Synaptic connectivity of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive nerve terminals in the striatum of normal, heterozygous and homozygous weaver mutant mice

Transplantation of Mesencephalic Cell Suspensions from Wild-Type and Heterozygous Weaver Mice into the Denervated Striatum: Assessing the Role of Graft-Derived Dopaminergic Dendrites in the Recovery of Function

The Weaver (wv) mutation leads to a loss of mesencephalic dopamine cells and nigrostriatal dopamine axons in homozygosity (wv/wv) and to a deficiency of nigral dopaminergic dendrites without a concomitant loss of dopamine cell somata or axons in heterozygosity (wv/+). Previous studies have shown that grafts of foetal dopamine cells from wild-type (+/+) donors can survive when implanted into the wv/wv striatum, supply both an axonal and a dendritic innervation to the host, establish synaptic connections with host striatal neurons, and bring about a functional recovery evidenced by rotational asymmetry tests. The aims of the present study were to examine whether wv/+ dopamine cells maintain a “dendrite-poor” phenotype after transplantation to the denervated striatum, and to compare their functional effects with those of wild-type (+/+) grafts in reversing amphetamine-induced turning behaviour. To that end, +/+ and wv/+ ventral mesencephalic tissue (dissected out from E10-E12 foetal mice and made into a cell suspension by enzymatic and mechanical dissociation) was stereotactically grafted into the right striatum of either wv/wv hosts or +/+ hosts subjected in advance to 6-OHDA lesions of the right substantia nigra. Viability and morphology of grafted neurons were assessed by tyrosine hydroxylase immunocytochemistry on serial sections of the host forebrains. Dopamine cell bodies survived in comparable numbers in the grafts regardless of donor genotype; however, grafts of either genotype contained fewer dopaminergic cells when they were hosted in the wv/wv striatum as compared to the striatum of +/+ mice with 6-OHDA lesions. Despite the survival of cell somata, the dendritic arborisation of wv/+ cells was strikingly poorer than that of +/+ cells in grafts placed into both host types, most likely reflecting their in situ phenotypic abnormality. Recipient wv/wv mice with +/+ and wv/+ grafts exhibited 88% and 83% left rotations, respectively; 6-OHDA hosts with +/+ and wv/+ grafts showed 178% and 165% reversals of asymmetry, respectively. The differences between the effects of +/+ and wv/+ grafts were not statistically significant. We conclude that (i) wv/+ and +/+ dopamine cell somata survive in comparable numbers after intrastriatal grafting; (ii) grafted wv/+ dopamine cells express an anatomical phenotype consistent with that seen in the wv/+ substantia nigra in situ; and (iii) the axonal innervation supplied by wv/+ grafts to the denervated striatum induces a functional recovery comparable to that brought about by +/+ cells, which in addition supply a substantial dendritic innervation to the host; (iv) the wv/wv host environment may be associated with smaller numbers of graft dopamine neurons compared to the environment of +/+ mouse hosts with 6-OHDA lesions.

Ultrastructural characterization of the mesostriatal dopamine innervation in mice, including two mouse lines of conditional VGLUT2 knockout in dopamine neurons

Despite the increasing use of genetically modified mice to investigate the dopamine (DA) system, little is known about the ultrastructural features of the striatal DA innervation in the mouse. This issue is particularly relevant in view of recent evidence for expression of the vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (VGLUT2) by a subset of mesencephalic DA neurons in mouse as well as rat. We used immuno-electron microscopy to characterize tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-labeled terminals in the core and shell of nucleus accumbens and the neostriatum of two mouse lines in which the Vglut2 gene was selectively disrupted in DA neurons (cKO), their control littermates, and C57BL/6/J wild-type mice, aged P15 or adult. The three regions were also examined in cKO mice and their controls of both ages after dual TH-VGLUT2 immunolabeling. Irrespective of the region, age and genotype, the TH-immunoreactive varicosities appeared similar in size, vesicular content, percentage with mitochondria, and exceedingly low frequency of synaptic membrane specialization. No dually labeled axon terminals were found at either age in control or in cKO mice. Unless TH and VGLUT2 are segregated in different axon terminals of the same neurons, these results favor the view that the glutamatergic cophenotype of mesencephalic DA neurons is more important during the early development of these neurons than for the establishment of their scarce synaptic connectivity. They also suggest that, in mouse even more than rat, the mesostriatal DA system operates mainly through non-targeted release of DA, diffuse transmission and the maintenance of an ambient DA level.

