The ultrastructural basis for synaptic transmission between primary muscle afferents and neurons in Clarke's column of the cat

Abstract

The synaptic connection between primary muscle afferents and dorsal spinocerebellar tract (DSCT) neurons has been studied in an attempt to reveal some of the mechanisms underlying excitatory transmission in the mammalian central nervous system. Previous electrophysiological experiments have shown that the excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) evoked DSCT neurons by impulses in a single muscle afferent fluctuate in amplitude. These fluctuations occur between discrete amplitudes which are separated by quantal increments. Two alternative hypotheses relate such a quantal increment to all-or-nothing transmitter release from either (1) an entire synaptic bouton or (2) an individual transmitter release site, given that a bouton may contain multiple release sites. The present study was undertaken primarily to gain ultrastructural evidence on these proposals. Electrodes filled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were used to label single identified group la afferent fibers and DSCT neurons in the lumbar spinal cord of anesthetized cats. HRP-labeled la synaptic boutons, and the contacts formed between HRP-labeled la boutons and the dendrites of a DSCT neuron labeled intracellularly with HRP, were examined in serial sections under the electron microscope. Group la boutons were found to contain multiple synaptic specializations, as evidenced by pre- and postsynaptic thickenings and presynaptic clusters of vesicles. Careful examination of a bouton in serial sections revealed each specialization as a separate structure. These observations support the proposal that synaptic transmission between group I muscle afferents and DSCT neurons occurs with discrete all-or-nothing EPSPs associated with transmitter release sites, rather than boutons per se.