Further studies of the secretory process in hypothalamo-neurohypophysial neurons: an analysis using immunocytochemistry, wheat germ agglutinin-peroxidase, and native peroxidase

Avoiding off-target effects in electrical stimulation of the cervical vagus nerve: Neuroanatomical tracing techniques to study fascicular anatomy of the vagus nerve

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a promising therapy for treatment of various conditions that are resistant to standard medication, such as heart failure, epilepsy, and depression. The vagus nerve is a complex nerve providing afferent and efferent innervation of the pharynx, larynx, heart, tracheobronchial tree and lungs, oesophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, small intestine and proximal colon. It is therefore a prime target for intervention for VNS. Surprisingly, the fascicular organisation of the vagus nerve at the cervical level is still not well understood. This, along with the current stimulation techniques, results in the entire nerve being stimulated, which leads to unwanted off-target effects. Neuronal tracing is a promising method to delineate the organ-specific innervation by the vagus nerve, thereby providing valuable insight into the fascicular anatomy. In this review we discuss the current knowledge of vagus nerve anatomy and neuronal tracers used for mapping of its organ-specific projections in various species. Efferent vagal projections are a chain of two neurones (pre- and postganglionic), while afferent projections consist of only one pseudounipolar neurone with one branch terminating in the target organ/tissue directly and another in the brainstem. It would be feasible to retrogradely trace the afferent fibres from their respective visceral targets and identify them at the cervical level using non-transsynaptic neuronal tracers. Using this to create a map of the functional anatomical organisation of the vagus nerve will enable selective VNS ultimately allowing for the avoidance of the off-target effects and improving overall efficacy.

Reelin-immunoreactive neurons, axons, and neuropil in the adult ferret brain: evidence for axonal secretion of reelin in long axonal pathways

Reelin is a large secretable protein which, when developmentally defective, causes the reeler brain malformation in mice and a recessive form of lissencephaly with cerebellar hypoplasia in humans. In addition, Reelin is heavily expressed throughout the adult brain, although its function/s there are still poorly understood. To gain insight into which adult neuronal circuits may be under the influence of Reelin, we systematically mapped Reelin-immunoreactive neuronal somata, axons, and neuropil in the brain and brainstem of ferrets. Results show that Reelin immunoreactivity is found in widespread but specific sets of neuronal bodies, axonal tracts, and gray matter neuropil regions. Depending on the region, the immunoreactive neuronal somata correspond to interneurons, projection neurons, or both. Some well-defined axonal projection systems are immunoreactive, whereas most other white matter tracts are unlabeled. The labeled pathways include, among others, the lateral olfactory tract, the entorhinohippocampal (perforant) pathway, the retroflex bundle, and the stria terminalis. Labeled axons in these tracts contain large numbers of discrete, very small, immunoreactive particles, suggestive of secretory vesicles under the light microscope. The neuropil in the terminal arborization fields of these axons is also heavily immunoreactive. Taken together, our observations are consistent with the notion that some neurons may anterogradely transport Reelin along their axons in large membrane-bound secretory vesicles (Derer et al. [2001] J. Comp. Neurol. 440:136-143) and secrete it into their terminal arborization fields, which may be quite distant from the somata synthesizing the protein. These findings have implications for identifying where Reelin acts in adult brain circuits.

Immunoreactivity to P2X(6) receptors in the rat hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system: an ultrastructural study with extravidin and colloidal gold-silver labelling

