Figure 1.

Immunochemical localization of A₃AR in varicose nerve terminals and glial cells. (A) Quantitative analysis of the distribution of A₃AR-ir in proximal, middle and distal colon (represents positive neurons and glia; not distinguished). Data is expressed as Mean ± S.E.M; n=3 animals. ANOVA indicated a p value of 0.003 between the 3 groups of data; the number of ganglia counted in each region was 656±55.5, 742±58.1 and 695.7±66.1 respectively. (B–E) Examples of IHC - localization of A₃AR immunoreactivity in myenteric varicosities and glia. (F) A₃AR-ir in varicose fibers running through the circular muscle. (G–I) A₃AR-ir is not co-localized in the cell body of anti-HuC/D⁺ myenteric neurons (J–L) A₃AR-ir is co-localized with SYN⁺ varicose nerve terminals. (M–O) A₃AR-ir is co-localized with s100⁺ glial cells; thin arrow, varicosities; thick arrow, glia; open arrow, varicose fiber forms basket around neuronal cell body; Secondary antibodies for anti-Huc/D, SYN, s100 conjugated to Texas Red (red color); secondary antibody to anti-A₃ conjugated to FITC (green color); G–O overlay images, yellow indicates co-localization.