Neurofilament proteins in Y-cells of the cat lateral geniculate nucleus: normal expression and alteration with visual deprivation.
We examined neurofilament staining in the normal and visually deprived lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), using the SMI-32 antibody. This antibody preferentially stains LGN cells that display the morphological characteristics of Y-cells. The soma sizes of SMI-32-stained cells were consistent with those of the overall population of Y-cells, and the Golgi-like staining of their dendrites revealed a radial distribution that often crossed laminar boundaries. Labeled cells were distributed within the A laminae (primarily near laminar borders), the magnocellular portion of the C laminae, and the medial intralaminar nucleus, but they were absent in the parvocellular C laminae. Electron microscopic examination of SMI-32-stained tissue revealed that staining was confined to somata, dendrites, and large myelinated axons. Retinal synapses on SMI-32-labeled dendrites were primarily simple axodendritic contacts; few triadic arrangements were observed. In the LGN of cats reared with monocular lid suture, SMI-32 staining was decreased significantly in the A laminae that received input from the deprived eye. Dephosphorylation of the tissue did not alter the cellular SMI-32 staining patterns. Analysis of staining patterns in the C laminae and monocular zone of the A laminae suggests that changes in the cytoskeleton after lid suture reflect cell class and not binocular competition. Taken together, the results from normal and lid-sutured animals suggest that the cat LGN offers a unique model system in which the cytoskeleton of one class of cells can be manipulated by altering neuronal activity.
Bickford
M E
ME
Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville, School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky 40292, USA.
Guido
W
W
Godwin
D W
DW
D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012016:Reference Values; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D015349:Vision, Monocular / Q000502:physiology*
D016900:Neurofilament Proteins; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase