Distribution of calbindin D28k-like immunoreactivity (LI) in the monkey ventral horn: do Renshaw cells contain calbindin D28k-LI?

Abstract

By use of indirect immunofluorescence and peroxidase-antiperoxidase immunohistochemistry, we show that the monkey (Macaca fascicularis) ventral horn harbors small- to medium-sized neurons in lamina VII as well as a dense network of fibers in laminae IX and VII that contain calbindin D28k (calbindin)-like immunoreactivity. The highest frequency of immunoreactive (IR) cell bodies was found at the levels of the cervical and lumbar intumescences. Furthermore, rostrocaudally oriented calbindin-IR fibers were encountered in the ventral and ventrolateral funiculi throughout the whole length of the cord, with the highest density at cervical and lumbar intumescences. Analysis at the EM level revealed calbindin-IR terminals in contact preferentially with dendrites of variable size and occasionally also large cell bodies, presumably belonging to motoneurons, in the lateral motor nucleus. The location of calbindin-IR neurons, as well as the distribution and ultrastructural characteristics of the calbindin-IR axonal system, makes it highly likely that these neurons are Renshaw cells that mediate recurrent inhibition to motoneurons.