Glucocorticoid receptor deficiency increases vulnerability of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system: critical role of glial nitric oxide

Glucocorticoids (GCs) exert via glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) potent anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. Emerging evidence indicates that an inflammatory process is involved in dopaminergic nigro-striatal neuronal loss in Parkinson's disease. We here report that the GR deficiency of transgenic (Tg) mice expressing GR antisense RNA from early embryonic life has a dramatic impact in "programming" the vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The GR deficiency of Tg mice exacerbates MPTP-induced toxicity to dopaminergic neurons, as revealed by both severe loss of tyrosine hydroxylase positive nigral neurons and sharp decreases in striatal levels of dopamine and its metabolites. In addition, the late increase in dopamine oxidative metabolism and ascorbic acid oxidative status in GR-deficient mice was far greater than in wild-type (Wt) mice. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was sharply increased in activated astrocytes, macrophages/microglia of GR-deficient as compared with Wt mice. Moreover, GR-deficient microglia produced three- to fourfold higher nitrite levels than Wt mice; these increases preceded the loss of dopaminergic function and were resistant to GR the inhibitory effect of GC, pointing to peroxynitrites as candidate neurotoxic effectors. The iNOS inhibitor N6-(1-iminoethyl)-L-lysine normalized vulnerability of Tg mice, thus establishing a novel link between genetic impairment of GR function and vulnerability to MPTP.

Minocycline prevents nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurodegeneration in the MPTP model of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra, decreased striatal dopamine levels, and consequent extrapyramidal motor dysfunction. We now report that minocycline, a semisynthetic tetracycline, recently shown to have neuroprotective effects in animal models of stroke/ischemic injury and Huntington's disease, prevents nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurodegeneration in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Minocycline treatment also blocked dopamine depletion in the striatum as well as in the nucleus accumbens after MPTP administration. The neuroprotective effect of minocycline is associated with marked reductions in inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and caspase 1 expression. In vitro studies using primary cultures of mesencephalic and cerebellar granule neurons (CGN) and/or glia demonstrate that minocycline inhibits both 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+))-mediated iNOS expression and NO-induced neurotoxicity, but MPP(+)-induced neurotoxicity is inhibited only in the presence of glia. Further, minocycline also inhibits NO-induced phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in CGN and the p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB203580, blocks NO toxicity of CGN. Our results suggest that minocycline blocks MPTP neurotoxicity in vivo by indirectly inhibiting MPTP/MPP(+)-induced glial iNOS expression and/or directly inhibiting NO-induced neurotoxicity, most likely by inhibiting the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK. Thus, NO appears to play an important role in MPTP neurotoxicity. Neuroprotective tetracyclines may be effective in preventing or slowing the progression of Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The weaver gene continues to target late-generated dopaminergic neurons in midbrain areas at P90

To determine if lethal action of the weaver gene is more intense in late-generated dopaminergic neurons in midbrain areas on postnatal day (P) 90 [3H] thymidine autoradiography and tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry were combined in the same tissue section in homozygous weaver mice and normal controls. The experimental animals were the offspring of pregnant dams injected with [3H] thymidine on embryonic days (E) 11-12, E12-13, E13-14 and E14-15. Neurogenetic timetables of dopaminergic neurons were different between wild type and homozygous weavers in all midbrain areas analyzed. A substantial number of late-generated neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and in the ventral tegmental area are missing at P90, in these dopaminergic areas the loss is greater than at P20 indicating that neuronal loss is progressive. The greatest loss is in the substantia nigra pars compacta, confirming the report of Bayer et al. [Exp. Brain Res. 105 (1995) 200] at P20, while in the retrorubral field and the interfascicular nucleus late-generated neuron loss was less severe. These results furnish more evidence that dopaminergic neuron loss in homozygous weaver midbrain is a phenomenon linked to development.

The weaver gene has no effect on the generation patterns of mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons

To determine if the weaver gene has action on late-generated neurons in midbrain areas on postnatal day (P) 8 [(3)H] thymidine autoradiography and tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry were combined in the same tissue section in homozygous weaver mice and normal controls. The experimental animals were the offspring of pregnant dams injected with [3H] thymidine on embryonic days (E)11-12, E12-13, E13-14 and E14-15. Both the span of neurogenesis and the neurogenetic timetables of dopaminergic neurons were similar between wild-type and homozygous weavers in all midbrain areas analyzed. No loss of late-generated dopaminergic neurons was observed. The cytoarchitecture of the midbrain dopaminergic cell groups were also the same in both experimental groups indicating that cell migration, settling, and cytodifferentiation proceeds normally in spite of the presence of the weaver gene.

