Tetanus Toxin-enhanced GABA Immunoreactivity in Living NeuronsJohn Mitchellaa Human Morphology, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom Analysis of the connectivity between different neuronal cell types is dependent on an appreciation of their dendritic and axonal arborizations. A detailed study of the dendrites and axons of GABAergic neurons has been thwarted by the lack of a suitable technique for enhancing GABA immunoreactivity. This article describes a procedure using tetanus toxin which, when applied to organotypic hippocampal cultures, considerably enhances the immunoreactivity in the dendrites and axons of the GABA- and somatostatin-containing neurons and clearly demonstrates the co-localization of GABA and somatostatin immunoreactivities in the same neuron. Tetanus toxin was applied to the culture medium on Day 14 for a 24-hr period and the cultures were fixed at the end of Day 18. Tetanus toxin-treated cultures (n = 30) or untreated cultures (n = 40) were incubated for either GABA or somatostatin immunoreactivity. Tetanus toxin-treated cultures used for co-localization studies (n = 20) were incubated for both GABA and somatostatin immunoreactivity. (J Histochem Cytochem 46:321326, 1998) Key Words: GABA, somatostatin, tetanus toxin, hippocampus, organotypic cultures, rat
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