title: Morphological properties of tectal neurons that project to the nucleus geniculatus lateralis, pars ventralis (GLv) and the surrounding ventral thalamus in chicks.
abstract: Layer 10 neurons of the chick tectum were morphologically investigated. The layer 10 neurons displayed heterogeneous immunoreactivities to calcium-binding proteins (CaBPs). Calbindin (CB)-immunoreactive (ir) neurons had pyramidal or round somata, primarily found in layers 5, 9, and 13. Parvalbumin (PV)-ir neurons were of various shapes with small to large somata (109.7±48.6μm(2)) that were located mainly in layers 4 and 10. Calretinin (CR)-ir neurons had small to middle-sized somata (79.3±9.7μm(2)) located primarily in layers 10 and 13, and most of them were similar to typical radial cells in size and shape. Two distinct types of neurons that projected to the nucleus geniculatus lateralis, pars ventralis (GLv) and ventral thalamus were demonstrated in layer 10. Type 1 cells had small to middle-sized somata (74.3±33μm(2)), and each cell had a single apical dendrite that ramified into bush-like branches in layer 7. These cells corresponded to CR-ir neurons and radial cells in size and shape. Type 2 cells had larger somata (124.7±52.6μm(2)), and their shapes were pyramidal, polygonal, or oval. They had multiple obliquely ascending dendrites that ramified into bush-like branches in layer 7. These cells often appeared similar to PV-ir neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, Teikyo University of Science, Uenohara 2525, Yamanashi 409-0193, Japan; College of Animal Medicine, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding 071001, China. Electronic address: human@hebau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University, Ohmori-Nishi 5-21-16, Ohta-ku, Tokyo 143-8540, Japan. Electronic address: yanagi@med.toho-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takayanagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, Teikyo University of Science, Uenohara 2525, Yamanashi 409-0193, Japan. Electronic address: naito@ntu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Naito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064026:Calbindins / Q000378:metabolism; D048430:Cell Shape; D002645:Chickens; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D010320:Parvalbumins / Q000378:metabolism*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000166:cytology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D015053:Zygote
chemical_list: D064026:Calbindins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010320:Parvalbumins
keywords: Calcium-binding proteins; Chick; Efferent neurons; GLv; Tectum