The Effects of Kainic Acid Injections on Guanylate Cyclase Activity in the Rat Caudatoputamen, Nucleus Accumbens and Septum

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The activity of soluble and particulate guanylate cyclase (EC 4.6.1.2) was compared with the distribution of neurotransmitter candidates in 3 rat forebrain nuclei and the effects of local kainic acid injections into these nuclei were tested. Soluble guanylate cyclase was highly concentrated in the caudatoputamen and the nucleus accumbens. Lower activity was found in the septum. This distribution coincided with markers for acetylcholine and monoamines, but not with markers for GABA or glutamate neurons. Particulate guanylate cyclase was equally active in all regions. Local injections of kainic acid, which destroyed cholinergic and GABA neurons in the caudatoputamen and in the nucleus accumbens, caused a rapid (70-90%) decrease in the soluble guanylate cyclase and a slower 50-60% fall in the particulate guanylate cyclase in these nuclei. In the septum, where kainate destroyed GABA cells but not cholinergic neurons, the guanylate cyclase activity was unchanged after the lesion. The soluble and particulate guanylate cyclases appear concentrated in local neurons in the caudatoputamen and nucleus accumbens. In the septum most of the guanylate cyclase activity is located outside kainate-sensitive neurons.