Quantitative effects of methylzoxymethanol acetate on Purkinje cell dendritic growth

A quantitative analysis was made of alterations in the dendritic organisation of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum of the rat following the administration of the degranulating agent, methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM). This drug depleted the granule cell population of the cerebellar cortex and disturbed Purkinje cell alignment such that a number of Purkinje cells became inverted and grew in the white matter. The quantitative changes that occurred in the dendritic trees of these cells (increase in segment length, decrease in segment numbers, trichotomy and branching probability) were similar to those seen following other degranulation procedures. The size of the Purkinje cell dendritic tree was found to be related to the number of parallel fibres present in the molecular layer. These results were discussed in relation to current theories of neuronal development and were shown to lend further support to the filopodial attachment hypothesis of dendritic growth.