The histochemical localization of cytochrome oxidase in the dentate gyrus of the rat hippocampus.

In the dentate gyrus of the rat's hippocampal formation, the activity of an oxidative enzyme, cytochrome oxidase, has been localized mostly to the molecular layer with histochemical methods that utilize diaminobenzidine. The electron microscopic localization of cytochrome oxidase indicated that mitochondria within granule cell dendrites were very reactive while those within the somata and mossy fiber terminals of this neuronal type were less reactive. Caution must be used when predicting the relative physiological activities of neurons with this method because differential activities of this enzyme occur within separate parts of the same neuronal population.