Quantitation of ultrastructural twenty-four-hour changes in pineal nuclear dimensions

Regional heterogeneity in immunoreactive macrophages/microglia in the rat pineal gland

Using specific macrophage antibodies (OX-42, OX-6, ED-1 and ED-2), this study examined the distribution of macrophages/microglia in the pineal gland of adult rats. Except for ED-2, all antibodies labeled distinct subpopulations of macrophages/microglia in the gland; ED-2 labeling was hardly detectable. The quantitative study showed that the pineal macrophages/microglia (PMM) expressing complement type 3 receptors (OX-42) were more numerous than those expressing the major histocompatibility complex class II antigen (OX-6) or unknown cytoplasmic/lysosomal antigens (ED-1). The PMM were ubiquitous, especially the OX-42 labeled cells which were distributed from the dorsal to the ventral aspect of the gland. The macrophages/microglia labeled with OX-6 or ED-1 were localized mainly in the intermediate portion of the pineal gland. Immunolabeled cells were sparsely distributed in the distal portion of the pineal gland. A notable feature was that the OX-6 labeled macrophages/microglia showed a proximal-distal gradient in cell density. Another interesting feature was the occurrence of prominent cell aggregations around the larger blood vessels. These cells were mostly round and exhibited different immunoreactivity. Confocal microscopic study with triple immunolabeling further revealed that individual PMM cell possessed two or more different antigens (ED-1+/OX-6+, OX-42+/OX-6+ or OX-42+/ED-1+). Remarkably, a large population co-expressed ED-1+/OX-6+/OX-42+. The present results show that the expression of immunoreactive molecules in PMM varies in topographical distribution of the cells. It is suggested that this may be linked to their immunoregulatory functions in the gland.

Quantitative light microscopic study on the heterogeneity in the superficial pineal gland of the rat

BACKGROUND

The previous results regarding regional and day-night differences in pinealocyte size in rats are conflicting. The relationships between these differences and the vascularity and sympathetic innervation have scarcely been investigated.

METHODS

Wistar-King rats, kept under light/dark 12:12, were killed at midday or midnight in October. The nuclear density of pinealocytes in the superficial pineal was measured on the dorsoperipheral, dorsocentral, ventroperipheral, and ventrocentral regions at distal, middle, and proximal levels at daytime and nighttime. The total area of blood vessels per unit area at daytime and nighttime and total length of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive fibers per unit area at daytime were determined on the same regions at the same levels.

RESULTS

Pinealocyte size was larger toward the distal levels and in the periphery than in the center at any level. The area of blood vessels and length of TH fibers were also larger toward the distal levels; the former in the ventral region and the latter in the dorsal and ventral regions were larger in the periphery than in the center. Ventral pinealocytes, but not dorsal ones, showed day-night changes in size. Prominent day-night rhythms in area of blood vessels occurred in the ventral region, where TH fibers were more abundant than in the dorsal region.

CONCLUSIONS

Pinealocyte size shows the distal to proximal and peripheral to central gradients, which may be related to the differential distribution of blood vessels and sympathetic fibers. Since pinealocytes and blood vessels, showing prominent day-night changes in size, are localized in the more richly innervated regions, sympathetic fibers may play an important role in controlling these rhythms.

The ultrastructure of mammalian pinealocytes: a systematic investigation

Pinealocytes are not only the principal cellular components of the pineal gland, but they are also the principal synthetic machinery of this enigmatical gland with highly diverse and often questionable empyreal roles assigned to it. Ultrastructural descriptions of pinealocytes belonging to some 70 species of mammals (a mere 2% or less of the over 4,200 mammalian species) have been summarized from the available literature with new observations on 12 species of chiropterans. Space limitation precluded any treatment of the supporting glia, neural elements, and the perivascular spaces. A detailed table lists nearly all mammalian species whose pineal ultrastructure has been investigated. Blanks in this table point to the necessity of studies on those particular groups. A tabular listing of unusual structures reported within the pinealocyte cytoplasm points out the impending experimental work on these species. Such studies using the latest techniques might provide clearer insights into the functional role of the pineal gland as an important and integral component of the neuroendocrine axis. Whereas sufficient structural information now exists on cytoplasmic organelles such as synaptic ribbons and spherules, annulate lamellae, subsurface cisterns, and the several types of synaptic arrangements seen in relation to the pinealocyte soma and its processes, the functional role of these structures in pineal synthetic processes remains to be elucidated.

