Summary
Gap junctions were identified for the first time on chemically defined neurons in the central nervous system. Gap junctions were thus demonstrated on GABAergic neurons containing the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin (PV) in the rat hippocampus. Thin and semithin (0.5 μm thick) sections were cut alternately and consecutively from osmium-fixed tissue which was embedded in epoxy resin and usable for conventional electron microscopic studies. The semithin sections were processed for postembedding immunocytochemistry using an anti-PV serum. Structures corresponding to the PV-immunoreactive (PV-I) profiles on the semithin sections were easily identified on electron micrographs from the adjacent thin sections. Using this technique gap junctions were found (1) between PV-I dendrites, (2) between PV-I dendrites and PV-I somata and (3) between PV-I dendrites and small processes whose origin could not be identified. Despite a systematic search, we did not find gap junction between PV-negative processes.
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Katsumaru, H., Kosaka, T., Heizmann, C.W. et al. Gap junctions on GABAergic neurons containing the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin in the rat hippocampus (CA1 region). Exp Brain Res 72, 363–370 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00250257
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00250257