FINE-STRUCTURE AND SYNAPTIC ARCHITECTURE OF HRP-LABELED PRIMARY AFFERENT TERMINATIONS IN LAMINA-III OF THE RAT DORSAL HORN

The fine structure and synaptic architecture of the afferent terminations in dorsal horn lamina II are studied using a combined light and electron microscopic procedure after anterograde labelling with horseradish peroxidase. Vibratome parasagittal sections, stained with heavy metal intensified diaminobenzidine after tracer application to the dorsal roots, were flat-embedded in Epon. The five types of labelled terminal arbors occurring in lamina IIi (Cruz et al., '87: J. Comp. Neurol. 261:221-236) were drawn and relocated in 5-mu-m sections cut serially from the thick sections. Ultrathin sections were then cut from the 5-mu-m sections so that the terminal fibers and swellings observed in the light microscope could be traced in the electron microscope. The flame-shaped arbors arose from fine myelinated stem fibers. Terminal strands generated large oval central terminals of type II synaptic glomeruli (C(II)), which established frequent axoaxonal contacts. Similar terminals have been labelled in the cat after tracer injections into hair-follicle fibers (Rethelyi et al., '82: J. Comp. Neurol. 207:381-393). The other four plexuses arose from unmyelinated stem fibers. The swarms of ultrafine boutons consisted of extremely thin terminal fibers generating very small, round, or polygonal glomerular terminals containing tightly packed agranular synaptic vesicles of variable size and one mitochondrion at best. The terminal strands of the bouquet plexus bore long and scalloped central varicosities of type I synaptic glomeruli (C(I)) with pleomorphic agranular vesicles and a relative abundance of dendroaxonal contacts. These features, together with the location in dorsal lamina IIi, suggest their belonging to the fluoride resistant acid phosphatase (FRAP)-reactive population. The boutons of the undulating fibers and those of the lateral plexus were, like those of the bouquets, scalloped and elongated rostrocaudally (C(I)), but contained a few large granular vesicles. The occurrence of the swarm, undulating, and lateral plexuses in ventral lamina IIi, which seems to lack FRAP or peptidergic terminals, suggests an origin from other, still unidentified neurochemical populations of fine primary afferents.