Dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid are colocalized in restricted groups of neurons in the sea lamprey brain: insights into the early evolution of neurotransmitter colocalization in vertebrates.

Since its discovery, the possible corelease of classic neurotransmitters from neurons has received much attention. Colocalization of monoamines and amino acidergic neurotransmitters [mainly glutamate and dopamine (DA) or serotonin] in mammalian neurons has been reported. However, few studies have dealt with the colocalization of DA and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in neurons. With the aim of providing some insight into the colocalization of neurotransmitters during early vertebrate phylogeny, we studied GABA expression in dopaminergic neurons in the sea lamprey brain by using double-immunofluorescence methods with anti-DA and anti-GABA antibodies. Different degrees of colocalization of DA and GABA were observed in different dopaminergic brain nuclei. A high degree of colocalization (GABA in at least 25% of DA-immunoreactive neurons) was observed in populations of the caudal rhombencephalon, ventral isthmus, postoptic commissure nucleus, preoptic nucleus and in granule-like cells of the olfactory bulb. A new DA-immunoreactive striatal population that showed colocalization with GABA in about a quarter of its neurons was observed. In the periventricular hypothalamus, colocalization was observed in only a few cells, despite the abundance of DA- and GABA-immunoreactive neurons, and no double-labelled cells were observed in the paratubercular nucleus. The frequent colocalization of DA and GABA reveals that the dopaminergic populations of lampreys are more complex than previously reported. Double-labelled fibres or terminals were observed in different brain regions, suggesting possible corelease of DA and GABA by these lamprey neurons. The present results suggest that colocalization of DA and GABA in neurons appeared early in vertebrate evolution.