The ultrastructural characteristics and their functional significance of the arcuate nucleus and median eminence

Summary The ultrastructural characteristics of the arcuate nucleus and median eminence in rats have been studied by means of formaldehyde-osmium tetroxide fixation method. The observations showed that there are two kinds of neurons (dark and light) in the arcuate nucleus which might be responsible for producing both dopamine and releasing hormones. The tanycytes of the ependyma of the third cerebral ventricle pass longitudinally through the various zones of the median eminence and reach at pericapillary space of the portal vessels. The neurosecretory substance-containing nerve terminals may travel between ependymal cells and even enter the cavity of the third ventricle or end around the basal membrane of the capillaries of the median eminence. The axo-somatic and axodendritic synapses are formed at the perikaryon and dendrites of neurons in the arcuate nucleus. Both agranular type and granular type of axo-axonic synapses are encountered in the fibrous zone of the median eminence. There are also synaptic connections between the basic processes of tanycytes and the large granular vesicle-containing nerve terminals in the palisade zone of the median eminence. The ultrastructural characteristics mentioned above suggest that (1) the releasing (or inhibiting) hormones of the hypothalamus might be released through two routes: into the portal capillaries from nerve terminals directly or into the cerebrospinal fluid of the third ventricle first and uptaken by tanycytes, then transported to the portal capillaries by the basic processes of tanycyte; (2) each step of synthesis, storage, transport and release of the releasing (or inhibiting) hormones could be regulated by nervous mechanism.     

The melanin-concentrating hormone system of the rat brain: an immuno- and hybridization histochemical characterization.

In addition to a nonadecapeptide homologous to the teleost melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), the amino acid sequence predicted from a rat prepro-MCH (ppMCH) cDNA suggested that at least one (neuropeptide EI, or NEI), and possibly a second (NGE), additional neuropeptide may be encoded by this precursor. Cross-reactivity with epitopes of NEI or NGE can account for reported localization of alpha-MSH, rat CRF, and human GRF in rat dorsolateral hypothalamic neurons. We have used antisera raised against rat MCH and NEI in immunohistochemical studies at the light and electron microscopic levels, along with hybridization histochemical localization of ppMCH mRNA, to define the organization of this system. As expected, ppMCH mRNA is prominently expressed in cells in the lateral hypothalamic area and zona incerta. The MCH and NEI peptides were extensively colocalized in neurons in both of these areas. In addition, smaller cell groups in the olfactory tubercle and pontine tegmentum were also positively hybridized for ppMCH mRNA and immunostained for MCH and NEI. Fibers stained for MCH and NEI were similarly, and very broadly, distributed throughout the central nervous system in patterns that generally conformed with known projection fields of the lateral hypothalamic area and zona incerta. A differential distribution was seen in at least one region, the interanterodorsal nucleus of the thalamus, which contained a prominent terminal field stained for MCH but not NEI. At the electron microscopic level, MCH-stained perikarya displayed a prominent staining associated with the Golgi apparatus; this was not encountered in NEI-stained cells. Both peptides were distributed similarly in terminals in the lateral hypothalamic area and median eminence, with staining associated principally with dense-cored vesicles. The results suggest that ppMCH-derived peptides may serve as neurotransmitters or modulators of prominence in a surprisingly expansive projection field of incerto-hypothalamic neurons. The terminal distributions of this system seem most compatible with functional roles in generalized arousal and sensorimotor integration, processes previously implicated as being subject to modulation by the lateral hypothalamic area.     

Development of fetal hypothalamic magnocellular neurosecretory neurons transplanted into the third ventricle of the adult rat brain

Department of Biology, N. I. Pirogov Second Moscow Medical Institute. Department of Biology, Khar'kov Medical Institute. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. N. Smirnov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 105, No. 2, pp. 224–227, February, 1988.     

Effect of lithium chloride on the neurosecretory system of the rat hypothalamus

The response of the hypothalamic-pituitary neurosecretory system (HPNS) of rats to a single and repeated injection (200 mg/kg each time) of lithium chloride was studied by quantitative cytochemical analysis. The response of the HPNS was found to depend directly on the dose of lithium given and to consist of activation of synthesis and liberation of neurosecretion after a single dose of LiCl or inhibition of hormone formation in the hypothalamus and exhaustion of the reserves of neurosecretion in the neurohypophysis after a course of injections. In the recovery period (7–30 days after stopping the course of injections of LiCl) the previous state of the HPNS was gradually restored.Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 83, No. 1, pp. 32–34, January, 1977.     

Neurosecretory cells of the amygdaloid Complex during Estrous Cycle

Ultrastructure of neurosecretory cells of the dorsomedial nucleus of the cerebral amygdaloid complex (one of the main zones of sexual dimorphism) was studied in different phases of the estrous cycle. The characteristics of the light and dark cells change depending on the concentrations of sex steroids during estrus and metestrus.__________Translated from Byulleten Eksperimentalnoi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 139, No. 2, pp. 231–233, February, 2005     

Immunocytochemical demonstration of a homology in peptidergic neurosecretory cells in the suboesophageal ganglion of a beetle and a locust with antisera to bovine pancreatic polypeptide, FMRFamide, vasopressin and alpha-MSH

In the suboesophageal ganglion of the Colorado potato beetle and the migratory locust three types of peptidergic neurosecretory cells were identified immunocytochemically with antisera to bovine pancreatic polypeptide, FMRFamide, vasopressin and alpha-MSH. Their locations and immunocytochemical reactions are similar, which suggests that these peptidergic cells in both insect species are homologous and perhaps have similar functions.     

