Differential effects of peripheral manipulations on vibrissae-related patterns in the trigeminal brainstem

Trigeminal intersubnuclear neurons: morphometry and input-dependent structural plasticity in adult rats

Intersubnuclear neurons in the caudal division of the spinal trigeminal nucleus that project to the principal nucleus (Pr5) play an active role in shaping the receptive fields of other neurons, at different levels in the ascending sensory system that processes information originating from the vibrissae. By using retrograde labeling and digital reconstruction, we investigated the morphometry and topology of the dendritic trees of these neurons and the changes induced by long-term experience-dependent plasticity in adult male rats. Primary afferent input was either eliminated by transection of the right infraorbital nerve (IoN), or selectively altered by repeated whisker clipping on the right side. These neurons do not display asymmetries between sides in basic metric and topologic parameters (global number of trees, nodes, spines, or dendritic ends), although neurons on the left tend to have longer terminal segments. Ipsilaterally, both deafferentation (IoN transection) and deprivation (whisker trimming) reduced the density of spines, and the former also caused a global increase in total dendritic length and a relative increase in more complex arbors. Contralaterally, deafferentation reduced more complex dendritic trees, and caused a moderate decline in dendritic length and spatial reach, and a loss of spines in number and density. Deprivation caused a similar, but more profound, effect on spines. Our findings provide original quantitative descriptions of a scarcely known cell population, and show that denervation- or deprivation-derived plasticity is expressed not only by neurons at higher levels of the sensory pathways, but also by neurons in key subcortical circuits for sensory processing.

Postnatal development of vibrissae motor output following neonatal infraorbital nerve manipulation

Using the model of infraorbital nerve (IoN) injury, we have studied the role IoN signals have on the developing vibrissal motor system. To this end, in ten rats, the IoN was severed on the day of birth: in five rats, the IoN was repaired to promote axon regeneration (Reinnervated group) while axon regeneration was prevented in the remaining five rats (Deafferented group). In another five rats, the isolated IoN was left intact (Sham group) and still another group of five rats was left untouched (Control group). After these rats had reached adulthood, the compound muscle action potential (MAP) was recorded from the vibrissa muscle and intracortical microstimulation (ICMS)-evoked movements were mapped in the frontal cortex contralateral to the operated side. We found: (i) no difference between Control, Sham and Reinnervated groups in the integrated MAPs and in the size and excitability of the M1 vibrissal representation. (ii) the Deafferented group showed a 42.9% decrease in the integrated MAP plus a 47.2% and 36.9% reduction, respectively, in the size and excitability of the M1 vibrissae representation. We conclude that, during perinatal life, IoN signals regulate the development of both the peripheral and central vibrissal motor system and that IoN reinnervation restores sensory signals able to stabilize normal development of the vibrissal motor system.

Neurotrophin receptor (p75) in the trigeminal thalamus of the rat: development, response to injury, transient vibrissa-related patterning, and retrograde transport

We report on the transient, patterned expression of p75 in the ventrobasal (VB) thalamus, the major thalamic relay for somatosensation. We immunostained the brains of developing rats ranging in age from embryonic day (E) 14.5 to postnatal day (PD) 15 with an antibody against p75. To compare p75 expression with the developing synaptic organization within VB, we also immunolocalized the synaptic-vesicle-associated protein, synaptophysin (SYN), on alternate sections. p75-immunoreactivity (IR) was dense and uniform in the ventroposterior medial nucleus (VPM) in the late embryonic and early postnatal periods (E 16.5 to PD 3). In contrast, from PD 4-10, p75-IR in the VPM was patterned, reminiscent of cytochrome-oxidase-stained barreloids, a characteristic feature of the VB in rodents. By PD 14, p75-IR in the VPM was no longer detectable. The ventroposterior lateral nucleus (VPL), in contrast, exhibited no p75-IR. No p75-IR was detected in the ventroposterior lateral nucleus (VPL) at any developmental stage in which VPM could be distinguished from VPL. Light, but clearly patterned SYN-IR, first detectable on PD 2-3, increased in intensity in both VPL and VPM through PD 15. Sectioning the infraorbital nerve on PD 0 resulted in blurred patterns of p75- and SYN-IR within VPM in PD 7-9 rat pups. Removing large portions of the somatosensory cortex on PD 0 resulted in subsequent greatly reduced p75- and SYN-IR within VB. To specify the source of the p75-IR terminals, we stereotaxically injected into the VPM of PD 4-5 rats a monoclonal antibody to p75. One to 2 days later, IR of retrogradely transported p75 antibodies could be traced within axons and cell bodies of neurons associated with the trigeminothalamic pathway through the caudal diencephalon and mesencephalon; labelling was confined to the contralateral trigeminal principal sensory nucleus. The observed, transiently patterned p75-IR in VPM the early postpartum period suggests a role for p75 in synaptogenesis and pattern formation.

