[Synaptic localization of 5'-nucleotidase activity in the cerebellar cortex in adult rats irradiated by X rays after birth].

5'-nucleotidase cytochemistry was performed in the cerebellum of adult rats exposed previously to a single postnatal X-irradiation which maintains until adulthood the normally transient multiple innervation of cerebellar Purkinje cells by climbing fibers. 5'-nucleotidase activity persists in climbing fiber synapses and other asymmetrical synapses while it is transient during normal development. Therefore, in the X-irradiated rat, an immature stage of the excitatory synapses persists which, for the climbing fibers, coïncides with or precedes their involution during normal development.