Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Abstract |
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Introduction |
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Blobs can be distinguished from interblobs using many stains and labels besides CO. Blobs can be identified using glutamic acid decarboxylase (Hendrickson et al., 1981), lactate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, acetylcholinesterase (Horton, 1984
), CAT301 (Hendry et al., 1984
), NADPH diaphorase (Sandell, 1986
), microtubule-associated protein 2 (Hendry and Bhandari, 1992
), parvalbumin (Johnson and Casagrande, 1995
), and AMPA receptor subunits (Carder, 1997
). Interestingly, there are fewer markers that are known to preferentially identify interblobs. These markers include calbindin (Celio et al., 1986
; Hendry and Carder, 1993
; Blumcke et al., 1994
; Johnson and Casagrande, 1995
), calcineurin (Goto and Singer, 1994
), zinc (Dyck and Cynader, 1993
), and the muscarinic cholinergic receptor protein m2 (Tigges et al., 1997
). Although it is not known how these differences relate to the ability of the visual cortex to process stimulus features, a thorough understanding of blob and interblob anatomy may offer some insight.
In primate V1, the layers that receive the strongest geniculate input [IVA, IVC and IVCß (Hubel and Wiesel, 1972
; Hendrickson et al., 1978
)] have the highest levels of CO (Horton, 1984
; Livingstone and Hubel, 1984
). The same relationship is found throughout the superficial layers where the geniculate input zones are non-uniformly distributed and overlap with the CO-rich blobs (Livingstone and Hubel, 1982
; Lachica and Casagrande, 1992
). In contrast, the laminar pattern of non-phosphorylated neurofilament (labeled with the antibody SMI-32) is complementary to that of CO: layers IVA, IVC
and IVCß have the lowest levels of SMI-32 (Hof and Morrison, 1995
; Chaudhuri et al., 1996
). In the present experiment we wanted to evaluate whether the complementary relationship between CO and SMI-32 extends tangentially throughout the superficial layers where the patterns of CO and geniculate inputs are non-uniform. To test this, we compared the expression pattern of SMI-32 labeled cells to the pattern of CO staining within the superficial layers.
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Materials and Methods |
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The patterns of CO and SMI-32 were examined in six hemispheres from four normal adult squirrel monkeys. All procedures were approved by the Harvard Medical Area Standing Committee on Animals.
Histology
Animals were killed with a lethal dose of Nembutal (50 mg/kg) and perfused transcardially with cold 0.9% saline (4°C, 200250 ml) until the circulating fluid was clear, followed by cold (4°C) 4% paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.4 (200300 ml). The brain was then removed from the skull, and V1 from each hemisphere was gently flattened between glass slides and postfixed in 4% paraformaldehyde with 30% sucrose for 30 min. The flattened cortex was then transferred to phosphate-buffered saline with 30% sucrose and allowed to free float overnight. The tissue was cut tangentially into 50 µm sections using a freezing microtome. All hemispheres followed this procedure with the exception of one that was cut in the coronal plane.
Adjacent sections were reacted for CO or non-phosphorylated neurofilament protein using the antibody SMI-32 (Sternberger Monoclonals, Lutherville, MD), so that a direct comparison between the two labeling patterns could be achieved. SMI-32 is a monoclonal antibody that recognizes a non-phosphorylated epitope on heavy and medium molecular weight subunits of neurofilament protein (Lee et al., 1988). Free floating tissue sections cut for SMI-32 immunoreactivity were first placed in cold methanol with 0.3% hydrogen peroxide for 5 min and then pre-incubated for 1 h in Tris-buffered saline (TBS) containing 0.1% Triton X-100 and 5% normal goat serum. Sections were then incubated overnight in TBS containing 0.1% Triton X-100, 5% normal goat serum, and primary monoclonal antibody against non-phosphorylated neurofilament protein (1:2000). On the following day, immunoreactivity was revealed using a Vectastain ABC kit (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA) and chromogen 3,3'-diaminobensidine (DAB) with peroxide.
CO staining followed procedures outlined previously (Wong-Riley, 1979; Horton, 1984
; Murphy et al., 1995
). Sections cut for CO reactivity were mounted on gelatin-coated glass slides and air dried overnight. The next day, sections were incubated in phosphate buffer (0.1 M, pH 7.4) that contained a mixture of cytochrome C oxidase, catalase and DAB. Sections were reacted at 40°C in an incubator until the maximal contrast between blobs and interblobs was obtained (~8 h). Sections were then dehydrated in a series of graded alcohols, defatted in xylenes, and then coverslipped with DPX (BDH Labs, Poole, UK).
Quantification
A comparison of tangential sections labeled for neurofilament and CO was achieved by aligning adjacent sections using the radial blood vessel pattern. The boundaries around CO blobs were determined in an automated fashion using a Matlab routine that identified blob borders by drawing a contour at half the maximum to minimum optical staining intensity within the analysis area. Quantification of cell density in blobs and interblobs was performed for each tangentially cut hemisphere (n = 5) and involved using a computer application (Neurolucida, MicroBrightField, Inc., Williston, UT) to plot individually labeled neurons under high magnification. Cell plots from each animal were taken from the same retinotopic region of V1 (parafoveal) and represented an area of cortex that was ~5 mm2. The cell plots were spatially aligned with the blob contour map using the pattern of radial blood vessels, and a calculation of cell density (neurons/mm2) inside and outside of blobs was made. Cells that were not clearly within a blob or interblob (~10% of our sample) were not included in the analysis. Using a binomial distribution analysis, we also calculated the probability that the observed distribution of SMI-32 labeled cells relative to CO blobs occurred by chance.