The distribution of the purine receptor P2X(6) subtype was studied in the rat hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system at the electron microscope level. Receptors were visualised with ExtrAvidin peroxidase conjugate and immunogold-silver pre-embedding immunocytochemistry using a polyclonal antibody against an intracellular domain of the receptor. Application of ExtrAvidin labelling revealed P2X(6) receptors in subpopulations of: (i) neurosecretory cell bodies, neurosecretory and non-neurosecretory axons and dendrites of neurones in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei; and (ii) pituicytes and neurosecretory axons of the neurohypophysis. Some of the neurosecretory granules observed in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei neurone cell bodies, dendrites and axons as well as those in neurohypophysial axons were also positive for the P2X(6) receptors. In the paraventricular nucleus, some axons and dendrites of non-neurosecretory neurones positive for P2X(6) receptors formed synapses between themselves. Using the immunogold-silver method, the electron-dense particles labelling P2X(6) receptors were found in neurosecretory cell bodies of the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei, in relation to the cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complex and neurosecretory granules. The particles indicative of P2X(6) receptors were also located in neurosecretory and non-neurosecretory axons including axonal buttons making synapses with P2X(6)-negative dendrites. In the neurohypophysis, the electron-dense particles were localised in a subpopulation of pituicytes and neurosecretory axons. In neurohypophysial axons, particles were at times seen over the membrane of some neurosecretory granules (immunogold label) or microvesicles (immunoperoxidase label). We speculate that the P2X(6) receptors at the neurohypophysial level may be implicated not only in hormone release from the axon terminals, but also in membrane recycling of the granular vesicles and microvesicles.

Accumulation of mercury in neurosecretory neurons of mice after long-term exposure to oral mercuric chloride

Inorganic mercury (HgCl2) was administered to adult mice in drinking water (20 mg/l). Animals were sacrificed after one or two years and fixed by whole-body perfusion. Sections of the hypothalamus and neurohypophysis were subjected to silver acetate autometallography for visualization of mercury at light and electron microscopy levels. Mercury deposits, which can be seen by light microscopy as black granules, were found to accumulate within neuronal perykaria of the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei. Electron microscopy demonstrated that mercury deposits in neurosecretory neurons were detected exclusively within lysosomes. Mercury was also present in small vesicles, 40-70 nm in diameter, and in endocytic vacuoles within the axon terminals of the neurohypophysis. No mercury could be seen in sections obtained from control animals that had been drinking uncontaminated water. Mechanisms involved in uptake and transport of mercury to neuronal bodies are discussed.

Tract-tracing in the nervous system of vertebrates using horseradish peroxidase and its conjugates: tracers, chromogens and stabilization for light and electron microscopy

Surprisingly the first generation of tract-tracing techniques based on intra-axonal transport, that is the methods utilizing the uptake and transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), still rank among the most widely used neuroanatomical tracing techniques. The success of these methods can be ascribed to several characteristics. They are fast and easy to implement. Complicated injection apparatus is unnecessary. The reaction products are visualized through simple histochemical reactions, and they are permanent or can be stabilized into permanency. Most usefully, the reaction products are visible in the light and electron microscopes. HRP (mol. wt. 44 kDa) is extracted from the roots of the horseradish plant (Cochlearia armoracia L.). Uptake of HRP into cells occurs via a passive process of endocytosis. Since lectins like wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and bacterial toxin fragments (subunit B of cholera toxin (CTB)) strongly induce active, receptor-mediated uptake mechanisms, conjugates of these substances with HRP have been successfully applied in sensitive tract-tracing HRP and its conjugates are transported both in anterograde and retrograde direction. Retrograde transport occurs in small vesicles that are incorporated in lysosome-like vacuoles and in the Golgi apparatus. These vesicles differ in membrane properties from the anterogradely transported HRP vesicles. The retrogradely transported vesicles tend to fuse and thus accumulate HRP at high densities, facilitating the visibility of the final reaction product. The anterogradely transported HRP does not accumulate directly in lysosome-like bodies and is distributed diffusely and therefore often requires specific visualization methods. HRP and WGA-HRP may therefore be used in anterograde and retrograde transneuronal (multineuron) transport studies. Even in fixed material, labeling through diffusion of HRP can provide details on neural connections. Visualization of transported HRP is achieved by means of using the oxidative enzymatic activity of HRP to precipitate a chromogen according to the following reaction: [symbol: see text] The final reaction product may be soluble in buffer or ethanol and may require stabilization to prevent fading. In this protocol we discuss the widely used chromogens 3,3'-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride (DAB), 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), benzidine dihydrochloride (BDHC) and p-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride with pyrocatechol (PPD-PC). Other possible chromogens, not discussed here, are 4-chloro-1-naphthol (4C1N), 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole (AEC) and o-phenylenediamine (OPD). The visualization of the reaction product can be further improved by intensification with metal salts. At the light microscopic level (LM) this intensification enables color differentiation between distinct markers. In the present protocol we provide an up-to-date guideline for the application of HRP and its conjugates in tracing with special emphasis on electron microscopic (EM) visualization. Some modifications for stabilization and of metal intensification to enhance visibility are incorporated in conjunction with specific methods for multiple labeling in combined tract-tracing experiments.

