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Nitric oxide synthase containing periglomerular cells are GABAergic in the rat olfactory bulb
Carlos Crespo1, Francisco Javier Gracia-Llanes, José Miguel Blasco-Ibáñez
1Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Valencia, Str. Dr. Moliner 50, E-46100 Burjasot, Spain. carlos.crespo@uv.es
Abstract:
In the olfactory glomeruli of the rat olfactory bulb, there is a population of periglomerular cells (PG) that contains the neuronal isoform of the nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). To date, these PG have not been characterized neurochemically and it has not been determined whether they are type 1 (GABAergic PG that receive synaptic contacts from the olfactory axons) or type 2 PG (non-GABAergic PG that do not receive synapses from the olfactory axons). Combining pre-embedding NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry and post-embedding immunoperoxidase detection of GABA, we demonstrate that nNOS-containing PG are GABAergic and therefore, belong to the type 1 PG. The possible actions of nitric oxide in the olfactory glomeruli are discussed.