Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.1.7 (acetylcholinesterase)
 28,390 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Ontogenic development of muscarinic receptors was examined in the hippocampus of rabbits (from P2 to P60) using radioautographic method. Muscarinic sites were labelled with (3H)-quinuclinidyl-benzilate and pharmacologically defined M1 and M2 receptor subtypes with (3H)-pirenzepine and (3H)-oxotremorine, respectively. The distribution of binding sites was compared to acetylcholinesterase (AChE) staining in adjacent hippocampal sections. The two cholinergic components are progressively set up in the hippocampus during the first three postnatal weeks. The AChE staining was very low in all hippocampal fields in P2 rabbits. At P8 and after, the AChE staining was more pronounced in CA3 and CA4 than in CA1 and CA2. On the contrary, the M1 muscarinic binding sites were more abundant in CA1 and CA2 hippocampal fields than in CA3 and CA4 at all ages studied. M2 muscarinic binding sites were only distinguishable at P45 and have a relatively homogeneous distribution. This study shows a differential developmental evolution in the distribution of AChE and muscarinic M1 receptors, and no obvious correspondence between these two cholinergic markers was observed.
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PMID:Ontogenic distribution of muscarinic receptors and acetylcholinesterase in the rabbit hippocampus. 851 62

Studies were undertaken to determine whether neurons of the subplate layer represent a transient or stable population of cells in developing neocortex of rat. The first set of studies sought to determine the fraction of subplate neurons that is lost during early postnatal development. The optical dissector method was used to analyze fluorescently stained material in animals the age of postnatal day 0 (P0) to P40. These results demonstrate a reduction of slightly less than half of the total number of subplate neurons from P0 to P40. Counts of labeled cells in littermates at varied ages after [(3)H]thymidine or BRDU treatment on gestational day 14 (G14 - birthdate of occipital subplate neurons) or G18 (birthdate of layers III-IV neurons) demonstrate loss of approximately 50% of neurons in the subplate layer between P0 and P40, somewhat greater than the loss of neurons from cortical layers III-IV. The second set of studies investigated whether subplate neurons display cellular atrophy during postnatal development. Analysis of subplate neurons injected intracellularly with Lucifer yellow in fixed slice preparations indicates no reduction in soma size, number of dendrites, or extent of dendritic fields of subplate neurons taken from animals age P0 to P60. The third set of studies investigated whether functional markers of subplate neurons are reduced during postnatal development. Analysis of tissue stained histochemically for cytochrome oxidase or acetylcholinesterase, or stained immunocytochemically for GABA, somatostatin, or neuropeptide Y, demonstrate a remarkable loss of expression of staining patterns from late gestational ages to P20. These data demonstrate that, although subplate neurons seem not to be a transient population of cells in the usual sense of being eliminated by cell death or structural atrophy, the loss of histochemical and immunocytochemical markers indicates that they may be a functionally transient population of cells.
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PMID:Do subplate neurons comprise a transient population of cells in developing neocortex of rats? 1102 4

The distribution of acetylcholinesterase histochemistry and choline-O-acetyltransferase immunohistochemistry in the basal forebrain was studied in newborn mice (P0) and until 60 days of postnatal life (P60). A weak acetylcholinesterase activity was found at P0 and P2 in the anterior and intermediate parts of the basal forebrain, and higher in the posterior region. The intensity of labeling, neuronal size and dendritic growth seems to increase progressively in all regions of basal forebrain from P4 to P10. The AChE+ cell count shows that in the anterior portion of the magnocellular basal nucleus the number of cells does not vary significantly from birth to the second month of postnatal life. However, in the intermediate and posterior portions of the nucleus the mean number of labeled cells increases significantly from birth to the end of the second week of postnatal life (P13). The choline-acetyltransferase immunoreactivity appears only detectable at the end of the first week (P6) as a slight immunoreaction, which increases progressively in intensity at P8, and at P10 seems to attain the same intensity of labeling found at P60. These results seem to indicate that the acetylcholinesterase could have a non-classic cholinergic role in the first stages of postnatal development, acting as a growth and cellular differentiation factor.
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PMID:Postnatal development of cholinergic system in mouse basal forebrain: acetylcholinesterase histochemistry and choline-acetyltransferase immunoreactivity. 1147 Mar 79

The aim of the study was to estimate developmental changes in the rabbit basolateral complex (BLC) by stereological and histochemical methods. Material consisted of 45 brains of New Zealand rabbits (aged from 2 to 180 days, P2 to P180) of both sexes, divided into nine groups. The following parameters were estimated: volume of the cerebral hemisphere; volume of the whole BLC and of particular BLC nuclei; neuronal density and total number of neurons in these nuclei. Developmental changes in acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the BLC were also examined. The volume of the cerebral hemisphere increased until P30, whereas volumes of nuclei increased for longer--until P90. The density of neurons in all nuclei studied reached the level characteristic for an adult animal at about P30. The total number of neurons in the dorsolateral division of the lateral nucleus (Ldl) stabilized the earliest--between P30 and P60, whereas in the ventromedial division of the lateral nucleus (Lvm), basomedial (BM) and basolateral (BL) nuclei the number stabilized later--between P60 and P90. AChE activity appears minimal in the BLC on P2, reaches a maximum on P30 and then decreases to the level characteristic of an adult animal on P60. AChE activity was greater in BL than in other nuclei in all age groups. Reaching adult AChE activity 1 month earlier than the total number of neurons in the BLC may indicate a role of the cholinergic system in BLC maturation.
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PMID:Postnatal development of the basolateral complex of rabbit amygdala: a stereological and histochemical study. 1463 4

Numerous clinical studies have demonstrated an association between early stressful life events and adult life psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. In rodents, early life exposure to stressors such as maternal deprivation (MD) produces numerous hormonal, neurochemical, and behavioral changes and is accepted as one of the animal models of schizophrenia. The stress induces acetylcholine (Ach) release in the forebrain and the alterations in cholinergic neurotransmitter system are reported in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to examine long-term effects of maternal separation on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in different brain structures and the density of cholinergic fibers in hippocampus and retrosplenial (RS) cortex. Wistar rats were separated from their mothers on the postnatal day (P) 9 for 24 h and sacrificed on P60. Control group of rats was bred under the same conditions, but without MD. Brain regions were collected for AChE activity measurements and morphometric analysis. Obtained results showed significant decrease of the AChE activity in cortex and increase in the hippocampus of MD rats. Density of cholinergic fibers was significantly increased in CA1 region of hippocampus and decreased in RS cortex. Our results indicate that MD causes long-term structure specific changes in the cholinergic system.
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PMID:Long-term effects of maternal deprivation on cholinergic system in rat brain. 2471 97