Cell genesis in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of 2-month-old rabbits has been investigated. After incorporation of tritiated thymidine, electron microscopic autoradiography allowed description of the ultrastructure of the cells labelled and the progressive transformation of these cells into granular neurons to be followed. Quantitative evaluation of the time course of this transformation has been performed by light microscope autoradiography using 1-µm sections. Precursor cells, labelled initially with ³H-thymidine, were transformed after 5 days into early neuroblasts, these cells in turn giving rise to neurons some 8 days later. At the latest time period examined (42 days), 80% of the labelled cells were neurons; more than 10% remained as precursor cells. It is suspected that the latter may behave as reserve cells. Small numbers of glial cells, astrocytes, and microglia, scattered throughout the talus of the dentate gyrus and the molecular layer, were found labelled, and it is possible that they arise from a different precursor pool. It is concluded that the subgranular zone functions as a secondary matrix for granule neurons of the dentate gyrus in young rabbits. These late-forming and apparently synaptically uncommitted neurons may be recruited during the development and refinement of postnatal behavioral substrates, by one or other of the dominant afferent systems.

Adult rabbits were subjected to 4.5 Gy of whole-blody or brain alone gamma-irradiation, and their hippocampus was examined with the light and electron microscope. Pycnotic cells were found at the base of the granular layer of the dentate gyrus in the so-called subgranular zone, as soon as 3 h after irradiation, and were cleared up by active phagocytosis after 48 h. Some of these cells appeared as undifferentiated, whereas others were differentiating granule cells, and possibly immature neuroglia. The extent of cell necrosis was contingent upon the age of the animal, the oldest animal studied (27 months) showing only sparse lesion of that type. Astrocytes and microglia were responsible for the phagocytosis of dead cells. Another type of lesion was found in the nuclei of the mature granule cells and consisted of light spots which appeared 1 h after the irradiation and disappeared almost completely after 48 h. Pyramidal cells did not show any of these two lesions. It is concluded that the laterations in the electrical activity of pyrimidal cells, following irradiation, are at least partly due to lesions affecting the dentate gyrus. Radionecrosis in the subgranular zone is related to the presence of immature cells in this region.

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