TY - JOUR T1 - Neurofilament Proteins in Y-Cells of the Cat Lateral Geniculate Nucleus: Normal Expression and Alteration with Visual Deprivation JF - The Journal of Neuroscience JO - J. Neurosci. SP - 6549 LP - 6557 DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.18-16-06549.1998 VL - 18 IS - 16 AU - Martha E. Bickford AU - William Guido AU - Dwayne W. Godwin Y1 - 1998/08/15 UR - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/18/16/6549.abstract N2 - We examined neurofilament staining in the normal and visually deprived lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), using the SMI-32 antibody. This antibody preferentially stains LGN cells that display the morphological characteristics of Y-cells. The soma sizes of SMI-32-stained cells were consistent with those of the overall population of Y-cells, and the Golgi-like staining of their dendrites revealed a radial distribution that often crossed laminar boundaries. Labeled cells were distributed within the A laminae (primarily near laminar borders), the magnocellular portion of the C laminae, and the medial intralaminar nucleus, but they were absent in the parvocellular C laminae. Electron microscopic examination of SMI-32-stained tissue revealed that staining was confined to somata, dendrites, and large myelinated axons. Retinal synapses on SMI-32-labeled dendrites were primarily simple axodendritic contacts; few triadic arrangements were observed. In the LGN of cats reared with monocular lid suture, SMI-32 staining was decreased significantly in the A laminae that received input from the deprived eye. Dephosphorylation of the tissue did not alter the cellular SMI-32 staining patterns. Analysis of staining patterns in the C laminae and monocular zone of the A laminae suggests that changes in the cytoskeleton after lid suture reflect cell class and not binocular competition. Taken together, the results from normal and lid-sutured animals suggest that the cat LGN offers a unique model system in which the cytoskeleton of one class of cells can be manipulated by altering neuronal activity. ER -