Localization of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) messenger RNA (mRNA) in amacrine cells of rat retina

We detected vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) messenger RNA (mRNA) in the rat retina using an in situ hybridization technique and a 35S-labelled cDNA probe. VIP mRNA was present in the cells of the inner nuclear layer (INL). The VIP mRNA-positive cells showed a distribution smilar to that of the VIP-like immunoreactive amacrine cells. This observation suggests that VIP mRNA undergoes transcription in the VIP-immunoreactive amacrine cells.