Comparisons of sizes of pinealocyte nuclei and pinealocytes in young and adult Chinese hamsters (Cricetulus griseus) under different photoperiod conditions

Semiquantitative electron microscopic observations on pinealocytes of the Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus) were made to compare the sizes of pinealocyte nuclei and pinealocytes as a whole, their nuclei and cytoplasm together, over a 24-hr period, between young animals (60-70 days old) and adult animals (120-130 days old) under LD 12:12 and between adults under LD 12:12 and LD 14:10. Under LD 12:12, similar 24-hr rhythms exist in the nuclear area and the area of pinealocytes of young animals, whereas in adults these values exhibit no significant 24-hr rhythm. In adults under LD 14:10, there is no significant 24-hr rhythm in the nuclear area, but the area of pinealocytes shows a statistically significant 24-hr rhythm. Thus, in the Chinese hamster, the relationships between nuclear area and area of pinealocytes with time of day vary, depending on the age of animals as well as different photoperiodic conditions, although they differ only slightly.

Impact of psychosocial stress on pineal structure of male gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus, cricetidae)

Stress responses were investigated in 5-month-old male gerbils. Breeders having no pubescent litters served as controls. The first experimental group never left their parents' cage and were thereby fought by higher-ranking males; the second and third groups were stressed for a week by four daily 1-minute encounters with trained fighters, the second group during daytime, the third during the dark period. The first and second groups developed signs of gonadal regression, the third did not. The adrenals of the first group weighed the same as those of controls; the adrenals of both other groups were increased in weight. In the adrenal medulla of all experimental groups, a large number of cells were densely packed with noradrenaline-containing vesicles. In each experimental group the pineal changes included a remarkable decrease in nuclear size of pinealocytes, an increased number of colloidal cysts, and a reduction of that portion of the plasmalemma that is lined by subsurface cisterns. All these changes are interpreted in terms of pineal activation, as are the increased number of membrane whirls found in the first group. The third group exhibited an additional decrease in the size of mitochondria and in the number of "synaptic" structures. This finding and the day-night differences in the gonadal response indicate that stress interferes with the metabolic cyclicity of the pineal gland. However, it remains indiscernible whether the pineal stress reaction signals a general activation of the gland or a change in it's temporal activity patterns.

Chronobiological studies on the nucleolus

Chronobiological studies on the nucleolus were performed, using stereological analysis at the electron microscopic level, on different cell types in permanent interphasic state, in rats submitted to various lighting regimen. During the dark span (12L/12D): (1) in sympathetic neurons of superior cervical ganglion circadian changes in nucleolar organization were characterized by an increase in volumes of the nucleolus and each of its components, namely, fibrillar centres, dense fibrillar, granular and vacuolar components; (2) concerning the fibrillar centres, regarded as the interphasic counterpart of nucleolar organizing regions (NORs), the most striking fact, only observed in sympathetic neurons, is the occurrence of a single large-type fibrillar centre, accompanied by small-type fibrillar centres which are present throughout the 24-hr period; (3) the overall increase in volume of fibrillar centres was shown to correspond to a marked drop in the number (up to 4 fold) of small-type fibrillar centres, the unit volume of which (0.01 mum3) remaining unchanged over the 24-hr period and to an increase in size of a large-type fibrillar centre, the volume of which is 100 fold greater than the latter and (4) cytochemical studies showed that the Ag-NOR proteins exhibit a marked increase in amount, suggesting a circadian rhythmicity of these nucleolar proteins. These results, discussed in the light of our current understanding of the nucleolus, briefly summarized in this paper, suggest that the circadian rhythm of the nucleolus and of its components is correlated with circadian rhythms in both transcriptional activity and processing of preribosomes. Analogies between sympathetic neurons and the two other cell types studied, namely, chromaffin cells of adrenal medulla and vagal sensory neurons of nodose ganglion, led to the conclusion that rhythmicity is a fundamental characteristic of the nuclear structure devoted to ribosome biogenesis. Attention is focused on the superior cervical ganglion in which amplitude of nucleolar rhythms are greater and in which fibrillar centres exhibit a particular pattern. These results are discussed with regard to the role played by this sympathetic paravertebral ganglion which is known to regulate circadian rhythmic activities of the rat pineal gland. The persistence of these nucleolar rhythms in continuous lighting, as demonstrated in sympathetic superior cervical ganglion neurons, provide evidence that they are endogenously generated. The intrinsic factors underlying these rhythms in morpho-functional organization of the nucleolus are yet unknown.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)