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. 1985;241(2):333-40.
doi: 10.1007/BF00217178.

The presence of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-like-immunoreactive nerve fibres and VIP-receptors in the pineal gland of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). An immunohistochemical and receptor-autoradiographic study

M Møller, J D Mikkelsen, J Fahrenkrug, H W Korf

The presence of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-like-immunoreactive nerve fibres and VIP-receptors in the pineal gland of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). An immunohistochemical and receptor-autoradiographic study

M Møller et al. Cell Tissue Res. 1985.

Abstract

By use of the indirect peroxidase-antiperoxidase immunohistochemical technique, nerve terminals exhibiting vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)-like-immunoreactivity were demonstrated in the pineal gland of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). Incubation of the superficial pineal gland of the gerbil with 60 pM of 125I-VIP showed that the gland exhibited saturation kinetics, and about 80% of the bound 125I-VIP could be displaced by adding a surplus of cold VIP. Incubation of unfixed, 0.1% and 4% paraformaldehyde-fixed cryostat sections of the gerbil forebrain with 125I-VIP also exhibited saturation kinetics, and displacement was possible by adding a surplus of the cold tracer. Receptor autoradiography on cryostat sections that had been incubated for 60 min with 125I-VIP showed a large number of grains over cortical areas, especially over the pyramidal layer of the hippocampus and the granular layer of the dentate gyrus. A prominent labelling of the pineal gland was also observed. The presence of VIP-like-immunoreactive nerve terminals and receptors for this molecule in the pineal gland of the Mongolian gerbil supports the biochemical studies demonstrating a stimulatory function of this molecule in the synthesis of melatonin.

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