No abstract

Prenatal labelling with [3H]-thymidine was combined with retrograde tracing techniques in adult rats to determine the birthdates of the trigeminal (V) ganglion cells that contributed axons to the infraorbital nerve (ION) and the generation of the subsets of ION cells that innervated specific vibrissae follicles (C-1 and C-5). The V ganglion cells contributing axons to the ION are born between embryonic (E-, E-0 = the day of conception) days 9.5 and 14.5. The percentages (normalized so that they total 100%) of the total V ganglion population born on E-9.5 through E-14.5 were 5.8, 25.7, 19.8, 23.4, 21.0, and 4.4%, respectively. The distribution of birthdates for the V ganglion cells that were retrogradely labelled from the ION closely matched that for the ganglion as a whole. All of these neurons were also born on E-9.5 through E-14.5, and the percentages born on each day were 6.3, 23.6, 18.1, 24.0, 23.6, and 4.4%. Finally, a similar distribution of birthdates was obtained for the V ganglion cells that were retrogradely labelled after injection of retrograde tracers into either the C-1 or C-5 vibrissae follicles. We were unable to detect any distinctive spatial distributions for either all V ganglion or ION cells born on a specific embryonic day. Furthermore, neurons with a given birthdate and that innervated a given follicle were distributed throughout the entire region containing all of the ganglion cells supplying the follicle in question. Therefore, it appears that the V ganglion cells contributing axons to the ION are born over the entire period of ganglion neurogenesis and further that the organization of the ION's innervation of the periphery is not a function of cell birthdate.

No abstract

A combination of [3H]thymidine labelling and retrograde tracing with either horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or true blue (TB) was used to determine whether V primary afferent neurons born on different embryonic (E) days were differentially susceptible to neonatal transection of the infraorbital nerve (ION). In one experiment, rat fetuses were exposed to [3H]thymidine on E-8.5, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5, 12.5, 13.5, 14.5, or 15.5, the left infraorbital nerve (ION) was transected on the day of birth, and both the regenerate and intact IONs were labelled with HRP when the animals reached adulthood. The percentage of HRP labelled cells that were also heavily labelled by [3H]thymidine was calculated for both the intact ganglion and that ipsilateral to the damaged nerve for each animal. A consistently higher percentage of double labelled cells on the lesioned rather than on the intact side for a given E-day was taken as an indication that cells born on the day in question had an increased probability of survival relative to the entire population of V ganglion cells that contributed axons to the ION. Cells born late in gestation on E-12.5 through 14.5 were significantly more likely than early born (E-9.5 through 11.5) cells to survive neonatal axotomy. In a second experiment, fetuses were exposed to [3H]thymidine on either E-9.5, E-10.5, or E-14.5, the vibrissa pads on both sides of the face were injected with TB within 6 hours of birth, and the ION was transected 6-8 hours later.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

No abstract