Abstract:
The objective of this study is to investigate the characteristics and distributions of
neuronal origin of cerebellar afferents from motor cranial nerve nuclei innervating extraocular
muscles by the method of retrograde transport of two fluorescence tracers in rats. Under deep
anesthesia and aseptic conditions, 5 µl of 3% solution of Fluoro-Gold (FG) in phosphate
buffer solution (PBS) was injected into the bellies of the six extraocular muscles to study the
labeling of motoneurons innervating corresponding extraocular muscles. The cerebellum was
exposed by craniotomy, and 0.3 µl of 10% solution of Dextran Tetramethyl Rhodamine
Biotin (Micro Ruby: or MR) in PBS was injected into many regions of the anterior vermis
(lobule I, II) and the posterior vermis (lobule VI, VII, IX, X) , the flocculus, the paraflocculus
and the deep cerebellar nuclei. Multiple injections were made to cover the entire cerebellum in
order to obtain a near maximum labeling of cerebellar afferent neurons. In other cases, only
small single or a few injections were made in specific areas of the cerebellum to study specific
distributions and topographic organization. In one group of rats, injections were made both in
the extraocular muscles with FG and in the cerebellum with MR to study the double labeling
of neurons, which project their axons to both the extraocular muscle and the cerebellum.
Another group of rats were injected in both sites with only the PBS and served as the control
for auto-fluorescence background. After 3 days postoperative survival time, all animals were
deeply reanesthetized and perfused with heparinized normal saline solution, followed by 4%
paraformaldehyde in 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, and 30% sucrose solution in PBS. The
brainstem and the cerebellum were removed immediately, and stored in sucrose solution in
PBS at 4°c. Serial transverse sections of the brainstem and sagittal sections of the cerebellum
were obtained by a freezing microtome at 40 µm thickness, collected on uncoated glass slides,
and immediately dried. All sections were examined under an epifluorescence or confocal
microscope equipped with filter systems for FG and MR. The presence of both single and
double retrograde labeled neurons in the Oculomotor (CN3), Trochlear (CN4) and Abducens
(CN6) nuclei was recorded, photographed, stored as computer images files and printed out as
hard copies. The labeling neurons in the vicinity of the CN 3, 4, 6 from all sections were
plotted onto diagrams and counted. Neurons labeled only with MR retrogradely transported
from injection sites in the cerebellum were found bilaterally and scattered throughout in the
Oculomotor, Trochlear and Abducens nuclei. These neurons labeled only with MR were
small and medium-sized interneurons and represented only a small proportion of the entire
population. Neurons labeled only with FG retrogradely transported from injection sites in the
extraocular muscles were the most numerous, and distributed almost throughout the entire
population of small, medium-sized and large motoneurons, which innervate the extraocular
muscles. A smaller proportion of small and medium-sized FG labeled neurons within these
nuclei were also double labeled with MR, indicating that they project their axon collaterals to
both extraocular muscles and the cerebellum. In conclusion, the present findings provide
clear anatomical evidence that a small population of motoneurons in the Oculomotor,
Trochlear and Abducens nuclei of the rat project their axon collaterals directly to the
cerebellum and the extraocular muscles, in addition to the cerebellar afferents from other
interneurons within these nuclei. The findings also indicate that cerebellar neuronal circuits
play more direct roles in monitoring and controlling eye movements than previously known.