Abstract
Immunocytochemical techniques have increased our ability to identify neurones containing a specific neurotransmitter. These techniques could not, however, be applied to two major neurotransmitter candidates, aspartate and glutamate, until our recent study in which aspartate aminotransferase (L-aspartate:2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, EC 2.6.1.1, AATase) was proposed as a marker1. This enzyme catalyses the reversible reactions of aspartate to oxaloacetate and α-ketoglutarate to glutamate. In the auditory nerve, which is considered to be aspartergic/glutamergic2–4, AATase was immunocytochemically localized in primary afferent terminals in the cochlear nucleus1. These results suggest a presynaptic enrichment of AATase is associated with aspartergic/glutamergic neurotransmitter function. We have now investigated the distribution of AAT-ase-like immunoreactivity in the retina where previous work suggests that glutamate or aspartate is the neurotransmitter of photoreceptors5–14. Our results, reported here, show AATase-like immunoreactivity localized in cones and their terminals in the guinea pig retina.
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Altschuler, R., Mosinger, J., Harmison, G. et al. Aspartate aminotransferase-like immunoreactivity as a marker for aspartate/glutamate in guinea pig photoreceptors. Nature 298, 657–659 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/298657a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/298657a0
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