Effect of the weaver mutation on the expression of dopamine membrane transporter, tyrosine hydroxylase and vesicular monoamine transporter in dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental area

The adult homozygous weaver mutant mouse (wv/wv) is characterized by a loss of dopamine (DA) neurons in the nigrostriatal pathway. Quantitative in situ hybridization of three different dopaminergic markers: dopamine membrane transporter (DAT), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), and vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) was performed on individual dopaminergic cells of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNC) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in 2-month-old wv/wv mice, in order to investigate the metabolic state of remaining dopaminergic cell bodies and gain further insight into modifications observed on dopaminergic nerve terminals in the striatum and the nucleus accumbens. Cellular expression of DAT mRNA in remaining dopaminergic cells of both the SNC and the VTA was decreased in the wv/wv mice compared to the wild-type mice (+/+). In contrast, the expression of TH and VMAT2 mRNA remained unchanged in the wv/wv mice. Furthermore, in 7-day-old wv/wv mice, before the onset of cell death in the midbrain. DAT mRNA levels were reduced in dopaminergic neurons in both the SNC and VTA. In these animals, the cellular expression of TH mRNA remained unchanged. These results taken together indicate that DAT expression is one of the first targets in the ventral mesencephalon of the wv mutation, inducing a specific decrease of DA uptake in the striatum and the nucleus accumbens. The alteration of the DA membrane transporter could play a role in the progression of DA neuronal death in the wv mice.

Dual character, asynaptic and synaptic, of the dopamine innervation in adult rat neostriatum: a quantitative autoradiographic and immunocytochemical analysis

Dopamine (DA) axon terminals (varicosities) in the neostriatum of adult rats were examined for shape, size, content, synaptic incidence, type of junction, synaptic targets, and microenvironment after electron microscopic identification either by [3H]DA uptake autoradiography or by immunocytochemistry with monoclonal antibodies against DA-glutaraldehyde-protein conjugate. Both approaches yielded comparable results. Whether they were from the paraventricular or the mediodorsal neostriatum, respectively, the [3H]DA-labeled and DA-immunostained varicosities were generally oblong and relatively small; more than 60% contained one or more mitochondria. Sixty to seventy percent were asynaptic, and 30-40% were endowed with a synaptic membrane differentiation (junctional complex), as inferred by stereological extrapolation from single thin sections (both approaches) or observed directly in long, uninterrupted series of thin sections (immunocytochemistry). The synaptic DA varicosities always displayed symmetrical junctions: 67% with dendritic branches, 30% with dendritic spines, and 2-3% with neuronal cell bodies. DA varicosities juxtaposed to one another were frequent. Other axonal varicosities were more numerous in the immediate vicinity of DA varicosities than around randomly selected, unlabeled terminals. The respective microenvironments of DA and unlabeled varicosities also showed enrichment in the preferred synaptic targets of both groups of varicosities, with dendritic branches for DA and dendritic spines for the unlabeled ones. These data suggest a dual mode of operation that is diffuse as well as synaptic for the nigrostriatal DA system. In such a densely DA-innervated brain region, they also lead to the hypothesis that a basal level of extracellular DA might be maintained permanently around every tissue constituent and, thus, contribute to the mechanisms of action, properties, and functions (or dysfunctions) of DA within the neostriatum itself and as part of the basal ganglia circuitry.

Light and electron microscopic immunohistochemical study of dopaminergic terminals in the striatal portion of the pigeon basal ganglia using antisera against tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine

