Fine structure of the cerebellum of "staggerer-reeler", a double mutant of mice affected by staggerer and reeler conditions. II. Purkinje cell anomalies.
Purkinje cells in double mutant were very similar to those in staggerer both at days 7 and 15, and could not be distinguished from staggerer Purkinje cells by morphological criteria. They were small and immature looking, and their nuclei were invariably eccentric in position both at days 7 and 15. The typical funnel stage was not observed at any time. Somatic spines and their synapses were extermely rare at day 7 when they are abundant in the normal, but they were present at day 15 with typical synapses with climbing fibers. Dendritic spines were also present at day 15 although extremely infrequent, and they showed synapses both with parallel and climbing fibers. More often, however, parallel and climbing fibers were found in synapsis with the smooth surgace of these dentrites. These observations were in close agreement with those of staggerer Purkinje cells. The persistence of staggerer Purkinje cell soma anomalies in double mutant was interpreted as indicating that these anomalies are specific effects of the staggerer gene, being relatively free from environmental influences.
D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000002:abnormalities; D003712:Dendrites / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009154:Mutation; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013569:Synapses / Q000648:ultrastructure