Ae. Gunluk et al., REARING WITH MONOCULAR LID SUTURE INDUCES ABNORMAL NADPH-DIAPHORASE STAINING IN THE LATERAL GENICULATE-NUCLEUS OF CATS, Journal of comparative neurology, 350(2), 1994, pp. 215-228
We investigated the changes in NADPH-diaphorase staining that occur in
the lateral geniculate nucleus of cats following rearing with monocul
ar lid suture. This staining allows visualization of the synthesizing
enzyme of nitric oxide, a neuromodulator associated with plasticity. I
n the lateral geniculate nucleus of normally reared cats, NADPH-diapho
rase exclusively labels the axons and terminals of an input from the p
arabrachial region of the brainstem; no geniculate cells in the A-lami
nae are labeled. Early monocular lid suture has no obvious effect on t
he NADPH-diaphorase staining of parabrachial axons. However, this lid
suture results in the abnormal appearance of NADPH-diaphorase staining
for geniculate somata. These cells are located primarily in the nonde
prived laminae. Double-labeling experiments indicate that these cells
with abnormal NADPH-diaphorase reactivity are Y relay cells: NADPH-dia
phorase staining is found in cells retrogradely labeled from visual co
rtex; it is found in cells labeled with a monoclonal antibody for CAT-
301, which selectively targets Y cells; it is not found in cells label
ed with an anti-GABA antibody, which targets interneurons. Also, NADPH
-diaphorase labeled cells are among the largest cells in the nondepriv
ed laminae, again suggesting that they are Y relay cells. We cannot su
ggest a specific mechanism for this induction of NADPH-diaphorase labe
ling, but it does not seem to be due to abnormal binocular competition
induced by the monocular lid suture. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.