title: Corticorubral synaptic organization in Macaca fascicularis: a study utilizing degeneration, anterograde transport of WGA-HRP, and combined immuno-GABA-gold technique and computer-assisted reconstruction.
abstract: The macaque red nucleus receives afferents from two major sources, the cerebral cortex and the deep cerebellar nuclei. Approximately 90% of the corticorubral afferent axons project to pars parvicellularis of the red nucleus, the neurons of which transmit information to the cerebellum by way of the inferior olivary nucleus. The remaining 10% project to pars magnocellularis of the red nucleus, the major projection of which is to the spinal cord. In this study, corticorubral terminations labeled following lesions or injections of wheatgerm agglutinin conjugated to horseradish-peroxidase into the topographically defined hand area of the primary motor cortex were quantitatively studied via electron microscopy. Cortical afferent terminals within pars parvicellularis and pars magnocellularis synapse upon all regions of the dendritic arbors of rubral projection neurons. However, the majority of these labeled afferents synapse upon thin-diameter shafts or presumed spinous processes of rubral distal dendrites as well as upon vesicle-containing profiles of presynaptic dendrites of local circuit interneurons that are gamma-aminobutyric acid-immunoreactive, as identified by postembedding immunohistochemistry. Synaptic contacts formed by the labeled cortical terminal were large in width and extended through several serial sections. Synaptic contacts formed by the presynaptic dendritic profiles, on the other hand, were more punctate and could be seen in only one or two serial sections. These latter synaptic interactions probably provide a modification of the effects of cortical input to rubral projection neurons as suggested by previous physiological studies that indicated the dominance of cortical input onto distal dendrites as well as involvement with inhibitory circuits. An example of the complexities of these synaptic interactions is further demonstrated by a three-dimensional computer reconstruction. This quantitative study of corticorubral afferents in the macaque monkey provides insight into the interactions of cerebral cortical afferents with rubral projection neurons and their relationship with local circuit inhibitory interneurons to elucidate the role played by the cortex in the activation of rubral neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0452.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Ralston
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003712:Dendrites / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008252:Macaca fascicularis / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000502:physiology; D012012:Red Nucleus / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018998:Wheat Germ Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Conjugate; D014909:Wheat Germ Agglutinins; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase