Synaptic changes in Purkinje cell dentritic spine of mouse cerebellum after neonatal administration of cytosine arabinoside.

This study was undertaken to elucidate morphological changes in the synaptic area of the Purkinje cell dendritic spines when granule cells were decreased in number. The mice were injected s.c. with 30 mg/kg b.w. of cytosine arabinoside on days 2, 3, and 4, and on days 7, 8 and 9, and were designated as group I and group II, respectively. The mice injected with saline on days 2, 3, and 4 served as control. The cerebella of the mice in each group were examined by electron microscopy on days 30, 60, and 90. Using photographs thus obtained, the synaptic length and area of Purkinje cell dendritic spines which participated in synapses with axons of granule cells were measured by computer. In the controls, these spines did not increase significantly either in synaptic length or in spine area in the duration from 30 to 90 days after birth. In the 90-day-old mice belonging to group I and group II, however, they increased by about 20% in the synaptic length and by about 35% in the spine area as compared to those in age-matched control. The elongation and enlargement show that the synaptic surface on the spine spreads to compensate for synapses lost by reduction in number of granule cells in experimental groups.