Microvesicles isolated from bovine posterior pituitary accumulate norepinephrine

Histochemical study indicated that the posterior pituitary possesses numerous microvesicles (MVs) containing synaptophysin, a marker protein specific for brain synaptic vesicles (Navone, F., Di Gioia, G., Jahn, R., Browning, M., Greengard, P., and De Camilli, P. (1989) J. Cell Biol. 109, 3425-2433). By monitoring cross-reactivity with anti-synaptophysin antibody, the MVs were highly purified from bovine posterior pituitaries by a combination of differential and sucrose density gradient centrifugations. The purified MVs had an average diameter of about 60 nm and were associated with synaptophysin as revealed by immunoelectron microscopy. The vesicles contained ATPase activity partially sensitive to bafilomycin A1 and to vanadate. The membrane fraction immunoisolated with anti-synaptophysin antibody also exhibited similar ATPase activity. The two ATPases could be purified separately; the vandate-sensitive enzyme was identified as a 115-kDa polypeptide immunochemically similar to chromaffin granule P-ATPase (forming phosphoenzyme intermediate), and the bafilomycin A1-sensitive ATPase showed essentially the same properties as those of vacuolar type H(+)-ATPases. Upon addition of ATP, the MVs formed an electrochemical gradient of protons and took up norepinephrine in a reserpine-sensitive manner, indicating the presence of secondary monoamine transporter coupled with vacuolar type H(+)-ATPase. No uptake of L-glutamate, gamma-aminobutyrate, glycine, or acetylcholine was observed. The identification of MVs as organelles responsible for storage of monoamines is important for understanding the physiological function of the posterior pituitary.

Transcytosis of protein through the mammalian cerebral epithelium and endothelium. II. Adsorptive transcytosis of WGA-HRP and the blood-brain and brain-blood barriers

Morphological evidence of the potential for adsorptive transcytosis of protein through the mammalian blood-brain fluid barriers, first reported from this laboratory in the mouse, has been confirmed and expanded upon in rats injected intravenously or into the lateral cerebral ventricle/subarachnoid space with with exogenous lectin wheatgerm agglutinin (WGA) conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Blood-borne WGA-HRP rapidly enters cerebral endothelia by the process of adsorptive endocytosis and labels the vascular tree throughout the CNS. At 3 h post-injection and longer, WGA-HRP occupies the perivascular clefts and labels perivascular cells and basal lamina; this suspected transendothelial transfer of the lectin conjugate from blood to brain involves specific constituents of the endothelial endomembrane system of organelles (e.g., plasmalemma, vesicles, endosomes, Golgi complex). Within 6 h, reaction product is evident in extracellular clefts beyond the perivascular basal lamina and labels endocytic vesicles, endosomes, and dense bodies within cells and processes of the neuropil. Exposure of the abluminal surface of blood-brain barrier endothelia for 1-18 h to WGA-HRP delivered into the cerebral ventricles or subarachnoid space indicates blood-brain barrier endothelia do not engage in demonstrable adsorptive endocytosis at the abluminal surface. In this preparation, no endothelial organelles comparable to those sequestering blood-borne WGA-HRP are labelled with the lectin conjugate; hence, significant adsorptive transcytosis of WGA-HRP through cerebral endothelia from brain to blood is unlikely. The demonstrable difference in membrane internalization of the luminal versus abluminal plasmalemma of blood-brain barrier endothelia suggests the blood-brain barrier is polarized regarding adsorptive endocytosis of WGA-HRP. If adsorptive transcytosis of macromolecules through the blood-brain barrier does occur, the process appears unidirectional, from blood to brain but not from brain to blood. Absence of demonstrable endocytosis at the abluminal front is an enigma in the scheme of transcytosis through the blood-brain barrier from blood to brain insofar as exocytosis and endocytosis are complementary events in the cellular secretory process. This unconventional membrane behavior associated with the abluminal plasmalemma argues against a significant transcytosis of blood-borne protein through blood-brain barrier endothelia. The potential for transcytosis of macromolecules through the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier of choroid plexus epithelia is not as problemmatic as that through blood-brain barrier endothelia; additional evidence is provided to suggest choroid plexus epithelia participate in adsorptive endocytosis circumferentially and adsorptive transcytosis of WGA-HRP bidirectionally between the blood and cerebrospinal fluid.

