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Immunolocalization of Serotonergic Neurons in Arthropod Developmental and Phylogenetic Neuroanatomy

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Serotonin Receptor Technologies

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 95))

Abstract

Serotonin immunostaining is a widely used method not only in neuroanatomy but also in developmental and evolutionary biology over a wide range of animal phyla. In such phylogenetic or developmental analyses, the complete set of serotonergic neurons and their major branching patterns need to be visualized. Here, established standard staining methods are sometimes limited because of insufficient amounts of the neurotransmitter. In this chapter, we describe techniques that help to overcome some of these limitations by ensuring that all serotonergic cells contain a sufficient amount of serotonin for detection. We suggest two preincubation protocols for living nervous tissue to improve subsequent serotonin immunostaining: (1) Tissue is preincubated with the precursor of serotonin, 5-hydroxy-l-tryptophan, resulting in the biosynthesis of serotonin in serotonergic neurons. (2) Tissue is preincubated with serotonin itself, resulting in specific uptake of the transmitter by the serotonin reuptake system. Other methods, like immunostaining of tryptophan hydroxylase, which is the rate-limiting enzyme in serotonin biosynthesis, and single-cell labeling aided by uptake of autofluorescent compounds, are briefly introduced.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Nicole Böger and Sabine Knipp, who contributed to our investigations of the serotonergic system. Our research is done in the lab of Gerd Bicker whom we thank for encouragement and continuous support. Torben Stemme was supported by a scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cell Biology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bischhofsholer Damm 15/102, 30173, Hannover, Germany

    Torben Stemme & Michael Stern

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  1. Torben Stemme
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  2. Michael Stern
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Correspondence to Michael Stern .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany

    Wolfgang Blenau

  2. Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany

    Arnd Baumann

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Stemme, T., Stern, M. (2015). Immunolocalization of Serotonergic Neurons in Arthropod Developmental and Phylogenetic Neuroanatomy. In: Blenau, W., Baumann, A. (eds) Serotonin Receptor Technologies. Neuromethods, vol 95. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2187-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2187-4_12

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2186-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2187-4

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