Axonal terminal ultrastructure in the myenteric ganglia of the guinea-pig stomach.

The ultrastructure of the vesicle-containing axon profiles in the myenteric ganglia of the guinea-pig stomach was studied in specimens fixed by vascular perfusion and in specimens fixed by immersion in cold fixative after incubation in 5-hydroxydopamine. Three major types of vesicle-containing axon profile were identified in the ganglia: 1. Profiles containing numerous small, mainly shperical vesicles and only limited numbers of large dense-cored vesicles. In perfusion-fixed specimens, the small vesicles in these profiles were all clear. In specimens fixed by immersion after incubation in 5-hydroxydopamine, the profiles could be divided into three types: a) profiles containing small clear vesicles; b) profiles containing small dense-cored vesicles; c) profiles in which the small vesicles contained a peripheral rim of dense material. In these profiles, large vesicles which contained dense cores were rare. The mean diameter of the vesicles in the profiles was also significantly higher than in the profiles containing small clear vesicles. 2. Profiles containing flattened membrane-bounded structures. Reconstructions prepared from serial sections suggested that these structures represented sections through networks of smooth endoplasmic reticulum-like tubules rather than flattened vesicles. 3. Profiles containing many large dense-cored vesicles and few small clear vesicles. In perfusion-fixed specimens, the diameter of the dense-cored vesicles in these profiles was significantly higher than in the type 1 profiles. Type 1a and type 1c profiles were much more numerous than either type 2 or type 3 profiles. and type 1b profiles were few. Synaptic juctions were found in association only with type 1a profiles. Type 1a and type 1b profiles resembled cholinergic and adrenergic axon terminals. The remaining profiles may represent the terminals of different forms of peptidergic axon or of other as yet unidentified types of axon.