Ultrastructural distribution of glutamate immunoreactivity within neurosecretory endings and pituicytes of the rat neurohypophysis

An ultrastructural analysis of post-embedding glutamate immunocytochemistry within the neural lobe of the pituitary was used to explore the possible role of glutamate within the magnocellular neuroendocrine cells. Relative densities of a colloidal gold marker associated with various cellular and subcellular compartments of the neural lobe were quantified by computer analysis of electron micrographs. Robust glutamate immunoreactivity was observed in both pituicytes (cytoplasm, mitochondria and nucleus) and neurosecretory endings. Within the neurosecretory endings, glutamate staining was specifically localized to the microvesicles with no overlap into the neurosecretory granule population. Stimulation of the vasopressin/oxytocin neurosecretory system by water deprivation increased glutamate content in pituicytes and mitochondria within neurosecretory endings but had little influence on microvesicle glutamate content. The results are consistent with the existence of multiple functional pools of immunoreactive glutamate in both pituicytes and neurosecretory endings. Microvesicles within the neurosecretory endings exhibit many properties of secretory vesicles, appear to be functionally independent of the neurosecretory granules, and have sufficient glutamate immunoreactivity to suggest that this amino acid may be compartmentalized for release in the neural lobe.

Membrane routing during exocytosis and endocytosis in neuroendocrine neurones and endocrine cells: use of colloidal gold particles and immunocytochemical discrimination of membrane compartments

The hypothesis that the retrieval of membranes of neurohypophysial neurosecretory granules (NSG) and small electron-lucent microvesicles occurs by different routes was tested by incubating neurohypophysial neurosecretosomes with colloidal gold particles of various sizes. Neurosecretosomes derived from normal Long Evans rats and incubated in media of normal ionic composition endocytosed a few small (less than 25 nm) gold particles into 40-50 nm electron-lucent microvesicles. After depolarisation, more small gold particles were found in microvesicles, and small and large (greater than 25 nm) gold particles in vacuoles. Oxytocin-containing neurosecretosomes derived from Brattleboro rats, which contain 160 nm-diameter NSG, endocytosed gold particles in a pattern indistinguishable from that of neurosecretosomes from Long Evans rats. However, neurosecretosomes derived from defective vasopressin neurones of Brattleboro rats, which contain microvesicles, small vacuoles, and a few 100 nm dense-cored vesicles, but no 160 nm NSG, endocytosed only small colloidal gold particles. Early after depolarisation the gold particles were present only in microvesicles, but later some could be found in vacuoles and lysosome-like structures. Immunogold cytochemistry using a polyclonal antiserum raised against microvesicle-rich neurosecretosomes derived from Brattleboro rats labelled microvesicles in the posterior pituitary strongly, NSG weakly, and vacuoles to a variable extent. These data together indicate that, after exocytosis, the membranes of NSG are recaptured as large vacuoles. Microvesicles are exocytosed and endocytosed separately.

Electron microscopic and immunocytochemical study of rapidly frozen, freeze-substituted neural lobes of rats

