Spinal cord projections to the cerebellum in the mouse

The projections from the spinal cord to the cerebellar cortex were studied using retrograde neuronal tracers. Thus far, no study has shown the detailed topographic mapping of the projections from the spinal neuron clusters to the cerebellar cortex regions for experimental animals, and there are no studies for the mouse. Tracers Fluoro-Gold and cholera toxin B were injected into circumscribed regions of the cerebellar cortex, and retrogradely labeled spinal cord neurons were mapped throughout the spinal cord. Spinal projections to the cerebellar cortex were mainly from five neuronal columns—central cervical nucleus, dorsal nucleus, lumbar and sacral precerebellar nuclei, and lumbar border precerebellar cells—and from scattered neurons located in the deep dorsal horn and laminae 6–8. The spinocerebellar projections to the cortex were mainly to the vermis. All five precerebellar cell columns projected to both anterior and posterior parts of the cerebellar cortex. Results of this study provide an amendment to the known rostral and caudal boundaries of the precerebellar cell columns in the mouse. Scattered precerebellar neurons in the most caudal deep dorsal horn and laminae 6–8 projected exclusively to the anterior part of the cerebellar cortex. In this study, no labeled spinal neurons were found to project to the lobules 6 and 7 of the cerebellar vermis, the flocculus, and the paraflocculus. Spinocerebellar neurons were located bilaterally, but the majority of the projections were contralateral for the central cervical nucleus, and ipsilateral for the remaining spinal precerebellar neuronal clusters.

[1]  G. Paxinos,et al.  Atlas of the Mouse Spinal Cord , 2009 .

[2]  R. Poppele,et al.  Origin of spinal projections to the anterior and posterior lobes of the rat cerebellum , 1991, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[3]  C. Gallimore,et al.  The morphology and projections of dorsal horn spinocerebellar tract neurones in the cat. , 1988, The Journal of physiology.

[4]  B. Diamant Further observations on the effect of anoxia on histamine release from guinea-pig and rat lung tissue in vitro. , 1962, Acta physiologica Scandinavica.

[5]  N. Okado,et al.  The terminal distribution pattern of spinocerebellar fibers , 1987, Anatomy and Embryology.

[6]  R. Hawkes,et al.  Topography of purkinje cell compartments and mossy fiber terminal fields in lobules ii and iii of the rat cerebellar cortex: Spinocerebellar and cuneocerebellar projections , 1994, Neuroscience.

[7]  R. Faull,et al.  A comparative study of the neurons of origin of the spinocerebellar afferents in the rat, Cat and squirrel monkey based on the retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase , 1978, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[8]  M. Matsushita,et al.  Spinocerebellar projections from the central cervical nucleus in the cat, as studied by anterograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin‐horseradish peroxidase , 1987, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[9]  H. Yaginuma,et al.  Spinocerebellar projections from the upper lumbar segments in the cat, as studied by anterograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin‐horseradish peroxidase , 1987 .

[10]  G. Grant,et al.  Cerebellar projections from the cervical enlargement: an experimental study with silver impregnation and autoradiographic techniques in the cat , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[11]  M Matsushita,et al.  Spinocerebellar projections from the thoracic cord in the cat, as studied by anterograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin‐horseradish peroxidase , 1987, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[12]  Xiulai Gao,et al.  Projections from the thoracic cord to the cerebellar nuclei in the rat, studied by anterograde axonal tracing , 1997, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[13]  M Matsushita,et al.  Spinocerebellar projections from the cervical enlargement in the cat, as studied by anterograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase. , 1987, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[14]  K. Berkley,et al.  The location of cerebellar‐projecting neurons within the lumbosacral spinal cord in the cat. An anatomical study with HRP and retrograde chromatolysis , 1982, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[15]  G. Grant,et al.  Lumbar dorsal root projections to spinocerebellar cell groups in the rat spinal cord: a double labeling study , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[16]  G. Grant,et al.  Course of spinocerebellar axons in the ventral and lateral funiculi of the spinal cord with projections to the posterior cerebellar termination area: an experimental anatomical study in the cat, using a retrograde tracing technique , 2005, Experimental Brain Research.

[17]  G. Grant,et al.  Course of spinocerebellar axons in the ventral and lateral funiculi of the spinal cord with projections to the anterior lobe: An experimental anatomical study in the cat with retrograde tracing techniques , 1994, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[18]  G. Wolstenholme,et al.  The Spinal cord , 1953 .

[19]  M. Matsushita Projections from the upper lumbar cord to the cerebellar nuclei in the rat, studied by anterograde axonal tracing , 1999, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[20]  G. Paxinos,et al.  The spinal precerebellar nuclei: Calcium binding proteins and gene expression profile in the mouse , 2012, Neuroscience Letters.

[21]  O. Oscarsson,et al.  FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SPINO- AND CUNEOCEREBELLAR TRACTS. , 1965, Physiological reviews.

[22]  G. Grant,et al.  Spinal course and somatotopically localized termination of the spinocerebellar tracts. An experimental study in the cat. , 1962, Acta physiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[23]  Y. Hosoya,et al.  Anatomical organization of the spinocerebellar system in the cat, as studied by retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase , 1979, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[24]  B. Robertson,et al.  Demonstration of spinocerebellar projections in cat using anterograde transport of WGA-HRP, with some observations on spinomesencephalic and spinothalamic projections , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[25]  M Matsushita,et al.  Spinocerebellar projections from the lowest lumbar and sacral‐caudal segments in the cat, as studied by anterograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin‐horseradish peroxidase , 1988, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[26]  J. Voogd Comparative aspects of the structure and fibre connexions of the mammalian cerebellum. , 1967, Progress in brain research.

[27]  G. Grant,et al.  Routes of entry into the cerebellum of spinocerebellar axons from the lower part of the spinal cord , 1988, Experimental Brain Research.

[28]  J. Voogd,et al.  Spinocerebellar neurons and propriospinal neurons in the cervical spinal cord: a fluorescent double-labeling study in the rat and the cat , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[29]  A. Lundberg,et al.  Spinal border cell origin of the ventral spinocerebellar tract , 2004, Experimental Brain Research.

[30]  Matsuo Matsushita,et al.  Spinocerebellar projections from spinal border cells in the cat as studied by anterograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin‐horseradish peroxidase , 1989, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[31]  M. Matsushita,et al.  Spinocerebellar projections to the vermis of the posterior lobe and the paramedian lobule in the cat, as studied by retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase , 1980, The Journal of comparative neurology.