Localisation of substance P immunoreactivity in amacrine cells of the retina

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Abstract
Since its actions on smooth muscle were first described by von Euler and Gaddum1, substance P has been isolated and characterised as an undecapeptide2,3. The distribution of substance P-like immunoreactivity in both the central and peripheral nervous systems4,5 and its reported excitatory action on neurones implicate substance P as a possible neurotransmitter and/or neuromodulator6,7. Previous studies using bioassay8,9 and radioimmunoassay10,11 techniques have reported substance P in retinal extracts. Here we describe the specific immuno-histochemical localisation of substance P-like immunoreactivity in a population of morphologically distinct amacrine cells of the pigeon retina. The localisation of substance P-like immunoreactivity and the recent localisation of enkephalin-like12,13 and somatostatin-like immunoreactivity14 in other types of amacrine cells suggest that the neuropeptides have a specific role in retinal function.

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