Rapid freezing of freshly dissected or incubated neural lobes was explored as a means of obtaining ultrastructural preservation of the more natural state of this tissue. A quantitative assessment of the region of good fixation was made in order to determine the relative fractions occupied by axons, pituicytes and the extracellular space. The immunocytochemical distributions of neurophysins and the glycopeptide portion of the vasopressin precursor were evaluated using the immunogold technique in order to determine the relative numbers of oxytocin and vasopressin fibre types in the fixed region, and the subcellular localization of these antigens. The uncut surface of rat neural lobes was rapidly frozen against a highly polished copper plug and freeze-substituted in osmium-acetone either immediately after dissection (approximately 2 min), or after a 15 min incubation period in vitro in an oxygenated, balanced salt solution. Substituted neural lobes were prepared for either conventional electron microscopy, or for immunogold labelling of neurophysins and the glycopeptide precursor to vasopressin. Membranes, subcellular organelles and extracellular matrix were well preserved 10 microns deep to the contacted surface. The extracellular space accounted for approximately 30% of the cross-sectional area of the neuropil and could be divided into two domains: an extended perivascular space (28-29% of total area); and a narrow (approximately 24 nm; approximately 1% of total) space between closely apposed neurosecretory processes or between these processes and pituicytes. Pituicytes accounted for about 30% of the area and axons 20-25%. Pituicytes occupied close to 60% of the basal lamina at the neurohaemal contact zone, while axons occupied approximately 20%. There were no differences between neural lobes frozen immediately after dissection and those incubated for 15 min in any of these measures, suggesting minimal fluid redistribution. Gold particles were specifically localized over large (100-200 nm) dense core vesicles, and less frequently over multivesicular bodies and lysosomes. No etching of the plastic or reduction of osmium was necessary to achieve labelling. Specific labelling of one set of terminals and axons (about 80%) was observed with the monoclonal antibody previously shown to be specific for oxytocin-neurophysin, while in neighbouring sections the remaining 20% of the processes were labelled with the antiserum to the vasopressin precursor, or with non-specific antibodies to neurophysins. In conclusion, ultrarapid freezing preserves a large extracellular space in the neural lobe and provides for high resolution morphological and immunocytochemical studies of neurohypophysial structure.

The origin and regulation of posterior pituitary vasopressin ribonucleic Acid in osmotically stimulated rats

Abstract Vasopressin ribonucleic acid (VP RNA) accumulates in the posterior lobe of the rat pituitary in response to an osmotic stimulus. The accumulation of posterior pituitary VP RNA can be prevented by stalk transection or the intracerebroventricular injection of colchicine. The hypothalamic and pituitary VP RNAs however, have different structures and are independently regulated. Depletion of serotonin with parachlorophenylalanine blocks the osmotically induced accumulation of both VP and oxytocin RNA in the hypothalamus but does not affect the accumulation of VP RNA in the posterior pituitary gland. In Brattleboro rats, posterior lobe oxytocin RNA but not VP RNA, increases after osmotic stimulation. Although axonal transport of RNA may occur, our results are also consistent with VP RNA synthesis in pituicytes controlled by hypothalamic neuroendocrine factors released by neurohypophyseal terminals in response to osmotic stimuli.

Transcytosis of macromolecules through the blood-brain barrier: a cell biological perspective and critical appraisal

A critical appraisal is presented of nearly two decades of research publications and review articles advocating the bidirectional transcytosis of fluid-phase molecules, most notably native horseradish peroxidase (HRP), through the normal and experimentally modified blood-brain barrier (BBB). Extracellular routes circumventing the BBB in normal and pathological states and artifact introduced in histological preparation of CNS tissue exposed to blood-borne peroxidase are emphasized. The potential for transcytosis of macromolecules entering the nonfenestrated cerebral endothelium by the processes of non-specific fluid phase endocytosis (e.g., HRP), adsorptive endocytosis (e.g., lectins) and receptor-mediated endocytosis (e.g., ligands) is analyzed in the context of the cellular secretory process and the complimentary events of endocytosis and exocytosis at the luminal and abluminal plasma membranes. Available data suggest that the cerebral endothelium is polarized with regard to endocytosis and the internalization of cell surface membrane; hence, the transcytosis of specific macromolecules through the BBB may be vectorial. If these data are correct, the blood-brain barrier is not absolute, whereas its counterpart, the brain-blood barrier, may be.

