Summary
The dorsal lateral geniculate nuclei (dLGN) of anophthalmic and early postnatally enucleated mice were studied to determine the role retinal fibres play in the differentiation of postsynaptic target structures. Cell counts indicate that retinal fibres are necessary for the development and maintenance of the normal number of dLGN neurons and glia. This retinal fibre dependence is greater for animals enucleated on postnatal day 3 than for animals with a congenital absence of optic axons. Golgi analysis reveals, however, that the lack of retinal fibres does not preclude the development of the thalamo-cortical and intrinsic types of dLGN neuron.
Ultrastructural analysis reveals that in anophthalmic and early postnatally enucleated mice, dLGN synaptic sites normally occupied by optic axon terminals become innervated by large terminals containing round synaptic vesicles and mitochondria with an electron dense matrix. Significantly, the formation of these replacement terminals does not seem to depend upon either the previous existence of retinal fibres or the early postnatal stage at which retinal fibres are removed. The possibility that some of these large replacement terminals originate from cortical or recurrent collateral axons is considered.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Angevine, J. B., Jr. (1970) Time of neuron origin in the diencephalon of the mouse.Journal of Comparative Neurology 139, 129–88.
Beck, S. L. (1963) Factors associated with or affecting the expression of the anophthalmic mutant of the mouse.Dissertation Abstracts 23, 3081–2.
Brightman, M. W. andReese, T. S. (1969) Junctions between intimately apposed cell membranes in the vertebrate brain.Journal of Cell Biology 40, 648–77.
Bucher, V. M. andNauta, W. J. H. (1954) A note on the pretectal cell groups in the rat's brain.Journal of Comparative Neurology 100, 287–95.
Chase, H. B. andChase, E. B. (1941) Studies on an anophthalmic strain of mice. I. Embryology of the eye region.Journal of Morphology 68, 279–301.
Chase, H. B. (1945) Studies on an anophthalmic strain of mice. V. Associated cranial nerves and brain centers.Journal of Comparative Neurology 83, 121–39.
Colonnier, M. (1964) The tangential organization of the visual cortex.Journal of Anatomy 98, 327–44.
Colonnier, M. andGuillery, R. W. (1964) Synaptic organization in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the monkey.Zeitschrift für Zellforschung und mikroskopische Anatomie 62, 333–55.
Cotman, C. W. andBanker, G. A. (1974) The making of a synapse. InReview of Neuroscience, (edited byEhrenpreis, S. andKopin, I. J.), Vol. 1, pp. 1–62. New York: Raven Press.
Cowan, W. M. (1970) Anterograde and retrograde transneuronal degeneration in the central and peripheral nervous system. InContemporary Research Methods in Neuroanatomy (edited byNauta, W. J. H. andEbbesson, S. O. E.), pp. 217–51. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Cullen, M. J. andKaiserman-Abramof, I. R. (1975) Ultrastructural and quantitative changes in the cellular organization of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in anophthalmic and enucleated mice.Anatomical Record 181, 339–40.
Cunningham, T. J. (1972) Sprouting of optic projections after cortical lesions.Anatomical Record 172, 298.
DeLong, G. R. andSidman, R. L. (1962) Effects of eye removal at birth on histogenesis of the mouse superior colliculus. An autoradiographic analysis with tritiated thymidine.Journal of Comparative Neurology 118, 205–23.
Ebbesson, S. O. E. (1970) The selective silver-impregnation of degenerating axons and their synaptic endings in non-mammalian species. InComtemporary Research Methods in Neuroanatomy (edited byNauta, W. J. H. andEbbesson, S. O. E.), pp. 132–61. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Famiglietti, E. V., Jr. andPeters, A. (1972) The synaptic glomerulus and the intrinsic neuron in the dorsal lateral geniculate of the cat.Journal of Comparative Neurology 144, 285–334.
Guillery, R. W. (1969) The organization of synaptic interconnections in the laminae of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat.Zeitschrift für Zellforschung und mikroskopische Anatomie 96, 1–38.
Guillery, R. W. (1971) Patterns of synaptic interconnections in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of cat and monkey: A brief review.Vision Research 3, 211–27.
Gurdjian, E. S. (1927) The diencephalon of the albino rat.Journal of Comparative Neurology 43, 1–114.
