Antisense morpholinos to otpb, pac1 and pacap1b affect dopamine transporter (DAT)-positive DA neurons. (a-c,E,F) Embryos were injected with either a buffer solution (WT; A,E), otpb morpholino (otpbMO; B,F) or pac1 morpholino (pac1MO; c) and were thereafter subjected to in situ hybridization with either a dopamine transporter (dat)-directed probe (A-C; at 52 hpf) or dat+prolactin (PRL)-directed probes (E,F; at 72 hpf). The two prominent clusters of dopaminergic (DA) neurons (Gr. 2 and Gr. 3-6), are indicated. (d,G) Histograms showing the effects of otpb, pac1 and pacap1b morpholinos on average cell counts of DAT+ dopaminergic (DA) and isotocinergic (IT) neurons. Bars indicate the standard deviation. The number of embryos (n) is shown below. To represent unilateral cell number (as shown in the micrographs), neurons were counted on both sides of the brain and the total number was divided by two. Scale bar: 50 μm.
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