Paraventricular neurosecretory neurons: synaptic inputs from the ventrolateral medulla in rats

Effects of electrical stimulation of the ventrolateral medulla on discharge activity of neurosecretory neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) were studied in male rats anesthetized with urethane-chloralose. Among 35 phasically firing neurosecretory neurons, stimulation of the lateral reticular nucleus and its vicinity produced excitation in 10 and inhibition in 2. The stimulation also enhanced the activity of 40% of the PVN neurosecretory neurons that fired continuously (n = 81); of these responsive neurons, half of the neurons tested (n = 12) were inhibited by i.v. administration of phenylephrine. The result suggests that both vasopressin- and oxytocin-secreting neurons in the PVN receive mainly excitatory synaptic inputs from the ventrolateral medulla.     

Primary Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Liver

A case of primary neuroendocrine carcinoma in an unusual location, the liver, is reported. The neoplasm was composed of small, uniform cells that had distinct borders and grew in strands, ribbons and nests; its appearance resembled that of a carcinoid. Electron microscopy and special staining of the neoplastic cells confirmed the neuroendocrine nature of the tumor, and the cells showed immunoreactivity for gastrin and pancreatic polypeptide by the PAP. The recent literature is reviewed, and the possible histogenesis of hepatic neuroendocrine carcinoma is discussed.     

Evidence That IGF-I Acts as an Autocrine/Paracrine Growth Factor in the Magnocellular Neurosecretory System: Neuronal Synthesis and Induction of Axonal Sprouting

The ability of mature oxytocinergic (OT) and vasopressinergic (VP) neurons of the magnocellular neurosecretory system (MNS) to undergo axonal growth implies that one or more growth factors may be active in the adult MNS, yet little is known regarding their possible identity. One such potential factor is insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). We have examined the expression of IGF-I mRNA and IGF-I-immunoreactivity (IGF-I-ir) in the mature MNS and have also determined the in vivo response of OT and VP neurons to hypothalamic implants of IGF-I. In situ hybridization revealed moderate labeling of IGF-I mRNA in both the supraoptic (SON) and the paraventricular (PVN) nuclei of adult male rats. RT-PCR analysis confirmed the presence of authentic IGF-I mRNA in extracts of the basal hypothalamus. Faint IGF-I-ir was detected in scattered magnocellular neurons within both the PVN and the SON of normal rats, but IGF-I-ir was much more intense and the majority of MNS neurons including those in the accessory nuclei were immunoreactive in sections from rats given colchicine, as were some parvocellular neurons in the PVN. Confocal microscopy revealed that IGF-I-ir was present in both OT and VP neurons, but VP neurons contained the most intense IGF-I-ir. Finally, a dramatic growth response of OT but not of VP fibers was observed following implantation of polymer rods containing IGF-I into the hypothalamus. A dense OT fiber plexus grew along the cannula track and OT fibers invaded the leptomeninges ventral to the SON and encircled the rostral cerebral artery. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of axonal sprouting by mature OT neurons in response to an identified growth factor and the first direct demonstration of sprouting in response to exogenous IGF-I in the adult CNS. These findings suggest that IGF-I is synthesized and transported by adult MNS neurons where it may act as an autocrine and/or paracrine growth factor.     

Hypothalamic effector neurons and extended circuitries activated in “neurogenic” stress: A comparison of footshock effects exerted acutely,chronically, and in animals with controlled glucocorticoid levels

Immunolocalization of Fos protein was used to identify and characterize hypothalamic visceromotor populations responsive to acute and chronic intermittent footshock stress, and candidate afferent mediators of hypothalamic effects. Exposure to a single 30 minute footshock session induced maximal Fos expression in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH) 2 hours after the challenge; activated cells corresponded principally to hypophysiotropic neurons expressing corticotropin-releasing factor, with secondary involvement of magnocellular oxytocinergic and autonomic-related projection neurons. Extrahypothalamic cell groups activated in response to acute footshock included ones associated with the processing or modulation of somatosensory/nociceptive inputs, the limbic region of the telencephalon, and visceral sensory mechanisms. Rats with constant corticosterone levels displayed enhanced footshock-induced Fos expression in the parvicellular compartment of the PVH, as well as in certain limbic and somatosensory cell groups, the locus coeruleus, but not in medullary catecholaminergic cell groups. Animals subjected to chronic intermittent stress (2 sessions/day for 7 days) showed only modest evidence of habituation of cellular activation responses in the PVH and most extrahypothalamic regions. Rats bearing retrograde tracer deposits in the PVH and killed 2 hours after acute footshock displayed Fos-positive retrogradely labeled neurons principally in medullary catecholaminergic cell groups, with secondary foci in the hypothalamus, limbic region, and pontine tegmentum. This characterization of footshock-responsive systems identifies cell groups that are in a position to (1) mediate acute stress effects on hypothalamic visceromotor neurons, (2) comprise targets for corticosteroid negative feedback effects, and/or (3) underlie habituation of the neuroendocrine limb of the stress response. J. Comp. Neurol. 393:244–266, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.