Connexin36 expression in major centers of the auditory system in the CNS of mouse and rat: Evidence for neurons forming purely electrical synapses and morphologically mixed synapses.

ABSTRACT: Electrical synapses formed by gap junctions composed of connexin36 (Cx36) are widely distributed in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Here, we used immunofluorescence methods to document the expression of Cx36 in the cochlear nucleus and in various structures of the auditory pathway of rat and mouse. Labeling of Cx36 visualized exclusively as Cx36-puncta was densely distributed primarily on the somata and initial dendrites of neuronal populations in the ventral cochlear nucleus, and was abundant in superficial layers of the dorsal cochlear nucleus. Other auditory centers displaying Cx36-puncta included the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB), regions surrounding the lateral superior olivary nucleus, the dorsal nucleus of the medial lemniscus, the nucleus sagulum, all subn

SUBMITTER: Rubio ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4576740 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature