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Electron microscopical studies of the synapse in the developing chick spinal cord

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Summary

A search for synaptic strutures in the developing spinal cord of the chick has been made with the help of the electron microscope. We used as criteria of identification the presence of a) a thickening of neuronal membrane in contact with one another b) mitochondria and c) a type of vesicle usually associated with synapses. Structures fulfilling some of these requirements apear at the five day incubation stage and are clearly present at the ten day stage. Fully matured axosomatic and axo-dendritic synapses of both types appear at 16–18 days.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Histologie und experimentelle Neuroanatomie der Universität Göttingen, Deutschland

    P. Glees & B. L. Sheppard

Authors
  1. P. Glees
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  2. B. L. Sheppard
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Departmental technician for electronmicroscopy.

We should like to acknowledge our gratitude to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for their support, to Miss U. Wihlfahrt for technical assistance, Mrs. Bothe for the drawing of the diagramm, to the Welcome Trustees, London, for the loan of the Akashi microscope, and to the Volkswagenstiftung for the grant of the Siemens Elmiskop I.

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Glees, P., Sheppard, B.L. Electron microscopical studies of the synapse in the developing chick spinal cord. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 62, 356–362 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339285

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00339285

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