg and Mc-Caman, 1967;Kasa et al, 1982;Gould and Butcher, 1987) and endogenous acetylcholine (ACh) (Mac-Intosh, 1941; Vizi and Palkovits, 1978; Kasa et al, 1982), with appreciable levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) (Austin and Phillis, 1965;Kasa and Silver, 1969;Boegman et al, 1988). In addition, both nicotinic and muscarinic cholinoceptors (Yamamura and Snyder, 1974; Kobayashi et al, 1978;Rotter et al, 1979;Mallol et al, 1984; Clarke et al, 1985;Lapchak et al, 1989a) have been identified in cerebellum, providing a basis for cholinergic neurotransmission in this structure.…”

Developmental regulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor‐mediated [3H]norepinephrine release from rat cerebellum

“…In the cerebellum, there is a transient expression of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) in Purkinje cells during the first two weeks of postnatal development (Altman and Das 1970; Gould and Butcher 1987; Robertson et al . 1991), with particularly high levels of ACh and choline seen in neonatal cerebellum, resulting from a high ratio of ChAT to AChE activities (Kasa et al . 1982; Clos et al .…”