Ultrastructural and immunocytochemical characterization of primary afferent terminals in the rat cuneate nucleus

The cuneate nucleus is a relay center for somatosensory information by receiving tactile and proprioceptive inputs from primary afferent fibers that ascend in the dorsal funiculus. The morphology, synaptic contacts, and neurochemical content of primary afferent terminals in the cuneate nucleus of rats were investigated by combining anterograde transport of horseradish peroxidase conjugated to wheat-germ agglutinin or to cholera toxin (injected in cervical dorsal root ganglia) with postembedding immunogold labeling for glutamate and GABA. Both tracers gave similar results. Two types of terminals were labeled: type I terminals were irregularly shaped, had a mean area of 4.0 microns 2, synapsed on several dendrites, and were contacted by other terminals, some of which were GABA positive. Type II terminals were dome-shaped, had a mean area of 2.18 microns 2, and made synaptic contact on a single dendrite. All the anterogradely labeled terminals (interpreted as endings of primary afferents) were enriched in glutamate but not in GABA. The finding that identified primary afferent terminals are enriched in glutamate with respect to other tissue profiles strongly suggests a neurotransmitter role for glutamate in this afferent pathway to the rat cuneate nucleus.