Wegerhoff R, Breidbach O, Lobemeier M
Biochemisches Institut, University of Kiel, Germany.
J Comp Neurol. 1996 Nov 4;375(1):157-66. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-9861(19961104)375:1<157::AID-CNE10>3.0.CO;2-S.
Locustatachykinin-immunoreactive (LomTK-IR) interneurons were found to be associated with the central complex, a prominent neuropil region of the insect brain. The structures and development of this set of brain interneurons was studied from the embryo onward in the beetle Tenebrio molitor, showing individual neurons that persist from the late embryo to the adult stage. Their essential structural characteristics were already present in the late embryo, but distinct parts of their arborization patterns became newly formed throughout development. Using a combination of immunohistochemistry and single-cell injection, we demonstrated minute structural changes, allowing a characterization of structural plasticity of identifiable, persistent, neuropeptidergic neurons throughout ontogenesis. Furthermore, this study has provided new information about basic principles of central brain neuroanatomy and the development of a distinct midbrain region of the insect brain, the central complex. The development of its basic connections, the connections between the fan-shaped body and the protocerebral bridge, and the compartmentation of these neuropil regions were shown, using LomTK-IR neurons as marker structures. These basic features of the central complex-associated LomTK-immunopositive neurons were formed in the embryonic brain, whereas in metamorphosis, reorganization of these persistent interneurons was restricted to the formation of a precisely defined projection of their side branches.
发现蝗虫速激肽免疫反应性（LomTK-IR）中间神经元与中央复合体相关，中央复合体是昆虫大脑中一个突出的神经纤维区域。从胚胎期开始，在黄粉虫中研究了这组脑中间神经元的结构和发育，结果显示单个神经元从胚胎晚期持续到成年期。它们的基本结构特征在胚胎晚期就已存在，但其树突分支模式的不同部分在整个发育过程中不断重新形成。通过结合免疫组织化学和单细胞注射，我们展示了微小的结构变化，从而能够描述可识别的、持续存在的、神经肽能神经元在整个个体发育过程中的结构可塑性。此外，本研究提供了关于中枢脑神经解剖学基本原理以及昆虫大脑一个独特的中脑区域——中央复合体发育的新信息。利用LomTK-IR神经元作为标记结构，展示了其基本连接的发育、扇形体与原脑桥之间的连接以及这些神经纤维区域的分隔。与中央复合体相关的LomTK免疫阳性神经元的这些基本特征在胚胎脑中形成，而在变态过程中，这些持续存在的中间神经元的重组仅限于其侧支形成精确界定的投射。
