Accuracy of reinnervation of rat internal intercostal muscles by their own segmental nerves

The positions of internal intercostal motoneurons within their motor pool were studied, following reinnervation of the intercostal muscles by their original nerves. Six to 9 weeks after proximal nerve section in 10-d-old and adult rats, 0.1 microliter injections of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA)-HRP were made in the distal part of the reinnervated internal intercostal muscle. The corresponding region of the contralateral control muscle was also injected. The positions of the retrogradely labeled motoneurons were mapped in 100 microns transverse sections of thoracic spinal cord that had been stained for HRP according to the method of Mesulam (1982). In normal rats, motoneurons innervating distal muscle fibers are found largely in the more dorsal part of the internal intercostal motoneuron pool (Hardman and Brown, 1985). In adult rats, regenerated motor axons did not show any selectivity; distal muscle fibers were innervated by motoneurons whose cell bodies were distributed throughout the internal intercostal pool. However, in rats operated on at 10 d of age, distal intercostal muscle fibers were reinnervated by motoneurons that were distributed mainly in the dorsal part of the motor pool. These results support the view that positional signals may be of importance in organizing the distribution of axon terminals within muscles during development.