[Transplantation of embryonic medulla oblongata into cerebella of adult rats].

Pieces of medulla oblongata anlagen were dissected free from embryonic 13-20 day (E 13 to E 20) rat brain, and these were transplanted into the cerebellar vermis of adult rats (Fischer 344). After grafting, host animals survived for 4-9 months. Cytoarchitectonic organization of the graft and the relationship between host and graft were analyzed light microscopically in 34 animals using the Nissl and silver impregnation methods. Fine structures of the graft were analyzed in 4 animals using electron microscope. Grafts from E 13-14 donor tissue showed the highest survival rate (90%), which decreased as the donor embryonic age increased (i.e., E 15-16: 33%, E 17-20: 15%). In the surviving grafts, small (5-10 microns diameter), medium-sized (10-20 microns) and large (20-30 microns) neurons, whose cytoplasmic organelles appeared normal, were observed. Bundles of myelinated fibers traversed in every direction and neurons were often clustered, indicating characteristic features of the medulla oblongata. Electron microscopically, various types of synaptic formations were also observed. Degenerative profiles of nerve-fiber endings, containing dense bodies and lysosomal figures, were also seen. The degeneration seemed to be caused by the failure of their establishing connections with their proper targets in the host. In both the host tissue and the graft-host interface, neuronal processes apparently derived from the graft were frequently observed. Some axonal processes contained large-cored vesicles, and some dendritic processes were enlarged at their stalks and tips. Aberrant axon terminals of unmyelinated fibers in the host medullary layer were considered to be the graft origin. These fibers were always accompanied by prominent glial proliferation. There was no indication of forming myelinated fiber bundles that entered the host cerebellum from the donor tissue, although the former was the target of the latter. Cell bodies of host granule cells and oligodendroglia in the graft-host interface were surrounded by processes of oligodendroglia, forming thin myelin lamellae. The present study showed that unmyelinated fibers from the graft could enter the host cerebellum non-specifically accompanied by glial proliferation, whereas myelinated fibers could hardly penetrate into the host crossing the glial scar.