Distribution of the low-affinity neurotrophin receptor (p75) in the developing trigeminal brainstem complex in the rat

The low-affinity neurotrophin receptor (p75) binds all members of the neurotrophin family. In the rat, during the first week postpartum, dense p75-immunoreactivity (IR) is present throughout all components of the trigeminal brainstem complex (TBC), largely associated with primary sensory afferents. Within subnucleus caudalis (SpC) of the TBC, intense p75-IR is present in all laminae at birth. During the second and third postnatal weeks, p75-IR in SpC gradually fades within the deeper laminae, becoming generally restricted in the adult to laminae I and II. Similar declines in p75-IR intensity occur in the subnucleus oralis (SpO); in the SpO in the adult, p75-IR is confined to the dorsalmost portion of SpO. In subnucleus interpolaris, an emerging, vibrissa-related pattern of p75-IR is detectable on PD0 (first 24 hr postpartum), which becomes fully differentiated during PD4-PD7. However, this pattern gradually disappears during the third postnatal week. Ventrally in the nucleus principalis (PrV), a pattern of p75-IR that mirrors the topographical arrangement of the vibrissae is detectable by PD0-PD1, is fully differentiated by the end of the first postnatal week, and persists into adulthood. Perinatal unilateral sectioning of the infraorbital nerve on PD0-PD1, but not as late as PD4, disrupts p75-IR patterning in the adult PrV. Although p75 appears to be associated with primary afferent pattern formation, to determine whether it is essential, we examined mutant mice unable to form functional p75. In the TBC of these knockout mice, examined as adults, patterns of cytochrome oxidase staining (which parallel those of p75-IR) appeared to be normal. In summary, during early development, p75 is widely expressed in the TBC during periods of active synaptogenesis and pattern formation, whereas in the adult, its expression is restricted to association with populations of primary sensory afferents. However, the absence of functional p75 in genetically altered mice does not appear to prevent primary afferent pattern formation.

Effects of neonatal attenuation of axoplasmic flow or transection of the rat's infraorbital nerve on the morphology of individual trigeminal primary afferent terminals in the brainstem

Attenuation of axoplasmic transport in the infraorbital nerve (ION), or transection of this trigeminal (V) branch at birth, results in degradation of the central cellular aggregates related to the mystacial vibrissae. However, blockade of axoplasmic transport does not result in the nearly 90% loss of ION ganglion cells that follows neonatal transection of this nerve. The present study was undertaken to further characterize the response of individual ION axons to attenuation of axoplasmic transport and to compare these effects to the changes observed following nerve transection. Neurobiotin injections were made into the V ganglion on postnatal day (P-) 6 in normal rats and animals that had vinblastine applied to the ION or received transection of the ION on P-0. Individual labeled fibers in the portions of V nucleus principalis (PrV) and subnucleus interpolaris (SpI) innervated by the ION were drawn from single sections with the aid of a computer. Morphological analysis of fibers drawn in SpI indicated no significant differences between axons from normal and vinblastine-treated animals. The fibers drawn from rats that sustained ION transection had significantly more branch points (P < 0.05) than those from either normal or vinblastine-treated animals. In PrV, fibers drawn from vinblastine-treated rats had a slightly, but significantly, larger total process length and cross-sectional area than those from the normal animals (P < 0.05). There were no other significant differences among the three groups of axons. These results support the conclusion that application of vinblastine to the developing ION does not dramatically alter the morphologic patterning of the central arbors of its axons.