Percentages of dorsal root axons immunoreactive for galanin are higher than those immunoreactive for calcitonin gene-related peptide in the rat

Caroline M. Klein, Karin N. Westlund, Richard E. Coggeshall

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    37 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    The present study shows that 28% of the myelinated and 27% of the unmyelinated axons in the L5 and S1 rat dorsal roots are immunolabeled for galanin. By contrast only 10% of the myelinated and 15% of the unmyelinated axons are immunolabeled for calcitonin gene-related peptide, which is the numerically predominant primary afferent peptide marker for dorsal root ganglion cells. Thus galanin, because of its presence in so many primary afferent fibers, emerges as an important primary afferent marker. In addition, since our data also show that galanin is present predominantly in unmyelinated and fine myelinated sensory axons, a hypothesis is that it is particularly concerned with the transmission of noxious information.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)97-101
    Number of pages5
    JournalBrain Research
    Volume519
    Issue number1-2
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jun 11 1990

    Keywords

    • Calcitonin gene-related peptide
    • Dorsal root axon
    • Galanin
    • Immunocytochemistry
    • Rat

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Neuroscience
    • Molecular Biology
    • Clinical Neurology
    • Developmental Biology

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Percentages of dorsal root axons immunoreactive for galanin are higher than those immunoreactive for calcitonin gene-related peptide in the rat'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this