Figure 7. Midbrain DA neurons express plasma membrane GABA transporters.
(A) Two color in situ hybridization for Slc18a2 (Vmat2; top, red) and mGat1 (middle, green) shows considerable overlap in SNc and lateral VTA (bottom). Nuclei are stained blue. D, dorsal; V, ventral; M, medial; L, lateral. (B) Representative high magnification confocal image of Slc18a2 (red) and mGat1 (green) in SNc confirms that DA neurons express mRNA for mGAT1. (C) Same as (A) for Slc18a2 (top, red) and mGat4 (middle, green). Note that mGat4 is most strongly expressed in star-shaped glial cells. (D) Confocal image through SNc reveals strong expression of mGat4 mRNA in glial cells and weak labeling in DA neurons.