title: Direct projections from the medial preoptic area to spinally-projecting neurons in Barrington's nucleus: an electron microscope study in the rat.
abstract: Direct projections from the medial preoptic area (MPO) to the pontine micturition center neurons directly projecting to the lumbosacral spinal cord were revealed electron microscopically in the rat by a double labeling method. Biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) was injected into the MPO and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected into the lumbosacral cord segments. At light microscopic level, BDA-labeled presumptive axon terminals completely overlapped with HRP-labeled neurons in Barrington's nucleus. Electron microscopic observation showed that some BDA-labeled axon terminals made synaptic contacts with dendrites of HRP-labeled neurons in Barrington's nucleus. The present results indicated that the MPO may be involved in the modulation of the pontine micturition reflex in the rat.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, People's Republic of China. patchclp@fmmu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J Q
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ju
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001710:Biotin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D003911:Dextrans; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009474:Neurons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011149:Pons / Q000166:cytology*; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000166:cytology*; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology*; D014554:Urination
chemical_list: D003911:Dextrans; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; C076397:biotinylated dextran amine; D001710:Biotin; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase