Ultrastructural features of six types of neurons in rat dorsal root ganglia

Abstract

Sections of glutaraldehyde-fixed lumbar dorsal root ganglia of the rat were examined in the electron microscope following impregnation with the uranyl-lead-copper technique or postfixation in potassium ferrocyanide-reduced osmium. Three types of ganglion cells (A, B, C) were identified on the basis of their size and the distribution of their organelles. They were further subdivided into six subtypes according to the arrangement and three-dimensional organization of the Nissl bodies and Golgi apparatus in the perikarya. Type A₁ cells were large, clear neurons in which Nissl bodies, separated from each other by pale narrow strands of cytoplasm containing small stacks of Golgi saccules and rod-like mitochondria, were evenly distributed throughout the perikaryon. In type A₂, the Nissl bodies assumed a similar distribution but were separated by much wider strands of cytoplasm. Type A₃, the smallest of the type A category, displayed densely packed Nissl bodies and long stacks of Golgi saccules which formed a perinuclear ring in the mid-portion of the perikaryon. Type B cells were smaller and showed a concentric zonation of their organelles. In type B₁, large Nissl bodies located in an outer cytoplasmic zone were made of long piles of parallel cisternae interrupted by curved Golgi stacks. Type B₂ was characterized by a ring-like Golgi apparatus separating the perikaryon in a cortical zone composed mainly of Nissl substance and a juxtanuclear zone containing mitochondria and smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Type C cells were the smallest of the ganglion cells and contained small, poorly demarcated Nissl bodies and a juxtanuclear Golgi apparatus.