Ultrastructural and fluorescence histochemical studies of developing sympathetic ganglia in the rabbit

Abstract

The development of thoracic sympathetic ganglia was studied in rabbit fetuses at 14 to 30 days of gestation by light, electron, and fluorescence microscopy. Changes that occurred during the development of sympathetic neurons, supporting cells, and granule-containing cells are described and the following conclusions drawn.( 1 ) Sympathetic neurons and granule-containing cells arise from a common "indifferent cell" precursor. (2) Monoamine fluorescence ( a manifestation of the presence of catecholamines) appears early in the development of sympathetic neuroblasts. ( 3 ) The development of neuroblasts in a sympathetic ganglion is asynchronous; i.e., each neuroblast develops at its own rate, irrespective of the rate of development of its sister cells. ( 4 ) Granulecontaining and catecholamine-storing cells develop rapidly and probably become potentially functional early in the life of the fetus, as inferred from the abundance of dense-core vesicles and intense monoamine fluorescence. ( 5 ) The derivation of supporting cells ("satellite" and Schwann cells) could not be determined. They had differentiated into an easily recognizable cell form in the youngest specimens studied, and appeared to be enveloping cell bodies (as satellite cells) or axons (as Schwann cells) in all specimens.

Developmental neuron death in the rat superior cervical sympathetic ganglion: cell counts and ultrastructure

“…To ensure that the cells that were counted were neurons, semithin sections were compared with electron micrographs of thin sections from the same ganglia, in which neuronal characteristics were evident. Cells counted as neurons at the light microscopic level corresponded with neuroblasts in the primitive neuroblast stage (Papka, 1972) or more mature stages of development. In the foetus, these neurons could be distinguished from satellite cells by their more abundant cytoplasm and their longer, narrower rough endoplasmic reticulum, and from indifferent cells by their electron-lucent nuclei.…”

Fetal development of the enteric nervous system of transgenic mice that overexpress theHoxa-4 gene

“…The ultrastructure of the neurons resembled that of normal pelvic ganglia (Dail et al, 1975) and was inappropriate for neurons developing in the gut (Tennyson and Gershon, 1984;Gershon et al, 1994). For example, many of the neurons contained arrays of subplasmalemmal dense core vesicles, an appearance that is consistent with the idea that they are catecholaminergic (Papka, 1972;Tennyson and Mytilineou, 1976;Luckenbill-Edds and van-Horn, 1980). The supposition that some of the ectopic neurons are catecholaminergic was supported by the demonstration that subsets of these neurons (and others in the bowel) at E16 contained TH immunoreactivity.…”

“…Most of the large dense core vesicles were located close to the plasmalemmal surface, although occasional vesicles that were similar in shape and diameter could also be found elsewhere in the perikaryal cytoplasm. Large dense core vesicles are ubiquitous in neurons and have been postulated to be the trans-Golgi network-derived storage sites of peptides (Thureson-Klein and Klein, 1990;Sudhof, 1995); never-theless, their accumulation in rows underneath the plasma membrane is unusual and has been established as an identifying characteristic of developing catecholaminergic sympathetic neuronal cell bodies (Papka, 1972;Tennyson and Mytilineou, 1976;Luckenbill-Edds and vanHorn, 1980). At later ages the subplasmalemmal rows of large dense core vesicles disappear from sympathetic neuronal perikarya, although such vesicles can still be found in axons (Hökfelt, 1971;Matthews and Raisman, 1972).…”

Ontogeny of neurotransmitter systems in the paracervical ganglion and uterine cervix of the rat

“…On the basis of on the findings of Kanerva (1971) and the pattern of TH expression in the adult (Papka et al, 1987), it is likely that the more intensely TH-ir cells occurring in clusters are SIF cells and the more moderately TH-ir cells in small groups or found singly are principal neurons. It has been postulated that cells in fetal ganglia demonstrating catecholaminergic traits are precursors for both neurons and SIF cells (Papka, 1972(Papka, , 1976Molenaar et al, 1990;Hall and Landis, 1991a,b). By P5, the principal neurons have increased in size and attained distinguishing neuronal characteristics allowing their differentiation from TH-ir SIF cells.…”