Coexpression of neurocalcin with other calcium-binding proteins in the rat main olfactory bulb

The distribution patterns of four calcium-binding proteins (CaBPs)-calbindin D-28k (CB), calretinin (CR), neurocalcin (NC), and parvalbumin (PV)-in the rat main olfactory bulb were compared, and the degrees of colocalization of NC with the other CaBPs were determined by using double immunocytochemical techniques. All investigated CaBPs were detected in groups of periglomerular cells and Van Gehuchten cells, whereas other cell types expressed some of the investigated proteins but not all four. Double-labeling techniques demonstrated the colocalization of NC with CB, CR, or PV in periglomerular cells, whereas each neurochemical group constituted entirely segregated populations in the remaining neuronal types. This is evident in granule cells that demonstrated large but segregated populations immunoreactive to either NC or CR. This study provides a further biochemical characterization of interneuronal types in the rat main olfactory bulb. On the basis of the distinct calcium-binding affinities, each neurochemically defined population may have different responses to calcium influx that would result in the existence of distinct functional subgroups within morphologically defined neuronal types. The expression of the investigated CaBPs in periglomerular cells with both single and colocalized patterns suggests that the local circuits in the glomerular layer are constituted by a complex network of elements with particular calcium requirements. J. Comp. Neurol. 407:404-414, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.