Eur J Anat, 5 (1): 29-35 (2001)

Three brainstem nuclei of the rat share cytoplasmic Fos-like immunoreactivity

Valverde-Navarro A.A., Olucha F.E., Hernandez-Gil T., Martinez-Soriano F., Ruiz-Torner A.

Depto. de Ciencias Morfologicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez 15, E-46010 Valencia, Spain

ABSTRACT We investigated the neuronal origin of Fos-like immunopositive nervous fibers recently observed in our laboratory. Two different anti-Fos antisera, from Genosys and from Calbiochem, were used. They were tested in both non-stimulated and noxious-stimulated rats. A strong and Golgi-like immunoreactivity in the cytoplasmic compartment of neurons was detected only when using anti-Fos from Genosys. Cytoplasmic labelled neurons were localized at the level of nucleus O, central gray pars alpha, and nucleus raphe pontis. This non-nuclear labelling remained constant irrespective of whether the noxious stimulation was applied or not. These results indicate that the neurons of these three brainstem nuclei share the property of being labelled by the Genosys polyclonal anti-Fos antibody, suggesting a closer relationship among them than reported to date.

Keywords: protein c fos, animal cell, animal experiment, article, brain stem, central nervous system, genetic transcription, immunocytochemistry, immunoreactivity, male, nerve cell, nonhuman, proto oncogene, rat