Enlargement of GAD-immunopositive terminals in the lateral vestibular nucleus (LVN) of weaver mutant mice.

Reorganization of cerebellar circuitry due to specific cell loss in Weaver mutants causes physiological and morphological alterations in the terminal domains of the GABAergic cerebellar corticovestibular projections. In this study sizes of anti-GAD immunopositive terminals in the dorsal part of the lateral vestibular nucleus (dLVN) of normal mice and Weaver mutants were quantified morphometrically. In anti-GAD-immunoreacted material terminal sizes in the dLVN of Weaver exceed significantly those of coprocessed wildtypes. This suggests that the cerebellar disturbances in Weaver predispose the normal synaptic remodelling observed in wildtypes towards the formation of enlarged terminals.