Development of Purkinje cell bodies and processes with basic fibroblast growth factor-like immunoreactivity in the rat cerebellum.

The development of basic fibroblast growth factor-like immunoreactivity was investigated in the nuclei, cell bodies and processes of Purkinje cells with attention to basic fibroblast growth factor-containing neuronal input to the deep cerebellar nuclei. Immunoblot analysis with the use of the antisera against basic fibroblast growth factor revealed that crude homogenate of the developing rat cerebellum exhibits a main band with the same molecular weight (18,000 mol. wt) as basic fibroblast growth factor in all the postnasal stages examined. Cerebellar cells were not labeled with the antisera during embryonic life. Under light microscopy, basic fibroblast growth factor-like immunoreactivity was detected initially in cortical cells located close to deep cerebellar fissures of the newborn rat but not in superficial cortical regions. It was difficult to determine whether or not they are Purkinje cells at the fusiform stage. On postnatal day 7, immunoreactive Purkinje cells were identified throughout the cerebellar cortex, and they expressed basic fibroblast growth factor-like immunoreactivity mainly in the apical cytoplasm and proximal dendrites. From postnatal day 14 to postnatal day 28, basic fibroblast growth factor-like immunoreactivity was noted not only throughout the cytoplasm of Purkinje cells but also in the nuclei of the immunopositive cells. Our statistical analysis showed that Purkinje cells with nuclear immunoreaction peaked on postnatal day 21. At these stages, nerve fibers immunoreactive for basic fibroblast growth factor were numerous in the cerebellar medulla and deep cerebellar nuclei. After postnatal day 42, Purkinje cells with intense immunoreactivity in the nuclei showed a marked decrease in number, and immunoreactive structures were distributed in the cerebellum in a fashion similar to that in adult rats. Electron microscopy demonstrated that immunoreactivity was located mainly in the apical cytoplasm of Purkinje cells on postnatal day 7 and throughout the cytoplasm and in the nuclear euchromatin from postnatal day 14 to postnatal day 28, as was expected from light-microscopic observations. Immunoreactivity, even though distributed diffusely in the cytoplasm, was absent from the lumen of endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. A small population of Purkinje cell axon terminals forming synapses with the soma and dendrites of deep cerebellar nucleus neurons began to express basic fibroblast growth factor on postnatal day 21. This is much later than the starting age for synaptogenesis between Purkinje cells and deep cerebellar nucleus neurons. The age-dependent changes in the localization of basic fibroblast growth factor within Purkinje cell nucleus, soma and processes suggest a complex transport system of this factor within Purkinje cells during postnatal development.