Transcytotic pathway for blood-borne protein through the blood-brain barrier

The transcytosis of blood-borne protein through the blood-brain barrier, a consequence of recruitment of the Golgi complex within nonfenestrated cerebral endothelia, was identified in mice and rats injected intravenously with the lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) conjugated to the enzymatic tracer horseradish peroxidase (HRP). WGA enters cells by adsorptive endocytosis after binding to specific cell surface oligosaccharides. Blood-borne WGA-HRP labeled the entire cerebrovascular tree from the luminal side 5 min after injection; pericytes, located on the abluminal surface of cerebral endothelia, sequestered the lectin conjugate 6 hr later. Endothelial organelles harboring WGA-HRP 3 hr after injection included the luminal plasmalemma, endocytic vesicles, endosomes (prelysosomes), secondary lysosomes, and the Golgi complex. The peroxidase reaction product labeled the abluminal surface of cerebral endothelia and occupied the perivascular clefts by 6 hr. Within 12 hr, organelles labeled with WGA-HRP in pericytes were identical to those observed in endothelia. Blood-borne native HRP, entering cells by bulk-phase endocytosis, was neither directed to the Golgi complex nor transferred across nonfenestrated cerebral endothelia. The results suggest that blood-borne molecules taken into the cerebral endothelium by adsorptive endocytosis and conveyed to the Golgi complex can, either by themselves or as vehicles for other molecules excluded from the brain, undergo transcytosis through the blood-brain barrier without compromising the integrity of the barrier.

Protein p38: an integral membrane protein specific for small vesicles of neurons and neuroendocrine cells

An intrinsic membrane protein of brain synaptic vesicles with Mr 38,000 (p38, synaptophysin) has recently been partially characterized (Jahn, R., W. Schiebler, C. Ouimet, and P. Greengard, 1985, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 83:4137-4141; Wiedenmann, B., and W. W. Franke, 1985, Cell, 41:1017-1028). We have now studied the presence of p38 in a variety of tissues by light and electron microscopy immunocytochemistry and by immunochemistry. Our results indicate that, within the nervous system, p38, like the neuron-specific phosphoprotein synapsin I, is present in virtually all nerve terminals and is selectively associated with small synaptic vesicles (SSVs). No p38 was detectable on large dense-core vesicles (LDCVs). p38 and synapsin I were found to be present in similar concentrations throughout the brain. Outside the nervous system, p38 was found in a variety of neuroendocrine cells, but not in any other cell type. In neuroendocrine cells p38 was localized on a pleiomorphic population of small, smooth-surfaced vesicles, which were interspersed among secretory granules and concentrated in the Golgi area, but not on the secretory granules themselves. Immunoblot analysis of endocrine tissues and cell lines revealed a band with a mobility slightly different from that of neuronal p38. This difference was attributable to a difference in glycosylation. The finding that p38, like synapsin I, is a component of SSVs of virtually all neurons, but not of LDCVs, supports the idea that SSVs and LDCVs are organelles of two distinct pathways for regulated neuronal secretion. In addition, our results indicate the presence in a variety of neuroendocrine cells of an endomembrane system, which is related to SSVs of neurons but is distinct from secretory granules.

Transneuronal transport of peroxidase-conjugated wheat germ agglutinin (WGA-HRP) from the olfactory epithelium to the brain of the adult rat

The sensory neurons of the olfactory epithelium, as a consequence of their odor detection function, contact both the external environment and the central nervous system. The possibility that substances applied to the epithelium might reach the central nervous system was investigated by the intranasal application of peroxidase-conjugated wheat germ agglutinin (WGA-HRP). WGA-HRP was transported through olfactory receptor axons to the glomerulus of the olfactory bulb. Reaction product was localized electron microscopically to tubulovesicular profiles and dense bodies in sensory axons. Evidence of transneuronal transport was indicated by reaction product localized in dense bodies in dendrites postsynaptic to receptor cell axons. Periglomerular, tufted and mitral cells in the olfactory bulb also were transneuronally labeled. Anterograde transneuronal labeling occurred in the olfactory tubercle, piriform cortex and surrounding the lateral olfactory tract. Retrograde transneuronal label was found in neurons of the basal forebrain with the largest number of perikarya in the lateral nucleus of the horizontal limb of the diagonal band, a major source of cholinergic afferents to the olfactory bulb. These data suggest that substances, specifically those which bind to receptors, are transported from the olfactory receptor neurons in the nasal epithelium to the brain. Thus, the olfactory system may provide a route of entry for exogenous substances to the basal forebrain.

