Immunohistochemical evidence for coexistence of glycine and GABA in nerve terminals on cat spinal motoneurones: an ultrastructural study.

Previous electrophysiological and pharmacological studies have suggested the involvement of both glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as transmitters in the reflex pathway mediating recurrent inhibition of cat spinal motoneurones. By use of the postembedding immunogold technique and antibodies against glutaraldehyde-conjugated amino acids it is shown that glycine- and GABA-immunoreactive nerve terminals occur in contact with cell bodies of alpha motoneurone size, as well as in the surrounding neuropil in the motor nuclei of the cat spinal cord. A substantial proportion of these terminals harbours both glycine- and GABA-LI. The enrichment of immunolabelling over synaptic vesicles in such terminals strongly suggests that both of these amino acids are used as transmitter substances.