A dopaminergic projection from the midbrain to the striatal portion of the basal ganglia is present in reptiles, birds, and mammals. Although the ultrastructure of these fibers and terminals within the striatum has been studied extensively in mammals, little information is available on the ultrastructure of this projection in nonmammals. In the present study, we used immunohistochemical labeling with antibodies against tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) or dopamine (DA) to study the dopaminergic input to the striatal portion of the basal ganglia in pigeons (i.e., lobus parolfactorius and paleostriatum augmentatum). At the light microscopic level, the anti-TH and anti-DA revealed a similar abundance and distribution of numerous labeled fine fibers and varicosities within the striatum. In contrast, the use of an antidopamine beta-hydroxylase antiserum (which labels only adrenergic and noradrenergic terminals) labeled very few striatal fibers, which were restricted to visceral striatum. These results demonstrate that anti-TH mainly labels dopaminergic terminals in the striatum. At the electron microscopic level, the anti-TH and anti-DA antisera labeled numerous axon terminals within the striatum (15-20% of all striatal terminals). These terminals tended to be small (with an average length of 0.6 microns) and flattened, and their vesicles tended to be small (35-60 nm in diameter) and pleomorphic. About 50% of the terminals were observed to make synaptic contacts in the planes of section examined, and nearly all of these synaptic contacts were symmetric. Both TH+ and DA+ terminals typically contacted dendritic shafts or the necks of dendritic spines, but a few contacted perikarya. No clear differences were observed between TH+ and DA+ terminals within medial striatum (whose neurons project to the nigra in birds) or between TH+ and DA+ terminals within lateral striatum (whose neurons project to the pallidum in birds). In addition, no differences were observed between medial and lateral striata in either TH+ or DA+ terminals. Thus, there is no evident difference in pigeons between striatonigral and striatopallidal neurons in their dopaminergic innervation. Our results also indicate that the abundance, ultrastructural characteristics, and postsynaptic targets of the midbrain dopaminergic input to the pigeon striatum are highly similar to those in mammals. This anatomical similarity is consistent with the pharmacologically demonstrable similarity in the role of the dopaminergic input to the striatum in birds and mammals.

Studies on the striatal dopamine uptake system of weaver mutant mice and effects of ventral mesencephalic grafts

The dopamine (DA) uptake system was investigated in the mesostriatal system of normal and weaver mutant mice, which lose mesencephalic DA neurons, as well as in weaver mutants with ventral mesencephalic grafts to the striatum. Assays of [3H]DA uptake in striatal synaptosomal fractions in vitro and autoradiography of [3H]mazindol binding in brain sections were carried out in wild-type mice (+/+) and in the two hemispheres of homozygous weaver mutants (wv/wv) that had received unilateral grafts of mesencephalic cell suspensions to the right side. Net [3H]DA uptake, expressed as pmol/mg-protein/2-min, was on the average 50.6 in the striatum of wild-type mice, 7.9 in the non-grafted, and 10.1 in the transplanted striatum of weaver mutants. [3H]DA uptake in wild-type mice differed significantly from both the grafted and non-grafted weaver striata (P < 0.001). Paired comparisons for [3H]DA uptake between right and left sides of recipient weaver mice showed a significant side effect (P < 0.02), the right side being 28-38% higher than the left side [mean of all individual (R-L)/L values]. The results of amphetamine-induced turning behavior tests were compared with the biochemical findings. Mice with grafts to the right side rotated an average of 22 turns to the left and 7 turns to the right during the five one-minute sessions; the mean value L/(L + R) was 64%. A plot of (L-R) rotations against (R-L) [3H]DA uptake gave a correlation coefficient of 0.552 (P < 0.05), indicating that animals with a strong rotational bias to the left tended to have higher [3H]DA on the right. Similarly, the animals that were used for [3H]mazindol binding autoradiographic studies displayed on the average 72% rotations to the left side. In the [3H]mazindol binding data, non-grafted weaver mutants showed the severest depletion relative to wild-type in the dorsomedial and dorsolateral caudate-putamen (86% and 87%, respectively). Mice with unilateral grafts to the right side showed an increase in [3H]mazindol binding signal in the transplanted side of 40-64% (depending on dorsoventral topography) over the contralateral, non-grafted side. These findings attest to the functional effects of the grafts at the anatomical, biochemical, and behavioral levels. The parallel measurements of motor performance and DA uptake in the same animals offers an index of behavioral recovery as a function of transmitter-related activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Synaptic relationships between dopaminergic afferents and cortical or thalamic input in the sensorimotor territory of the striatum in monkey

