Serotonin uptake by astrocytes in situ

Abstract

Co‐localization of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and radioactivity was examined after intraventricular injection of [³H]5‐HT in adult rat brains. Radioactivity localized over GFAP‐positive astrocytes was seen, especially when image‐enhancing techniques were applied to the data. Also slices prepared from astrogliotic hippocampi of rats pretreated with kainic acid showed a twofold increased uptake of [³H]5‐HT compared to control slices. This indicates that the uptake of [³H]5‐HT seen in primary astrocyte cultures also occurs for astrocytes in situ. Also, as with astrocyte cultures, only some of the GFAP(+) astrocytes in situ showed localization of radioactivity, supporting the concept of intraregional heterogeneity of astrocyte functions.