Neurotrimin expression during cerebellar development suggests roles in axon fasciculation and synaptogenesis

We investigated the temporal expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule, neurotrimin, in the rat cerebellum and the brainstem from birth to adulthood using immunoreactive labeling. A wave of expression accompanied the development of projection pathways extending from brainstem nuclei (pons/inferior olive) through the cerebellar peduncles into the arbor vitae and disappeared with myelination by P14. Immuno-EM revealed expression of neurotrimin on the surface of unmyelinated axons but not on astrocytes or oligodendroglia. With the development of the molecular and internal granular layers, intense labeling occurred on the surface of parallel fiber bundles, granule cells and mossy fibers. With synaptogenesis, each excitatory junction was labeled by the immunoreaction. By P21, neurotrimin reactivity decreased on the surfaces of neuronal somata, dendrites and axons but remained at excitatory synaptic contact sites in both the molecular and granular layers. The spatial-temporal expression pattern of neurotrimin suggests that this adhesion molecule plays a role in axonal fasciculation of specific cerebellar systems and may also be involved in the formation of excitatory synapses and their stabilization into adulthood.