Developmental and neurochemical features of cholinergic neurons in the murine cerebral cortex

Background  

The existence and role of intrinsic cholinergic cells in the cerebral cortex is controversial, because of their variable localization and morphology in different mammalian species. We have applied choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunocytochemistry to study the distribution of cholinergic neurons in the murine cerebral cortex, in the adult and during postnatal development. For more precise neurochemical identification of these neurons, the possible colocalization of ChAT with different markers of cortical neuronal populations has been analyzed by confocal microscopy. This method was also used to verify the relationship between cholinergic cells and cortical microvessels.