Immunodetection of putative imidazoline receptor proteins in the human and rat brain and other tissues

Abstract

A specific anti-imidazoline receptor (IR) protein antiserum was used to detect these putative receptors in brain and other tissues. In immunoblotting experiments, various brain areas and tissues expressed a double band of 29-30 kDa, and some of them bands of 47 and 66 kDa. The human medulla oblongata also showed bands of 44 and 50 kDa; and the rat adrenal medulla, bands of 58 and 86 kDa. Total immunoreactivity correlated with the density of IR binding sites in the various tissues. This is first evidence of heterogeneity of immunoreactive IRs in the mammalian brain.