Tactile discrimination study of the dorsal column-medial lemniscal system and spino-cervico-thalamic tract in cat

Summary The role of two spinal sensory pathways, the dorsal column (DC) pathway and the spino-cervico-thalamic tract (SCTT), involved in tactile discrimination was studied. Pour lesion groups of cats (DC lesion, SCTT lesion, combined DC and SCTT lesion, and sham-operated) were tested to discriminate various degrees of roughness. Animals with either the SCTT or the combined lesions performed at around 50–60% level under all the conditions tested. On the other hand, those with the DC lesion and sham-operations generally attained 80–100% level of performance.A difference between the DC group and sham-operated group was found in their rate of learning and ability for finer discrimination. These results are interpreted as an indication that a duplicity in transmission of tactile sensation exists, the DC pathway being more specific than the SCTT.This work was supported by USPHS Grants NB 00403, AM 6705 and FR 5384-07.     

An HRP and autoradiographic study of the projection from the cerebellar cortex to the nucleus interpositus anterior and nucleus interpositus posterior of the cat.

The recently developed anatomical techniques of retrograde transport of the enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP), anterograde transport of tritiated amino acid, and intracellular injections of HRP were used to study the organization of the corticonuclear projection to the nucleus interpositus anterior (NIA) and the nucleus interpositus posterior (NIP) of the cat. Injections of HRP into the NIA and the NIP revealed that the major areas of the cortex which provided afferents to these two nuclei were the intermediate cortex of the anterior lobe (IAL) and the paramedian lobule (PML). There were, however, significant differences in the distribution of Purkinje (Pk) cells which projected to each nucleus. The NIA received afferents from all areas of the IAL while the NIP projection area was restricted to a band located at the medi-almost aspect of the lobe. All areas of the PML, in particular the intermediate folia, projected to the NIP, while the Pk cells which sent axons to the NIA were restricted to the rostral and caudal folia of this lobule. The projection from each area was somatotopically organized. The axons of intracellularly stained Pk cells were followed to their termination in the NIA and NIP confirming the results obtained with the two extracellular techniques. An attempt was made to examine the organization of the corticonuclear projection at the single cell level in the PML. Pk cells located in the same sagittal plane appeared to terminate in the same area of the same nucleus while Pk cells located not more than 500 micrometers medial or lateral to each other terminated in different nuclei. Basically, the organization of the corticonuclear projection from the IAL is longitudinally organized while the PML has a much more complex arrangement in which the Pk cells projecting to the NIA and NIP are interspersed.     

Definitive hematopoiesis from acetyl LDL incorporating endothelial cells in the mouse embryo

Previously, we reported generation of erythropoiesis from acetyl low-density lipoprotein (Ac-LDL)- incorporating endothelial cells (ECs) in the mouse embryo. However, it is still unclear whether the other types of definitive hematopoietic cells (HCs) can be generated from these cells. In this study, ECs at 10 days post coitum (dpc) were tagged with Ac-LDL-DiI and were shown to release DiI+ HCs into the circulation after 12 h of whole embryo culture. The hematopoietic clusters in the main arteries were also stained with DiI. The circulating DiI+ HCs expressed c-Kit and half of these cells displayed blastic morphology. In vitro culture and in vivo reconstitution experiments demonstrated that the circulating DiI+ HCs contained definitive multipotent progenitors, including hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Furthermore, the sorted DiI+ HCs were able to colonize the fetal liver (FL) when introduced back into the blood stream of a secondary recipient embryo. These results suggest that Ac-LDL incorporating ECs can produce definitive HSCs and HCs colonizing FL in the mouse embryo.