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Updated: Jun 12, 2026
Immunohistochemical Analysis in the Rat Central Nervous System and Peripheral Lymph Node Tissue Sections
Published on: November 14, 2016
Cholecystokinin octapeptide in rat central nervous system: Immunocytochemical studies using a monoclonal antibody
R G Williams1, R Dimaline, A Varro
1Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical and Biological Sciences Building, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO9 3TU, U.K.; MRC Secretory Control Group, Physiological Laboratory, University of Liverpool, U.K.
Abstract:
The biological activity of the important neuropeptide cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK8) resides at the C-terminus. Antibodies with C-terminal specificity have been reported to cross-react with a different neuropeptide, calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and this has frustrated the interpretation of immunohistochemical studies. We describe here the properties of a monoclonal antibody to the CCK-related peptide, caerulein, that reacts with the C-terminal region of CCK8, but does not react with CGRP in radioimmunoassay or immunohistochemistry. The distribution of CCK-like activity revealed by immunohistochemistry using this antibody broadly resembles that described previously with a single major exception: in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. The results support the suggestion that apparent CCK activity in the terminals of rat primary sensory neurones is due to cross-reactivity with CGRP.
