Summary
Micro-injections of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were made into the visual cortex of the golden hamster. The “projection lines” of labelled neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) were three-dimensionally reconstructed, using a computer graphics technique. The lines run rostrally and medially from their origins at the lateral surface of the nucleus. Using an anatomically determined retinotopic map of the LGNd, the positions of all labelled cells near the lateral surface were converted into equivalent visual field co-ordinates and displayed on a physiologically determined retinotopic map of the primary visual cortex. Comparison between the scatter of these equivalent retinotopic loci and an actual reconstruction of the injection site revealed that: 1. there was general agreement between the independent retinotopic maps of LGNd and visual cortex; 2. there was greater retinotopic scatter of labelled LGNd cells than could be accounted for by the area of tissue injury in the cortex; 3. the retinotopic scatter matched more closely the total visible halo of HRP staining in the grey matter; 4. HRP can be taken up from a cytoarchitectonic field into which it diffuses after injection into a neighbouring area; 5. HRP is probably not taken up by undamaged axons in the white matter. These results are compared with those obtained in other animals and other systems. No general rules emerge, but the possibility of uptake from wide areas of diffusion must be considered when interpreting results of HRP injection.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bishop, P.O., Kozak, W., Levick, W.R., Vakkur, G.J.: The determination of the projection of the visual field on to the lateral geniculate nucleus in the cat. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 163, 503–539 (1962)
Bunt, A.H., Hendrickson, A.E., Lund, J.S., Fuchs, A.F.: Monkey retinal ganglion cells: morphometric analysis and tracing of axonal projections with a consideration of the peroxidase technique. J.comp. Neurol. 164, 265–286 (1975)
Caviness, V.S.: Architectonic map of neocortex of the normal mouse. J. comp. Neurol. 164, 247–264 (1975)
DeVito, J.L., Clausing, K.W., Smith, O.A.: Uptake and transport of horseradish peroxidase by cut end of the vagus nerve. Brain Res. 82, 269–271 (1974)
Dürsteler, M.R., Blakemore, C., Garey, L.J.: In preparation
Frost, D.O., Schneider, G.E.: Normal and abnormal uncrossed retinal projections in Syrian hamsters as demonstrated by Fink-Heimer and autoradiographic techniques. Neuroscience Abstracts 2, 812 (1976)
Graham, R.C., Karnovsky, M.J.: The early stages of absorption of injected horseradish peroxidase in the proximal tubules of mouse kidney: ultrastructural cytochemistry by a new technique. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 14, 291–302 (1966)
Heuser, J.E., Reese, T.S.: Evidence for recycling of synaptic vesicle membrane during transmitter release at the frog neuromuscular junction. J. Cell Biol. 57, 315–344 (1973)
Jhaveri, S.R., Schneider, G.E.: Retinal projections in Syrian hamsters: normal topography, and alterations after partial tectal lesions at birth. Anat. Rec. 178, 383 (1974)
Jones, E.G., Leavitt, R.Y.: Retrograde axonal transport and the demonstration of nonspecific projections to the cerebral cortex and striatum from thalamic intralaminar nuclei in the rat, cat and monkey. J. comp. Neurol. 154, 349–378 (1974)
Kelly, J.P., Gilbert, C.D.: The projections of different morphological types of ganglion cells in the cat retina. J. comp. Neurol. 163, 65–80 (1975)
Kim, C.C., Strick, P.L.: Critical factors involved in the demonstration of horseradish peroxidase retrograde transport. Brain Res. 103, 356–361 (1976)
Krishnan, N., Singer, M.: Penetration of peroxidase into peripheral nerve fibers. Amer. J. Anat. 136, 1–14 (1973)
Kristensson, K., Olsson, Y.: Retrograde axonal transport of protein. Brain Res. 29, 363–365 (1971)
Kristensson, K., Olsson, Y.: Retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase in transected axons. 3. Entry into injured axons and subsequent localization in perikaryon. Brain Res. 115, 201–213 (1976)
LaVail, J.H.: The retrograde transport method. Fed. Proc. 34, 1618–1624 (1975)
LaVail, J.H., LaVail, M.M.: Retrograde axonal transport in the central nervous system. Science 176, 1416–1417 (1972)
LaVail, J.H., LaVail, M.M.: The retrograde intraaxonal transport of horseradish peroxidase in the chick visual system: a light and electron microscopic study. J. comp. Neurol. 157, 303–358 (1974)
LaVail, J.H., Winston, K.R., Tish, A.: A method based on retrograde intraaxonal transport of protein for identification of cell bodies of origin of axons terminating within the CNS. Brain Res. 58, 470–477 (1973)
LaVail, M.M., LaVail, J.H.: Retrograde intraaxonal transport of horseradish peroxidase in retinal ganglion cells of the chick. Brain Res. 85, 273–280 (1975)
Lund, J.S., Lund, R.D., Hendrickson, A.E., Bunt, A.H., Fuchs, A.F.: The origin of efferent pathways from the primary visual cortex, area 17, of the macaque monkey as shown by retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase. J. comp. Neurol. 164, 287–304 (1975)
Nauta, H.J.W., Pritz, M.B., Lasek, R.J.: Afferents to the rat caudoputamen studied with horseradish peroxidase. An evaluation of a retrograde neuroanatomical research method. Brain Res. 67, 219–238 (1974)
Ogren, M., Hendrickson, A.: Afferent and efferent pathways of striate cortex in squirrel and rhesus monkeys. Anat. Rec. 181, 439 (1975)
Schneider, G.E.: Two visual systems. Science 163, 895–902 (1969)
Tiao, Y.C., Blakemore, C.: Functional organization in the visual cortex of the golden hamster. J. comp. Neurol. 168, 459–482 (1976)
Turner, P.T., Harris, A.B.: Ultrastructure of exogenous peroxidase in cerebral cortex. Brain Res. 74, 305–326 (1974)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Royal Society Locke Research Fellow, on leave from the Physiological Laboratory, Cambridge, England
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dürsteler, M.R., Blakemore, C. & Garey, L.J. Uptake of horseradish peroxidase by geniculo-cortical axons in the golden hamster: Analysis by computer reconstruction. Exp Brain Res 29, 487–500 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236186
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00236186