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Peculiarities of Age-Related Dynamics of Neurons in the Cat Lateral Geniculate Nucleus as Revealed in Frontal versus Sagittal Slices

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Abstract

We carried out a comparative morphometric analysis of neurons in the cat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) in frontal vs. sagittal slices. Using the SMI-32 antibody to non-phosphorylated domains of heavy-chain neurofilaments, the postnatal dynamic of soma parameters (area, roundness, orientation) of dLGN neurons was studied. Measurements were performed in kittens aged 0, 4, 10, 14, 21, 28, 34, 62, 123 days, and in adult cats. A comparison of data obtained in frontal vs. sagittal slices revealed the following significant differences: (1) the soma area of the immunopositive neurons was smaller in frontal vs. sagittal slices in all age groups, and this difference increased with age; (2) the soma orientation was also different in two cutting planes, and a significant age-related change in the soma orientation occurred only in the sagittal, but not frontal, plane. We assume that the difference in the soma area is due to the spatial arrangement of SMI-32-immunopositive neurons in the dLGN, because of which, in the sagittal plane, in contrast to the frontal, neuronal somas were cut parallel to their long axis. In turn, age-related changes in the soma orientation may reflect an age-related internal rearrangement of the dLGN retinotopic organization.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors are grateful to N.I. Nikitina for her assistance in microscopic studies.

Funding

This work was supported by the Governmental Program 47 “Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation” for 2019–2030, theme 0134-2019-0006 (theoretical part) and the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 21-15-00235 (experimental part).

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  1. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. A. Mikhalkin & N. S. Merkulyeva

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  1. A. A. Mikhalkin
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  2. N. S. Merkulyeva
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Contributions

A concept and experimental design: A.A.M. and N.S.M.; data collection and processing: A.A.M.; statistical data treatment: A.A.M.; data analysis and interpretation: A.A.M. and N.S.M.; manuscript writing: A.A.M. and N.S.M.

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Correspondence to A. A. Mikhalkin.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest, both evident and potential, as related to the publication of this article.

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Translated by A. Polyanovsky

Russian Text © The Author(s), 2021, published in Zhurnal Evolyutsionnoi Biokhimii i Fiziologii, 2021, Vol. 57, No. 5, pp. 373–379https://doi.org/10.31857/S0044452921050053.

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Mikhalkin, A.A., Merkulyeva, N.S. Peculiarities of Age-Related Dynamics of Neurons in the Cat Lateral Geniculate Nucleus as Revealed in Frontal versus Sagittal Slices. J Evol Biochem Phys 57, 1001–1007 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093021050021

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