Summary
Modifications have been made in Mesulam's method for labelling neurons by retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase, with tetramethylbenzidine as chromogen, with the object of increasing the extent of labelling of dendrites and axons. A procedure was devised specifically for studying spinomedullary and medullospinal tract systems, involving implanting easily-made HRP-agar pellets into areas of controlled damage in particular spinal fascicles, and sealing the site of implant with cyanoacrylate glue. Lesions of other fascicles were often made to limit transport to the implanted fascicle. Fourth-order dendrites were regularly labelled over long (30 cm or more) transport distances: axons were also labelled over this whole distance, often allowing exact study of the initial course of particular axons. Controls in both cat and rat showed that the uptake of HRP under these circumstances occurred almost wholly from the region of axonal damage at the site of implant which can be characterized histologically.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armstrong R, Blesovsky L, Corsiglia R, Gordon G (1979) Descending projections from the cat's dorsal column nuclei. J Physiol (Lond) 296: 43P
Berkley KJ (1975) Different targets of different neurones in nucleus gracilis of the cat. J Comp Neurol 163: 285–304
Brown AG, Fyffe REW (1981) Form and function of neurones with axons ascending the dorsal columns in cat. J Physiol (Lond) 321: 31–47
Brown AG, Rose PK, Snow PJ (1977) The morphology of spinocervical tract neurones revealed by intracellular injection of horseradish peroxidase. J Physiol (Lond) 270: 747–764
Burton H, Loewy AD (1977) Projections to the spinal cord from medullary somatosensory nuclei. J Comp Neurol 173: 773–792
Christman CW, Povlishock JT (1980) Use of retrograde peroxidase flooding as an effective tool for morphogenic analysis. Neurosci Lett 20: 227–231
Corsiglia R, Enevoldson TP, Gordon G, Sanders DJ (1981) An improved procedure for demonstrating dendritic morphology and axonal course of tract cells in the cat's spinal cord by retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase. J Physiol (Lond) 320: 24P
DeOlmos J, Heimer L (1977) Mapping of collateral projections with the HRP-method. Neurosci Lett 6: 107–114
Dietrichs E, Walberg F, Nordby T (1981) On retro- and anterograde transport of horseradish peroxidase in the pontocerebellar fibres as studied with the Mesulam tetramethylbenzidine technique. Brain Res 204: 179–183
Ferster D, LeVay S (1978) The axonal arborizations of lateral geniculate neurones in the striate cortex of the cat. J Comp Neurol 182: 923–944
Gordon G, Grant G (1982) Dorsolateral spinal afferents to some medullary sensory nuclei. An anatomical study. Exp Brain Res 46: 12–23
Grant G, Wiksten B, Berkley KJ, Aldskogius H (1982) The location of cerebellar projecting neurones within the lumbosacral cord in the cat. An anatomical study with horseradish peroxidase and retrograde chromatolysis. J Comp Neurol 204: 336–348
Griffin G, Watkins LR, Mayer DJ (1979) Horseradish peroxidase pellets and slow release gels: Two new techniques for greater localization and sensitivity. Brain Res 168: 595–601
Hanker JS, Yates PE, Metz CB, Rustioni A (1977) A new specific, sensitive and non-carcinogenic reagent for the demonstration of horseradish peroxidase. Histochem J 9: 789–792
Hicks SP, D'Amato CJ (1977) Locating corticospinal neurones by retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase. Exp Neurol 56: 410–420
Jones EG (1975) Possible determinants of the degree of retrograde neuronal labelling with horseradish peroxidase. Brain Res 85: 249–253
Kappers CU, Ariëns, Huber GC, Crosby EC (1967) The comparative anatomy of the nervous system of vertebrates, including man, vol 1, p 272. Hafner, New York (reprint)
Keefer DA (1978) Horseradish peroxidase as a retrogradely-transported detailed dendritic marker. Brain Res 140: 15–32
Kuypers HGJM, Maisky VA (1975) Retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase from spinal cord to brainstem cell groups in the cat. Neurosci Lett 1: 9–14
Kuypers HGJM, Maisky VA (1977) Funicular trajectories of descending brainstem pathways in the cat. Brain Res 136: 159–165
Mesulam M-M (1978) Tetramethyl benzidine for horseradish peroxidase neurochemistry: a non-carcinogenic blue reaction product with superior sensitivity for visualizing neural afferents and efferents. J Histochem Cytochem 26: 106–117
Mesulam M-M (1982) Principles of horseradish peroxidase neurohistochemistry and their applications for tracing neural pathways — axonal transport, enzyme histochemistry and light microscopic analysis. In: Mesulam M-M (ed) Tracing neural connections with horseradish peroxidase. Wiley, New York, pp 1–151
Mesulam M-M, Hegarty E, Barbas H, Carson KA, Gower EC, Knapp AG, Moss MB, Mufson EJ (1980) Additional factors influencing sensitivity in the tetramethyl benzidine method for horseradish peroxidase neurohistochemistry. J Histochem Cytochem 28: 1255–1259
Molenaar I, Kuypers HGJM (1978) Cells of origin of propriospinal fibres and of fibres ascending to supraspinal levels. A horseradish peroxidase study in cat and Rhesus monkey. Brain Res 152: 429–450
Oldfield BJ, McLachlan EM (1977) Uptake and retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase by axons of intact and damaged peripheral nerve trunks. Neurosci Lett 6: 135–141
Rosene DL, Mesulam M-M (1978) Fixation variables in horseradish peroxidase neurohistochemistry. I. The effects of fixation time and perfusion procedures upon enzyme activity. J Histochem Cytochem 26: 28–39
Sanders DJ (1983) Structural and functional inter-relationships of spinally projecting neurones in the dorsal column nuclei of the rat with other somaesthetic mechanisms. Thesis, Oxford University
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Enevoldson, T.P., Gordon, G. & Sanders, D.J. The use of retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase for studying the dendritic trees and axonal courses of particular groups of tract cells in the spinal cord. Exp Brain Res 54, 529–537 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235478
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235478