Glutamate and aspartate immunoreactivity in cortico-cortical neurons of the sensorimotor cortex of rats.

Retrograde transport of tracers and immunocytochemistry have been used to determine if association and callosal neurons in the primary motor and somatosensory cortex of rats contain high levels of glutamate or aspartate and may, thus, use these amino acids as neurotransmitter. After tracer injections in these areas, about 65% of the retrogradely labeled neurons in layer V in the ipsilateral or contralateral hemisphere are immunopositive for glutamate. Lower percentages of double-labeled neurons are found in layers III, VI, and II. Similar results are obtained when sections are processed for aspartate immunoreactivity. About 90% of retrogradely labeled neurons are immunopositive in sections incubated with a mixture of both glutamate-and aspartate antisera. These results suggest that a large fraction of cortico-cortical neurons are immunoreactive for either one amino acid but not for both. It is proposed that neurons with high levels of one amino acid use this as neurotransmitter; high levels of glutamate and aspartate are likely to be present in a fraction of neurons which may release both amino acids or a substance closely related to these.