The cerebral cortex and the intralaminar thalamic nuclei are the major sources of excitatory glutamatergic afferents to the striatum, whereas the midbrain catecholaminergic neurones provide a dense intrastriatal plexus of dopamine-containing terminals. Evidence from various sources suggests that there is a functional interaction between the glutamate- and dopamine-containing terminals in the striatum. The aim of the present study was to determine the synaptic relationships between cortical or thalamic inputs and the dopaminergic afferents in the sensorimotor territory of the monkey striatum. To address this issue, anterograde tracing in combination with immunocytochemistry for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) was carried out by light and electron microscopy. Squirrel monkeys received injections of biocytin in the primary motor and somatosensory cortical areas or injections of either Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) or biocytin in the centromedian nucleus (CM) of the thalamus. Sections that included the striatum were processed to visualize the anterograde tracers alone or in combination with TH immunoreactivity. The anterogradely labelled fibres from the cerebral cortex and CM display a band-like pattern and are exclusively confined to the postcommissural region of the putamen, whereas TH-immunoreactive axon terminals are homogeneously distributed throughout the entire extent of the striatum. Electron microscopic analysis revealed that the anterogradely labelled terminals from the cerebral cortex form asymmetric synapses almost exclusively with the heads of dendritic spines. The thalamic terminals also form asymmetric synapses, but in contrast to cortical fibres, predominantly with dendrites (67.4%) and less frequently with spines (32.6%). The TH-immunoreactive boutons are heterogeneous in morphology. The most common type (84% of the total population) forms symmetric synapses; of these the majority is in contact with dendritic shafts (72.1%), less with spines (22.5%) and few with perikarya (5.4%). In sections processed to reveal anterogradely labelled cortical fibres and TH-immunoreactive structures, individual spines of striatal neurones were found to receive convergent synaptic inputs from both cortical and TH-immunoreactive boutons. In contrast, anterogradely labelled thalamic terminals and TH-immunoreactive boutons were never seen to form convergent synaptic contacts on the same postsynaptic structure. These findings suggest that the dopaminergic afferents are located to subserve a more specific modulation of afferent cortical input than afferent thalamic input in the sensorimotor territory of the striatum in primates.

5-hydroxydopamine-labeled dopaminergic axons: three-dimensional reconstructions of axons, synapses and postsynaptic targets in rat neostriatum

Previous studies employing 5-hydroxydopamine to identify nigrostriatal dopaminergic axons and their synapses found that labeled axons made few synapses or that asymmetric contacts predominated. In contrast, recent studies using tyrosine hydroxylase or dopamine antibody techniques indicate that presumed dopaminergic axons form small symmetric contacts. We re-examined 5-hydroxydopamine-labeled material from the rat neostriatum using serial three-dimensional reconstruction techniques to characterize the morphology of labeled axons, synapses and postsynaptic targets. This ultrastructural analysis revealed a class of heavily labeled axons that are small (0.06-1.5 microns in diameter) and lack large varicosities. These axons form small (0.011-0.09 microns 2), en passant, symmetric synapses, mainly onto dendritic spines and spiny dendritic shafts and, in some cases, onto aspiny dendritic segments near branch points. The sites of these synapses along the axon appeared unrelated to the locations of axonal enlargements, suggesting that counting varicosities may not be an accurate indication of the extent of dopaminergic innervation in the neostriatum. The characteristics of these 5-hydroxydopamine-labeled elements correspond in all respects to axons and synapses identified as dopaminergic by immunohistochemistry in previous studies. In tissue in which all labeled and unlabeled synapses were classified, approximately 9% of all synapses were identified as dopaminergic by this type of label. Three-dimensional reconstructions provided additional insight concerning the interaction of dopaminergic afferents with postsynaptic striatal targets and their relation to other afferents to these neurons. They reveal that a short, unbranched dopaminergic axonal segment can make multiple synapses onto dendritic spines, shafts and branch points of one or more dendrites. In addition, one dendrite can receive contacts from several labeled axons. Dopamine synapses onto spines are always associated with unlabeled, asymmetric synapses onto the same spine. Synapses of various morphologies with a distinctly different, lighter form of labeling were much rarer, and may represent other aminergic afferents to the neostriatum. The presence of this second form of label in earlier 5-hydroxydopamine studies may have contributed to the long-standing controversy over the appearance of dopaminergic synapses examined by different techniques. Our results help to resolve this controversy and confirm that the nigrostriatal projection makes small symmetric synapses with a variety of striatal targets.

Nonsynaptic diffusion neurotransmission (NDN) in the brain

The synapse has dominated the conceptual model of neurotransmission; other mechanisms, such as neuromodulation, have been considered to support and complement synaptic transmission. In this commentary, the conceptual framework considers synaptic transmission as one of several mechanisms of neurotransmission. One of these is nonsynaptic diffusion neurotransmission (NDN), which includes both the diffusion of neurotransmitters and other neuroactive substances through the extracellular fluid to reach extrasynaptic receptors, and the diffusion of substances such as nitric oxide through both the extracellular fluid and cellular membranes to act within the cell. The possible roles of NDN in mass, sustained functions such as mood, sleep and brain "tone", as well as in various other functions, such as in long term potentiation, at the retinal, lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex levels of the visual system, in recovery from brain damage and in neuropharmacology, are explored.

