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Immunocytochemistry of B-50 (GAP-43) in the spinal cord and in dorsal root ganglia of the adult cat

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Journal of Neurocytology

Summary

The distribution of the neural-specific growth associated protein B-50 (GAP-43), which persists in the mature spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia, has been studied by light and electron microscopic immunohistochemistry in the cat. Throughout the spinal cord, B-50 immunoreactivity was seen confined to the neuropil, whereas neuronal cell bodies were unreactive. The most conspicuous immunostaining was observed in the dorsal horn, where it gradually decreased from superficial laminae (I–II) toward more ventral laminae (III–V), and in the central portion of the intermediate gray (mainly lamina X). In these regions, the labelling was localized within unmyelinated, small diameter nerve fibres and axon terminals. In the rest of the intermediate zone (laminae VI–VIII), B-50 immunoreactivity was virtually absent. The intermediolateral nucleus in the thoracic and cranial lumbar cord showed a circumscribed intense B-50 immunoreactivity brought about by the labelling of many axon terminals on preganglionic sympathetic neurons. In motor nuclei of the ventral horn (lamina IX), low levels of B-50 immunoreactivity were present in a few axon terminals on dendritic and somal profiles of motoneurons. In dorsal root ganglia, B-50 immunoreactivity was mainly localized in the cell bodies of small and medium-sized sensory neurons. The selective distribution of persisting B-50 immunoreactivity in the mature cat throughout sensory, motor, and autonomie areas of the spinal cord and in dorsal root ganglia suggests that B-50-positive systems retain in adult life the capacity for structural and functional plasticity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Aachen University Medical School, Pauwelsstrasse, D-5100, Aachen, Germany

    W. Nacimiento, A. Fischer & J. Noth

  2. Neurosurgical Research Laboratory, Saarland University Medical School, D-6650, Homburg, Germany

    A. C. Nacimiento

  3. Department of Neuromorphology, Max-Planck-Institute for Psychiatry, Am Klopferspitz 18a, D-8033, Martinsried n. Munich, Germany

    W. Nacimiento, R. Töpper & G. W. Kreutzberg

  4. Rudolf Magnus Institute, University of Utrecht, 3584, CH Utrecht, The Netherlands

    A. B. Obstreicher & W. H. Gispen

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  1. W. Nacimiento
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  2. R. Töpper
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  3. A. Fischer
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  7. J. Noth
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Nacimiento, W., Töpper, R., Fischer, A. et al. Immunocytochemistry of B-50 (GAP-43) in the spinal cord and in dorsal root ganglia of the adult cat. J Neurocytol 22, 413–424 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01181562

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01181562

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