Red nucleus of Macaca fascicularis: An electron microscopic study of its synaptic organization
Authors: Ralston Diane Daly , Milroy Antonia M. 
Published: January 2005

The parvicellular and magnocellular divisions of the red nucleus of the old world monkey Macaca fascicularis, were analyzed at an electron microscopic level to examine the morphology of the synaptic profiles terminating on rubral neurons and to categorize them by their individual characteristics. The parvicellular division, or anterior two‐thirds of the nucleus, is composed of small (10‐15 μm) and medium‐size (20‐30 μm) cells, which are uniformly distributed with high packing density throughout this portion of the nucleus. These cells have invaginated nuclei and are often indented by blood vessels and glial cell somata (satellite cells) that lie in close proximity. The magnocellular portion, occupying the caudal one‐third of the nucleus, is composed of an additional population of large cells, ranging from 50‐90 μm in diameter, which often contain prominent lipofuscin granules and are frequently indented by blood vessels. Satellite glial cells are not a prominent feature in the magnocellularis portion of the nucleus. The large cells are separated one from the other by fields of myelinated axons either coursing through the nucleus or projecting to and from the nucleus itself.

Although the divisions of the nucleus in the Macaca fascicularis are spatially distinct, each possesses a morphological similarity in regard to the categories of synaptic profiles seen at the electron microscopic level. These synaptic profiles are classified as follows: large terminals containing numerous, predominantly rounded vesicles (LR), which can often be seen to form the central profile in a synaptic glomerular arrangement; terminals of similar size with predominantly rounded vesicles but with a pale axoplasmic matrix (LRP); small profiles with rounded vesicles (SR); profiles containing granular dense‐cored vesicles (DCV); profiles with numerous flattened vesicles (F); profiles containing plemorphic vesicles (PL), some of which can be interpreted as presynaptic dendrites (PSD) because they are seen to be postsynaptic and contain ribosomes; and profiles with rounded synaptic vesicles, which are associated with subsynaptic Taxi bodies (T).

Most of the various synaptic profile types were found to have similar distributions on the dendritic arbors of rubral neurons in both divisions of the nucleus. However, the LRP‐type terminal predominates on the cell bodies and proximal dendrites of the large neurons in magnocellularis. Unlike other regions in the nervous system, F type terminals are rarely seen to contact neuronal somata.

This study provides a basis for future experimental studies of afferents to the nucleus in this species. Immunohistochemical features and the sources of the terminal profiles seen within the primate red nucleus are yet to be determined by experimental methods. However, the variety of synaptic terminals seen within the nucleus suggests that there may be several sources, both motor and sensory, that contribute to the complexity of synaptic interactions with rubral neurons involved in the integration and processing of descending motor information.