Serotonin content is elevated in the dopamine deficient striatum of the weaver mutant mouse

In the present study, we measured the striatal serotonin content of weaver and control mice at different ages. Overall, weaver mutant mice exhibited 50% more striatal serotonin than controls. Neither a rostrocaudal gradient nor an age effect was found for either genotype. An analysis of serotonin content across the dorsoventral extent of the striatum revealed that in the dorsal striatum of the weaver, serotonin content was increased 200%, and in the ventral striatum, the increase amounted to 50% relative to control mice. Serotonin immunocytochemistry also revealed an increase in the dorsal striata of weaver mice. The major increase in striatal serotonin content seen in the weaver striatum occurs in the same region that exhibits the severest dopamine depletion. This observation is consistent with the notion that the increase in serotonin levels may be secondary to the decrease in dopamine content and may play an adaptive or compensatory role.

The dendritic dopamine projection of the substantia nigra: phenotypic denominator of weaver gene action in hetero- and homozygosity

While cerebellar granule cell migration and survival are affected by the weaver (wv) mutation both in the heterozygous and homozygous states, the dopamine (DA) deficit of the nigrostriatal projection has been shown to involve only midbrain DA cell bodies and nigrostriatal DA axons of homozygous mutants. We have identified a cellular site which is defective in the mesencephalic DA system of mice both heterozygous and homozygous for the wv gene. That deficit involves the dendritic DA projection which extends from the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) into the pars reticulata (SNr). In the midbrain of heterozygotes, dopaminergic dendrites are reduced by 60% at 20 days of age, when DA neurone number in the midbrain, DA content in the neostriatum and pattern of synaptic connectivity of nigrostriatal axon terminals are normal. At the same age, the deficit of dopaminergic dendrites in the SNr of homozygotes (76%) is disproportionate to the loss of DA cell bodies (42%). These findings: (a) may provide clues to the aetiopathogenetic mechanisms of wv gene operation; and (b) may explain the generalised convulsions intermittently manifested by weaver heterozygotes, as the SN has been implicated in the pathophysiology of experimental seizures.

Reinstatement of synaptic connectivity in the striatum of weaver mutant mice following transplantation of ventral mesencephalic anlagen

Ventral mesencephalic anlagen survive following grafting to the striatum of weaver mutant mice and reinnervate the dopamine-depleted basal ganglia of the recipients. The aim of the present study was to examine the pattern of connectivity established by graft-deriving dopamine afferents in the host striatum. Grafts were obtained from normal embryos at a gestational age of 14-15 days and implanted into a surgical cavity overlying the dorsal striatum of adult weaver recipients. Tissue was processed for electron microscopic immunocytochemistry using a primary antiserum against tyrosine hydroxylase. At the time of examination, recipient weaver mutants were 8.5 months old and the grafts had survived for 4.5 months. Grafts were found to contain an estimated 100-1000 tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive neurons. Tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive fibres, displaying characteristic varicosities, innervated the dorsal striatum to a depth of 1000 micron. In the non-grafted striatum, 8% of the contacts of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive nerve terminals were junctional. That proportion contrasted with the corresponding value of normal animals, which is 27%. In the grafted striatum, 29% of the contacts were junctional. That percentage approximated the value found in normal animals. By applying a stereological correction, it can be estimated from those numbers that the true proportion of junctional contacts in the non-grafted striatum of 8.5-month-old mutants may be 26%, whereas that in the grafted side may be 91%, which is close to the normal situation. The majority of contacts in the reinnervated striatum (84%) were made with dendrites and spines. However, the proportion of total axosomatic contacts in the reinnervated striatum was twice as high as that found in the striatum of normal animals, and the proportion of junctional synapses was three times higher than that found normally. We conclude that: (1) in spite of a genetically determined degenerative process, the dorsal neostriatum of weaver mutant mice is receptive to synaptic investment by dopamine afferents originating in normal donor tissue. (2) In repopulating the denervated weaver striatum, graft-deriving dopamine afferents display a connectional selectivity, i.e. they establish synaptic relations preferentially with those cellular domains that are normally innervated by dopamine nerve terminals. In this context, it is possible that dopamine fibres originating in the grafts invest postsynaptic sites that had either been vacated from the intrinsic dopamine input or had never received such an input. (3) The striatal connectivity following transplantation may retain features of immaturity as suggested by t