Re-initiated growth from mature ventral mesencephalon: an in oculo transplant study of nigrostriatal co-grafts.

The ability of mature dopaminergic neurons derived from ventral mesencephalon to re-initiate growth after making contact with a non-innervated target was studied using the intra-ocular grafting model. Foetal ventral mesencephalic tissue or brain stem including the locus coeruleus area was grafted to the anterior chamber of the eye. Two weeks, 6 weeks or 1 year after the first implantation, foetal striatal tissue was placed in contact with the nigral graft or grafted alone. The size of the transplants was measured through the cornea. The final size of the striatal grafts was significantly larger when placed alone than when co-grafted with 1-year-old or 6-week-old dopaminergic grafts. Striatum grafted together with 2-week-old nigra was larger than when grafted adjacent to mature substantia nigra, but not significantly so. Nerve fibre outgrowth into the iris from the nigral transplants did not increase after maturation, but the re-innervated area of the host iris progressively increased around the locus coeruleus grafts. Ingrowth of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactive nerve fibres into the striatal grafts was studied 6 weeks after the second implantation. TH immunohistochemistry revealed innervation of the striatal piece in all cases, except for the group where striatum alone was grafted. With the short survival time for co-grafts of 6 weeks, TH-positive nerve fibres innervated a larger volume, had a patchy appearance and the density was higher in striatum grafted to 2 week-old nigral transplants than that seen in striatal transplants grafted to mature nigral grafts. The patchy pattern of TH-immunoreactive nerve terminals was also seen in striatum co-grafted with 6-week-old or 1-year-old nigral transplants. No difference in striatal innervation volume was detected between those latter two groups. When striatum was implanted adjacent to mature ventral mesencephalon and grown together for 6 months--the longer survival time--the same dense TH-positive innervation as seen in striatum co-grafted with immature nigral tissue at the shorter survival time was found. Additionally, the nigral part of the co-grafts showed increased TH-immunoreactive nerve fibre density. In conclusion, dopaminergic neurites from mature ventral mesencephalic transplants can re-initiate growth if placed in contact with non-innervated striatal tissue. The nigral grafts do not progressively re-innervate the host iris, while locus coeruleus grafts do. The intra-ocular grafting model can be used to study the in vivo effects of trophic factors on mature dopaminergic neurons.