Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected into the lumbar enlargement of the spinal cord of the rabbit. A lot of anterograde labeled terminals were observed in the contralateral dorsal accessory olivary nucleus. The synapses contacting these labeled terminals were studied with electron microscope. Most of the labeled terminals contained spherical clear vesicals, only a few of them contained flat or pleomorphic cIear vesicles. The labeled terminals were mainly in contact with dendrites, a few contacting with the perikarya. One of the labeled terminals containsd both round and flat clear vesicoles, presynapticto a dendrite and a perikaryonrespectively. It was notabte that a few of the labeled terminals were included in axon-axonal synapses and glumeruli. The functional meaning of these special structures was discussed tentatively.

It was discovered that there were a group of gigantic neurons scattering in the tegmentum dorsolateral to the oral half of the red nucleus in the midbrain of the rabbit. The form and size of these neurons were similar to the gigantic cells in the gigantocellular reticular nucleus of the medulla oblongata. After injecting HRP or WGA-HRP in the cervical, thoracic or lumbar spinal segment of the rabbit, more than a half of these gigantic cells were labeled. The labeled cells were most crowded at the oral end level of the red nucleus. There were also labeled terminals near the labeld cells in the reticular formation of the midbrain. It is evidently that there are reciprocal connections between the spinal cord and the reticular formation of the midbrain in the rabbit.

It is well known anatomically and physiologically that the raphe nuclei project to the spinal cord. No definite data on somatotopic raphe-spinal relationship, however, are available. The raphe nuclei, especially the nucleus raphe magnus, were found to inhibit nociceptive transmission and pain reflexes in the spinal cord, and they presumably play an important role in acupuncture analgesia. Thus, the question on whether there is a somatotopic raphe-spinal projection has much to do with the analysis of the function of the raphe nuclei and the evaluation of their possible role in acupuncture analgesia. 11 cats were used in the present study. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected into the dorsal horn of the 7th cervical or 4,5th lumbar spinal cord and labelled cells were traced in the raphe nuclei. In the cases of cervical cord injection, labelled cells were found in the nucleus raphe magnus, nucleus raphe pallidus and nucleus raphe obscurus. In the lumbar injections only the nucleus raphe. magnus and nucleus raphe pallidus were labelled. The labellcd cells were distributed over relatively wide areas in the raphe nuclei after HRP injection into single spinal segments. Nevertheless, a certain degree of somatotopic relationship existed. In the nucleus raphe magnus cells projecting to G7 were distributed more rostrally and those projecting to L4,5, more caudally. In the nucleus raphe pallidus, on the contrary, cells to C7 were located more caudally while those to L4,5 more rostrally. A definite, though diffuse to a certain degree, somatotopie raphe-spinal projection is consistent with the extent of analgesia during acupuncture or electrical stimulation of the nucleus raphe magnus, thus favours the hypothsis of the role of descending inhibition from the raphe nuclei in acupuncture analgesia, and provides a possible explanation for the relative specificity of acupuncture points in their fields of analgesia.

A case of HRP injection into laminae Ⅰ-Ⅲ of the cervical spinal cord of the cat was reported. The labeled cells were found mainly in the dorsal column nuclei, nucleus raphe magnus, reticular nuclei, vestibular nuclei and nucleus of tractus solitarius.

The localization of the neurons which control the inferior oblique muscle in the oculomotor nucleus and their dendritic architecture were studied by injecting the conjugated cholera toxin-horseradish peroxidase (CT-HRP) into the inferior oblique muscle of 7 rabbits.The oculomotor nucleus could be divided into oral, middle and caudal parts. The middle part was further divided into dorsomedial and ventrolateral parts, and the caudal part divided into dorsal and ventral parts. The labeled neurons innervating the inferior oblique muscle were mainly distributed ipsilaterally and occupying two thirds. of the rostrocaudal extent of the oculomotor nucleus, a few were scattered contralaterally.The labeled cells were found in the dorsomedial part of the nucleus orally, and shifted in successive caudal sections to the medial and then to the ventral part. No labeled cells in the oral and caudal ends of the nucleus could be identified.The dendritic branches of the labeled neurons covered the whole nucleus, but densest in its dorsomedial part. Many of them extended beyond the boundary of the nucleus into the central gray matter dorsally, some even approacheding the aqueduct, or through the medial longitudinal fasciculus into the reticular formation laterally and ventrally. A few dendrites crossed the midline into the contralateral nucleus. Therefore the receptive field of the oculomotor nucleus is presumably much larger than the area of the nucleus itself.

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The projection from the vestibular nuclei to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord in the cat was studied with the horseradish peroxidase method. It has been discovered that the vestibulospinal tracts originate not only from the lateral, medial, and spinal vestibular nuclei but also from the superior vestibular nucleus. The site of termination of the vestibulospinal tracts is in the lateral region of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord as well as in the laminae Ⅶ and Ⅷ of Rexed.

The dorsal accessory olivary nucleus was studied with electron microscope in seven rabbits.The axo-axonal synapses,an axon being in contact synaptically with a spine of a perikaryon,the glomerulus with an axonal core and a bundle of microfibers within a nucleus of a neuron,as well as the already discovered axo- dendritic synapses,axo-somatic synapses and glomeruli with dendritic cores,were observed in this nucleus. The axo-dendritic synapses were often seen,the postsynaptic components of them were dendrites or spines.The axo-somatic synapses were fewer.An axonal terminal was seen synapsing to both a spine of a perikaryon and a dendrite.Both the presynaptic and postsynaptic components of the axo-axonal synapses contained spherical vesicles.Sometimes the axo-axo-dendritic synapses were observed.There were two kinds of glomeruli in this nucleus,one with dendritic core and the other axonal core.Two axons were discovered simultaneously synapsing with an axon. The complex synaptic pattern in the dorsal accessory olivary nucleus indicated that the afferent impulses would undergo diffusing,converging,presynaptic inhibition or integrating in this nucleus.

A glucose oxidase-3,3′ diaminobenzidine-nickel method was developed.Thistechnique can successfully demonstrate the details of the immunoreactive structuresand PHA-L labeled cell bodies and their processes.It is especially beneficial forvisualizing fibers and terminals.It is more sensitive than the regular 3,3′ diamino-benzidine method and the glucose oxidase-3,3′ diaminobenzidine technique,andvery stabilized.

Objective To investigate the effect of bcl-2 gene tr ansfection on the apoptosis and bioactivity of cultured islet cells. Met hods Adenovirus-mediated gene transfection was employed to transfect b cl-2 into the islet cells, the expression of bcl-2 was determined by RT-PCR a nd immunocytochemical staining, and the apoptosis of islet cells was detected by TUNEL, the viability was determined by trypan blue staining and islets function was evaluated by insulin detection. Results Bcl-2 protein exp ressed in 70% of transfected rat islet cells. The apoptosis rate of transfected cells reduced significantly compared with untransfected cells (6% vs. 22%). The viability of transfected cells was higher than that of untransfected cells (91% vs. 68%). Insulin secrete capacity of transfected islet cells in high glucose me dium was superior to untransfected cells. Conclusions Islet cel ls may be successfully transfected with adenovirus-mediated gene transfection t echniques. The apoptosis may be declined by bcl-2 gene transfection, so the isl et cells' function improved.