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An ultrastructural study of the synaptic densities, nematosomes, neurotubules, neurofilaments and of a further three-dimensional filamentous network as disclosed by the E-PTA staining procedure

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Summary

After the staining of nervous tissue with phosphotungstic acid in absolute ethanol (E-PTA), a selective opacification occurs at certain specific sites, while other structures, especially the plasma and intra-cellular membranes, remain electron-lucent. Among those selectively stained sites, our studies have been focussed on: (1) The dense synaptic material consisting of several presynaptic clumps, termed projections, an intrasynaptic dense line and a subsynaptic web from which fine fibrillar wisps extend into the surrounding ground substance; (2) Neurofilaments and neurotubules, the surface of which is bristled by numerous side-arms; (3) A microfilamentous network intertwines the neurotubules, the neurofilaments and the mitochondria in the dendrites and axon, and is also connected to the E-PTA dense undercoating delineating the inner aspect of the plasma membrane and to the fine wisps emanating from the subsynaptic web. A three-dimensional microfilamentous latticework is thus formed in the nerve cell processes; (4) Dense cytoplasmic inclusions, termed nematosomes, which are usually located in the ground substance of the perikaryon among or in the vicinity of clusters of ribosomes. Tiny microfilaments emanate from the peripheral strands of these bodies. The presence of basic residues in the chains of structural proteins of which consist the subsynaptic web and the nematosome is plausible, since the specificity of the E-PTA staining procedure for the detection of basic residues has previously been put forth. The occurrence of a three-dimensional microfilamentous network in the nerve cell processes led us to hypothesize that it plays a role in translocation of materials. It may provide the motive force for the axoplasmic transport, for instance, with the neurotubules, as well as, plausibly, with the neurofilaments, serving as attachment sites and guideways.

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  1. Laboratoire de Neurobiologie, Département d'Anatomie, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, Canada

    Yvi J. Le Beux

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Le Beux, Y.J. An ultrastructural study of the synaptic densities, nematosomes, neurotubules, neurofilaments and of a further three-dimensional filamentous network as disclosed by the E-PTA staining procedure. Z.Zellforsch 143, 239–272 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307481

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