Microtubule bundles in fish cerebellar Purkinje cells

The initial axon segments and the cell bodies of Purkinje cells were examined in electron microscopic serial sections and toluidine blue semithin sections of goldfish cerebellum. We observed two characteristic cytoplasmic features different from those of other vertebrate neurons, 1. The areas of Nissl substance and Golgi apparatus are sharply divided in the periphery and center of the cytoplasm, 2. Microtubules fasciculated by cross-bridges in the axon hillock and initial axon segment remain bundled in the perikaryon, pass near the eccentric nucleus, and enter into the Golgi area of the central cytoplasm, where they are surrounded by mitochondria. We suggest that the intracellular fasciculated microtubules may establish a prepared pathway for fast anterograde and retrograde transport to and from the Golgi area of the cell body.