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Autoradiographic distribution of substance P receptors in rat central nervous system

Nature volume 303, pages 714–716 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

Among various neuropeptides present in the central nervous system (CNS), substance P, an undecapeptide1, is of great interest as a putative pain neurotransmitter2–4. Substance P is present within numerous intrinsic neural pathways throughout the CNS5,6,36. Several groups have attempted to label substance P receptors on brain membranes by ligand binding techniques7–12; only one study10 used native 3H-labelled substance P as the ligand and the precise anatomical distribution of substance P receptors has not yet been described. Here we report the autoradiographic localization of 3H-labelled substance P receptors in rat brain using the in vitro autoradiographic technique developed recently13,14. 3H-substance P binds specifically to an apparently single class of sites on slide-mounted brain sections (Kd = 0.52 nM; Bmax = 21.6 fmol per mg protein). The ligand selectivity pattern suggests that 3H-substance P binding sites are similar to those found in other assays11,15. 3H-substance P receptors are highly concentrated in the external layers of the olfactory bulb, medial amygdala, dentate gyrus, superior colliculus, dorsal parabrachial nucleus and locus coeruleus, with moderate densities being found in the nucleus accumbens, striatum, periaqueductal grey and subiculum. The distribution of 3H-substance P receptors suggests that substance P is probably involved in the control of sensory processes such as pain, vision, audition and olfaction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Therapeutics Branch, NINCDS, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, 20205, USA

    Remi Quirion, Clifford W. Shults, Terry W. Moody, Thomas N. Chase & Thomas L. O'Donohue

  2. Section on Brain Biochemistry, Clinical Neuroscience Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, 20205, USA

    Remi Quirion & Candace B. Pert

  3. Department of Biochemistry, The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, 20032, USA

    Terry W. Moody

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  1. Remi Quirion
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  2. Clifford W. Shults
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  4. Candace B. Pert
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  5. Thomas N. Chase
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  6. Thomas L. O'Donohue
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Quirion, R., Shults, C., Moody, T. et al. Autoradiographic distribution of substance P receptors in rat central nervous system. Nature 303, 714–716 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/303714a0

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