Distribution of PACAP in the Brain of the Cartilaginous Fish Torpedo Marmorata

摘要

In this article, we investigated the distribution of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) and its mRNA by im-munohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and RT-PCR techniques, in the central nervous system of the elasmobranch Torpedo marmorata. RT-PCR analysis showed that the CNS of T mamorata expresses a messenger encoding PACAP. The immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization patterns were partly overlapping, with a major expression in the hypothalamo–pituitary region and, surprisingly, in the saccus vasculosus. Our results show that, in T: marmorata, PACAP is synthesized and widely distributed in the CNS, suggesting an as yet unidentified role for this peptide in elasmobranch brain physiology.