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Results |
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Discussion |
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We are confident that our observed SMI-32 immunoreactivity is specific for the targeted antigen for the following reasons. (i) The pattern of reactivity for SMI-32 that we observed in coronal sections is consistent with previous findings that used the same antibody (Hof and Morrison, 1995; Chaudhuri et al., 1996
; Kogan et al., 2000
; Fenstemaker et al., 2001
). (ii) In agreement with past reports (Sternberger and Sternberger, 1983
; Hof and Morrison, 1995
), our labeling was primarily observed within the perikarya and dendrites of large pyramidal cells. (iii) Control sections that were reacted in the absence of primary antibody were devoid of label.
The pattern of SMI-32 labeling observed here may be related to the distribution of calcineurin labeling in the superficial layers of V1. Calcineurin is a calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase that influences the phosphorylation state of cytoskeleton proteins (Goto et al., 1985). In coronal sections of V1, calcineurin and SMI-32 have similar laminar labeling patterns, and both primarily target pyramidal neurons (Goto and Singer, 1994
; Hof and Morrision, 1995). Our results reveal another similarity, namely that, like calcineurin (Goto and Singer, 1994
), SMI-32 expression is heaviest within CO interblobs. That these two anatomical features overlap in the visual cortex is in agreement with the role that calcineurin has in the dephosphorylation of cytoskeleton proteins (Goto et al., 1985
). Our finding of an accumulation of non-phosphorylated neurofilament protein (labeled by SMI-32) within interblobs helps to explain the overlapping patterns of calcineurin and SMI-32 expression.
The SMI-32 antibody labels large pyramidal neurons (Meynert cells) within the infragrangular layers of V1 (see Fig. 1). It has previously been shown that Meynert cells are non-uniformly distributed across the infragranular layers such that they are largely located outside of CO blobs (Fries, 1986
; Payne and Peters, 1989
). Only 3% of Meynert cells fall within blob regions, with the remaining cells located either along blob borders or within interblobs (Fries, 1986
). Our results demonstrate the same pattern in the superficial layers, with the majority of supragranular SMI-32 positive cells being located outside of blob centers.
A non-uniform distribution of SMI-32 labeling has been observed in the superficial layers of macaque monkey V1; however, this pattern was not reported to have a consistent spatial relationship to CO blobs (Fenstemaker et al., 2001). The observed lack of correlation between these two markers in the macaque may be the consequence of a less distinct blob pattern. In squirrel monkey V1, the pattern of CO blobs is clearer, more punctate, and better demarcated compared to macaque blobs (Horton, 1984
). This may make it difficult to determine a spatial relationship between SMI-32 and CO in macaque without a quantitative analysis.
Neurons reactive for SMI-32 are mostly large in size and pyramidal in shape. This raises the possibility that the pattern of SMI-32 expression in the superficial layers is due to a non-uniform distribution of pyramidal neurons. Although pyramidal cells inside and outside of CO blobs do not differ in their soma size, spine density, or basal dendritic field structure (Hubener and Bolz, 1992), the distribution of pyramidal cells with respect to the CO pattern has not been studied quantitatively. A non-uniform distribution of pyramidal cells in the superficial layers of V1 could explain the inhomogeneous SMI-32 expression. If pyramidal cells were unevenly distributed so that the geniculate recipient zones (blobs) contained fewer of them, SMI-32 expression would be expected to be greatest outside of blobs.
Similar to primate V1, the rat primary somatosensory cortex (SI) has a distinct anatomical and physiological compartmentalization. Within SI there are patches of neurons called barrels that stain darkly for CO (Land and Simons, 1985) and each receives a projection, via the thalamus, from only one vibrissa (Woolsey and Van der Loos, 1970
). The regions of cortex that separate barrels, known as septa, exhibit weaker staining for CO (Land and Simons, 1985
) and thus give rise to a pattern of dark patches known as barrel fields. Interestingly, SMI-32 labeling is heaviest outside the CO-rich barrels and exhibits greatest expression within septa (Pegado et al., 1996
). These results are similar to our findings and support the notion that SMI-32 labeling is complementary to the pattern of CO and thalamic inputs.
In V1, SMI-32 labeling is weak in the regions of layer IV (IVA, IVC and IVCß) and layers II/II (blobs) that receive geniculate input, however, not all geniculo-recipient layers show weak expression. Layer VI receives a sparse geniculate input (Hubel and Wiesel, 1972
; Lund, 1988
) and exhibits heavy SMI-32 labeling. Therefore, not all layers that receive geniculate input express weak SMI-32. Perhaps the arrangement and degree of geniculate input influences the patterns of CO and SMI-32 in complementary ways. This issue could be addressed with a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between the pattern of geniculate input and the expression of CO and SMI-32 in layer VI.
The growing number of reports that document anatomical differences between blobs and interblobs indicate that these are features of V1 that can be distinguished by more than simply the level of CO. The anatomical features that make blobs and interblobs unique are likely the same features that endow them with the ability to perform different physiological functions. Although blob and interblob neurons have distinct physiological properties (Livingstone and Hubel, 1984; Landisman and Tso, 2002
), little is known about how their anatomical features are related to their unique functions. A better understanding of the anatomical differences between blobs and interblobs could provide valuable information toward understanding their role in the visual system.
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Notes |
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Address correspondence to Kevin Duffy, Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA. Email: kevin_duffy{at}hms.harvard.edu.
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References |
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