Light Microscopic Obsenrations of GABA-Immunoreactive Neuronal Elements in the Dog Basilar Pons

개의 교핵내 GABA성 신경세포 성분에 관한 광학현미경적 고찰

Putative gamma aminobu%sic acid (GABA)-ersic elements in the basilar pontine nuclei were examined in the dos using an antiserum against GABA-glutaraldehvde-protein conjusBtes and the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method. GABA-immunoreactive neuronal somata in the basilar Pons exhibited various morphology with the majority being spindle-shaped or multipolar, while some were spheroidal. The size of GABA-orgic neuronal somata was relatively small (approximately $10-20\mum)$ in diameter. GABA-immunoreactive neurons were scattered throughout the pontine nuclei, but the midline region of the medial nucleus at the rostral pons, the lateral nucleus at mid-pontine levels, and the ventral nucleus at the caudal pons exhibited a relatively greater concentration of cell bodies. A sparse number of GABA-ergic neurons were observed within the cerebral peduncle and along the ventral borders of the basilar pons adjacent to the middle cerebellar peduncle at the rostrocaudal levels of the pontine nuclei. These obsenrations provide anatomic evidence of how this inhibitory neural element performs its function in the cortico-prontocerbellar circuitry.