Hámori, J. (1973) The inductive role of presynaptic axons in the development of postsynaptic spines.Brain Research 62, 337–44.
Hámori, J., Pasik, T., Pasik, P. andSzentágothai, J. (1974) Triadic synaptic arrangements and their possible significance in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the monkey.Brain Research 80, 379–93.
Hámori, J., Pasik, P. andPasik, T. (1975) Postnatal differentiation of ‘presynaptic dendrites’ in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the Rhesus monkey. InAdvances in Neurology (edited byKreutzberg, G. W.), Vol. 12, pp. 149–61. New York: Raven.
Heimer, L. (1970) Selective silver-impregnation of degenerating axoplasm. InContemporary Research Methods in Neuroanatomy (edited byNauta, W. J. H. andEbbesson, W. O. E.), pp. 106–31. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Levi-Montalcini, R. (1949) The development of the acoutico-vestibular centers in the chick embryo in the absence of the afferent root fibers and of descending fiber tracts.Journal of Comparative Neurology 91, 209–41.
Lieberman, A. R. (1974) Comments on the fine structural organization of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the mouse.Zeitschrift für Anatomie und Entwicklungs-Geschichte 145, 261–7.
Lieberman, A. R. andWebster, K. E. (1974) Aspects of the synaptic organization of intrinsic neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. An ultrastructural study of the normal and of the experimentally deafferented nucleus in the rat.Journal of Neurocytology 3, 677–710.
Lund, R. D. andLund, J. S. (1971) Modifications of synaptic patterns in the superior colliculus of the rat during development and following deafferentation.Vision Research 3, 281–98.
Lund, R. D. andLund, J. S. (1972) Development of synaptic patterns in the superior colliculus of the rat.Brain Research 42, 1–20.
Lund, R. D. andCunningham, T. J. (1972) Aspects of synaptic and laminar organization of the mammalian lateral geniculate body.Investigative Ophthalmology 11, 291–302.
Lund, R. D., Cunningham, T. J. andLund, J. S. (1973) Modified optic projections after unilateral eye removal in young rats.Brain, Behavior and Evolution 8, 51–72.
McMahan, U. J. (1967) Fine structure of synapses in the dorsal nucleus of the lateral geniculate body of normal and blinded rats.Zeitschrift für Zellforschung und mikroskopische Anatomie 76, 116–46.
Montero, V. M. andGuillery, R. W. (1968) Degeneration in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the rat following interruption of the retinal or cortical connections.Journal of Comparative Neurology 134, 211–42.
Rafols, J. A. andValverde, F. (1973) The structure of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus in the mouse. A Golgi and electron microscopic study.Journal of Comparative Neurology 150, 303–32.
Ramon-Moliner, E. (1970) The Golgi-Cox technique. InContemporary Research Methods in Neuroanatomy (edited byNauta, W. J. H. andEbbesson, S. O. E.), pp. 32–55. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Shintani, Y. K. (1959) The nuclei of the pretectal region of the mouse brain.Journal of Comparative Neurology 113, 43–60.
Sidman, R. L., Angevine, J. B. andPierce, E. T. (1971)Atlas of the Mouse Brain and Spinal Cord: Cambridge: Harvard University.
Silver, J. andHughes, A. F. W. (1974) The relationship between morphogenetic cell death and the development of congenital anophthalmia.Journal of Comparative Neurology 157, 281–302.
Sokal, R. R. andRohlf, J. F. (1973)Introduction to Biostatistics San Francisco: Freeman.
Szentágothai, J. (1973) Neuronal and synaptic architecture of the lateral geniculate nucleus. InHandbook of Sensory Physiology (edited byJund, R.), Vol. VII/3B, pp. 141–76. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Vaccarezza, O. L., Reader, T. A., Pasqualini, E. andPecci-Saavedra, J. (1970) Temporal course of synaptic degeneration in the lateral geniculate nucleus.Experimental Neurology 28, 277–85.
Wong-Riley, M. (1972) Changes in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the squirrel monkey after unilateral ablation of the visual cortex.Journal of Comparative Neurology 146, 519–48.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cullen, M.J., Kaiserman-Abramof, I.R. Cytological organization of the dorsal lateral geniculate nuclei in mutant anophthalmic and postnatally enucleated mice. J Neurocytol 5, 407–424 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01181648
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01181648