Further observations on the relationship between adenosine deaminase-containing axons and trigeminal mesencephalic neurons: an electron microscopic, immunohistochemical and anterograde tracing study.
The somas of primary afferent neurons in the mesencephalic nucleus of the trigeminal nerve in rat have a dense investment of axons immunoreactive for the enzyme adenosine deaminase. We previously suggested that these axons may originate from adenosine deaminase-immunoreactive neurons located in the tuberomammillary nucleus of the hypothalamus [Nagy et al. (1986) Neuroscience 17, 141-156]. Anterograde tracing and immunohistochemical techniques were used to investigate this possibility further. In addition, the appearance of adenosine-immunoreactive axons and the nature of their interactions with mesencephalic neurons was examined ultrastructurally. After injections of either Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin or wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase into the region of the tuberomammillary nucleus, punctate deposits of anterogradely transported tracer, detected by immunoperoxidase methods, were seen surrounding mesencephalic neurons. In sections immunostained for tracer and adenosine deaminase by double immunofluorescence, some fibres in the periaqueductal gray matter and around Mes V somas were found to be labelled for both the lectin and the enzyme. Ultrastructurally, only a single morphological class of adenosine deaminase-immunoreactive axons adjacent to, or indenting the cytoplasmic membranes of, large somas in the mesencephalic nucleus could be recognized; they were varicose and contained relatively large immunoreactive vesicles ranging in diameter from 45 to 70 nm. Occasionally, thin processes of these axons could be traced back to small adenosine deaminase-positive neuronal cell bodies located not within the tuberomammillary nucleus, but rather, within the periaqueductal gray matter. In serial ultrathin sections, membrane specializations resembling synaptic junctions were sometimes seen at points where mesencephalic somas were in contact with adenosine deaminase-immunoreactive terminals. Somas within the mesencephalic nucleus also formed such junctions with non-immunoreactive boutons which were morphologically different from, and often seen in close proximity to, those containing adenosine deaminase. These results indicate that in addition to possible afferents from the tuberomammillary nucleus, primary sensory somas within the mesencephalic nucleus are also associated with axonal processes originating from adenosine deaminase-positive neurons located within the periaqueductal gray matter. The infrequent synaptic contacts between these somas and adenosine deaminase-positive axons, despite their close anatomical arrangement, is suggestive of a diffuse endocrine or neurocrine type of axonal relationship with mesencephalic somas or with the n
Yamamoto
T
T
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Shiosaka
S
S
Daddona
P E
PE
Nagy
J I
JI
D000243:Adenosine Deaminase / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009411:Nerve Endings / Q000201:enzymology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009700:Nucleoside Deaminases / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014276:Trigeminal Nerve / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000648:ultrastructure
D009700:Nucleoside Deaminases; D000243:Adenosine Deaminase