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Abstract
Using combined double immunofluorescence and laser confocal microscopy, we studied
the common cellular localization of cholinergic muscarinic receptors (mAChRs) and
aquaporin-4 water channels (AQP4) in the cortex, the corpus callosum and in ependymal
cells of the rat brain. In the cortex, AQP4 staining was restricted to the perivascular
end-feet of astrocytes. It was more widely distributed on the astrocytes of the corpus
callosum. On astrocytes, mAChRs were often present in regions immunoreactive to AQP4.
Ependymal cells bordering the third ventricle were also stained by both antibodies.
The double staining of mAChRs with AQP4 on two different cell-types might indicate
that further interactions exist which may be important in the regulation of water
and electrolyte movements in the brain.