IMMUNOCYTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF CALCIUMBINDING PROTEIN CALBIDIN D28K -, CALRETIMIN-, AND PARVALBUMIN-CONTAINING NEURONS IN THE RHINOLOPHUS FERRUMQUINUM VISUAL CORTEX

Recently, the bat was found to use its eyes in protection against predators and hunting, from behavioral studies. Therefore, in the present study, the distribution of calcium-binding protein presenting cells in bat’s visual cortex (VC) was researched. We stained various kinds of calcium-binding protein such as calbindin D28K, calretinin, and parvalbumin by immunocytochemistry. Calbindin D28K- and parvalbumin-IR neurons were mostly found in layers IV while calretinin-IR neurons were mostly found in layers II. Multipolar round/oval cell was the most frequent type in calbindin D28K- and calretinin-containing neurons. Multipolar stellate cell was the most frequent type in parvalbumin-containing neurons. Moreover, 67.01% of calbindin D28K-, 23.61% of claretinin-, and 76.99% of parvalbumin-IR neurons were GABAergic interneurons. Based on these results, we inferred the processing of vision in the bat’s brain. Present data could also be used as pioneer study in significance of different calcium-binding protein distribution among layers in various species’ visual cortex.