Abstract
NORADRENALINE (NA) is a putative neurotransmitter, possibly involved in mediation of information transfer across synapses in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS)1, whose postsynaptic effect is exerted, in part, by stimulation of β-adrenoceptors coupled to adenylate cyclase2. Although the rat cerebellum is known to contain NA3, and an afferent noradrenergic pathway has been found4–7, little information is available concerning the noradrenergic synapses there. Indirect evidence such as increase in cyclic AMP content and inhibition of spontaneous electrical activity in rat Purkinje cells8–10 (reduced by β-adrenoceptor blocking8), suggests, however, that such synapses are present and that the postsynaptic NA receptors are of the β type. β-adrenoceptors were identified in homogenates of whole rat cerebellum by a binding assay which used the β-adrenergic antagonist 3H-(–)-alprenolol11. We have now developed a direct in vivo method, using 9-amino-acridin-propranolol (9-AAP), a potent fluorescent β-adrenergic blocker, as a fluorescent probe, in an attempt to detect β-adrenergic receptors in rat cerebellum.
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MELAMED, E., LAHAV, M. & ATLAS, D. Direct localisation of β-adrenoceptor sites in rat cerebellum by a new fluorescent analogue of propranolol. Nature 261, 420–422 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/261420a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/261420a0
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