The cells of origin of the commissural afferents to the area dentata in the mouse

The hippocampal commissural projection to the area dentata of the mouse was studied using the retrograde horseradish peroxidase (HRP) technique. Small volumes of HRP injected into the molecular layer of the fascia dentata or various subareas of regio inferior of the hippocampus (fields CA3a-c) resulted inlabeled perikarya in the contralateral hippocampus and area dentata. The commissural projection to the fascia dentata was observed to originate exclusively from cells within the hilus fasciae dentatae (CA4) of the contralateral area dentata. There was evidence of a considerable spread of commissural innervation along the septotemporal axis preferentially in the septal direction, confirming earlier observations. In contrast to the septotemporal spread, a sharp homotopic spatial organization was found in the mediolateral direction. For example, injections into the lateral portion of field CA3 (CA3a) resulted in HRP-positive cell bodies only in the contralateral field CA3a. When injections were made which apparently labeled all of the commissural fibers, the HRP reaction product was found in neurons both in the entire regio inferior and as far as the innermost point of the hilus fasciae dentatae; the majority of labeled cells were located in hippocampal subfield CA3c. No labeled cells were observed beyond the tip of the mossy fibers in regio superior.