Endocytic and exocytic pathways of the neuronal secretory process and trans-synaptic transfer of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase in vivo

The lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was employed to study the endocytic and exocytic pathways of the secretory process in neurons and the potential for trans-synaptic transfer of molecules within the CNS. WGA-HRP binds to surface membrane oligosaccharides and enters cells by adsorptive endocytosis. The lectin conjugate was administered intranasally or into the cerebral ventricles of mice; postinjection survival times ranged from 5 minutes to 6 days. Due to binding of the lectin to ependymal cells subsequent to an intraventricular injection, only select populations of neurons (i.e., hippocampal formation; paraventricular nuclei; midbrain raphe; VI, X, XII motor nuclei; among others) were exposed extracellularly to WGA-HRP and became labeled by retrograde axoplasmic transport from axon terminals or by direct cell body/dendritic uptake. WGA-HRP delivered intranasally was endocytosed by first-order olfactory neurons and transported by anterograde axoplasmic flow to the terminal field within the glomerular layer of the main olfactory bulb; eventually perikarya of the mitral cell layer were labeled, presumably by anterograde trans-synaptic transfer of the lectin conjugate. In the variety of neurons analyzed ultrastructurally following exposure to WGA-HRP, the proposed sequence of intracellular pathways through which peroxidase reaction product was traced over time was: cell surface membrane----endocytic structures----endosomes (presecondary lysosomes)----transfer vesicles----transmost Golgi saccule----vesicles, vacuoles, and/or dense core granules. WGA-HRP also labeled vesicles and tubules that were channeled to and/or derived from spherical endosomes, dense bodies, and multivesicular bodies. The peroxidase-positive, membrane-delimited products of the trans Golgi saccule contributed to anterograde axonal transport vectors and accumulated within axon terminals. A second contribution to these vectors was provided by peroxidase-labeled tubules and dense bodies believed to represent components of the lysosomal compartment. Profiles of the axonal reticulum comparable to those that stained cytochemically for glucose-6-phosphatase activity, a marker for the endoplasmic reticulum, were not associated with the transport of WGA-HRP. Trans-synaptic transfer of WGA-HRP from primary olfactory neurons to postsynaptic cells in the olfactory bulb was reflected in peroxidase-positive endocytic vesicles, endosomes, dense bodies, and the trans Golgi saccule.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The neuronal endoplasmic reticulum: its cytochemistry and contribution to the endomembrane system. II. Axons and terminals

The morphology and cytochemistry of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in axons and terminals of a number of different types of neurons in brains from mice were investigated ultrastructurally. The neurohypophysis received particular attention because the morphology and enzyme cytochemical activities of many of the preterminal swellings of hypothalamo-neurohypophysial axons are altered by chronic salt-stress. Membrane contrast and enzyme cytochemical staining techniques were employed to characterize the axonal reticulum and to determine if organelles representing the lysosomal system in the axon and the tubular profiles participating in the anterograde axonal transport of native horseradish peroxidase (HRP) are associated with the ER. Potential enzyme cytochemical markers for the axonal ER included glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), thiamine pyrophosphatase, nucleoside diphosphatase, and acid hydroxylase activities. The anterograde transport of HRP was analyzed in undamaged hypothalamo-neurohypophysial neurons and in facial and hypoglossal motoneurons of mice receiving the protein in the lateral cerebral ventricle. The ER pervaded the axon and appeared as parallel, 20-40-nm-wide tubules interconnected by oblique anastomoses. Membrane thickness of the axonal reticulum measured 60-100 A, which is similar to that of the perikaryal ER. Enzyme cytochemical activities associated with the ER or lysosomes were not conspicuous in axons and terminals under normal conditions but became prominent in some axons and preterminal swellings manifesting an autophagic appearance within neurohypophyses from salt-stressed mice. Only G6Pase activity was a marker for the ER in these axons and preterminals. Many ER profiles in non-incubated sections and in G6Pase cytochemical preparations of salt-stressed neurohypophyses were wrapped around or interspersed among secretory granules, multilamellar bodies, and vacuoles that may represent forms of lysosomes involved in autophagy and crinophagy. Acid hydrolase activities were localized within the vacuoles as well as within 80-130-nm-wide, blunt-ended tubules in pituitary stalk axons; similar reactive tubules were confluent with large secondary lysosomes in neurosecretory cell bodies and may be derived from these lysosomes. Morphologically identical tubules transporting HRP in the anterograde direction were observed only in the salt-stressed hypothalamo-neurohypophysial neuron. The HRP-positive tubules very likely are affiliated with the lysosomal system.