Nucleus dentate

Hayashi Y, Kakita A, Yamada M, Egawa S, Oyanagi S, Naito H, Tsuji S, Takahashi H. Hereditary dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy ubiqui-tinated filamentous inclusions in the cerebellar dentate nucleus neurons. Acta Neuropathol Berl 1998 95 479-482. 

The pathological hallmark of the disease is the presence in the brain of Lafora bodies round, basophilic, PAS-positive intracellular inclusions varying in size from small, dust-like bodies less than 3 nm in diameter to large bodies up to 30 nm in diameter. Lafora bodies are typically seen in neuronal perikarya and processes, not in glial cells, and are more abundant in cerebral cortex, substantia nigra, thalamus, globus pallidus and dentate nucleus. Ultrastructural studies have shown that Lafora bodies consist of two components amorphous electron-dense... 

FIGURE 45-8 Tau protein immunoreactivity in brains and spinal cords from mice transgenic for mutant (P301S) human tau protein. (A, B) Cerebral cortex. (C) Amygdala. (D) Dentate nucleus of the cerebellum. (E, F) Brainstem. (G, H) Spinal cord. Scale bars (A-C, E, F), 40 pm (in A) (D, H) 60pm (in D) (G), 250pm. 

Arai, N., Amano, N., Iseki, E., Yokoi, S., Saito, A., Takekawa, Y., et al. (1987). Tardive dyskinesia with inflated neurons of the cellular dentate nucleus. Acta Neuropatbologica (Berlin), 73, 38-42. 

The basilar artery ascends ventral to the pons to the ponto-midbrain junction in the interpeduncular cistern, where it divides into the two posterior cerebral arteries. Numerous small branches penetrate the brainstem and cerebellum. The basilar artery also gives rise to the anterior inferior cerebellar artery, which supplies the rostral cerebellum, brainstem, inner ear, and the superior cerebellar artery, which supplies the brainstem, superior half of the cerebellar hemisphere, vermis and dentate nucleus. 

This disease is a late onset disorder of the cerebellum characterized by selective and progressive loss of Purkinje cells. Initially the disease was thought to be confined to the cerebellar cortex, dentate nucleus, and inferior olives, but more recent studies suggest more widespread cerebellar involvement (Seidel et al., 2009 Wang et al.,... 

Arai N, Amano N, fwabuchi K, Yagishita S, Yokoi S, Saito A, Misugi K (1988) Three categories of the degenerative appearance of the human cerebellar dentate nucleus. J Neurol Sci 83 129-143. Aylward EH, Minshew NJ, Field K, Sparks BE, Singh N (2002) Effects of age on brain volume and head circumference in autism. Neurology 59 175-183. 

Fukutani Y, Nakamura I, Matsubara R, Kobayashi K, Isaki K (1996) Pathology of the cerebellar dentate nucleus in sporadic olivopontocerebellar atrophy a morphometric investigation. J Neurol Sci 137 103-108. 

Gautier JC, Blackwood W (1961) Enlargement of the inferior olivary nucleus in association with lesions of the central tegmental tract or dentate nucleus. Brain 84 341-361. 

In a recent in situ hybridization study, a 51% reduction in GAD65 mRNA levels was observed in a subpopulation of large neurons in dentate nucleus in five adult autism cases compared to six age- and PMI-matched controls (Yip et al., 2009). In contrast, in the same study, non-significant GAD65 mRNA levels were measured in a subpopulation of smaller dentate neurons in the same postmortem cases. 

Chan-Palay, V (1977) Cerebellar Dentate Nucleus Organization, Cytology and Transmitters. Springer, Berhn. 

Fig. 106. Horizontal (A) and transverse (B,C) AChE-stained seetions through the cerebellar nuclei of Macaca fascicularis. Note connection of lA and dorsal pole of dentate nucleus in (B) and of medial lamella of the dentate nucleus and border region of lA and IP in (A), U-shaped nucleus located between F and IP in (B) and (C) and strong AChE-reactivity in this nucleus in (A) localization of medial limb of this U-shaped nucleus in X compartment (B and C) extension of AChE-positive C2 compartment in border region of lA and IP in B interstitial nucleus of Langer in (B) and large group y in (C). C2 = C2 compartment F = fastigial nucleus lA = anterior interposed nucleus IP = posterior interposed nucleus IP/F = U-shaped nucleus between F and IP L = lateral cerebellar nucleus Lp = parvocellular part of lateral cerebellar nucleus y = group y X = X compartment.

According to Tolbert et al. (1978a) the nucleo-olivary neurons in the cat are concentrated in the ventral parts of the dentate and posterior interposed nuclei, they are scarce in the fastigial nucleus. Concentrations of these small neurons were also reported in the rostral and caudal poles and the hilar portion of the dentate nucleus and the lateral parts of the interposed nucleus in the rat (Brown et al., 1977 Chan-Palay, 1977). A more diffuse distribution of these cells was noticed in experiments with retrograde tracing of Martin et al. (1976) in the dentate and interposed nuclei of the opossum and in double labelling studies with fluorescent dyes in rat (Bentivoglio and Kuypers, 1982) and cat (Bharos et al., 1981). 

The existence of a rest group of neurons that remains unaffected by large lesions of the efferent cerebellar pathways in the kitten has been claimed as evidence in favour of the presence of intrinsic or nucleocortical neurons in the central nuclei (Jansen and Jansen 1955). Many of these neurons were found to be large and to be located in the posterior interposed nucleus. Intrinsic neurons of the cerebellar nuclei have been observed in Golgi preparations of the rat by Chan-Palay (1973a, 1977) as small multipolar neurons in the dentate nucleus. The terminals of these intrinsic, inhibitory neurons on the soma and dendrites of cerebellar nuclear cells were tentatively identified as small... 

Fig. 116. Transverse sections through the deep cerebellar nuclei of the opossum showing the position of cholecystokinin-like immunoreactive neurons in the cerebellar nuclei (dots). Such neurons are present in the nucleus interpositus posterior (NIP) and fastigial nucleus (FN), but are not present in the nucleus interpositus anterior (NIA) or dentate nucleus (DN). Bar = 1 mm. King and Bishop (1990)...

Rg. 117. Localization of serotonin-like immunoreactivity in transverse sections through the cerebellar nuclei of the opossum. DN = dentate nucleus FN = fastigial nucleus IPA = anterior interposed nucleus IPP = posterior interposed nucleus. Bishop et al. (1985). 

Fig. 125. White matter compartments Cj, D, and D2 in the paraflocculus of the cat in transverse, AChE-reacted sections. Note concentric arrangement of the compartments in the dorsal and the ventral paraflocculus. A = caudalmost section D = rostralmost section. ANS = ansiform lobule brp = brachium pontis Cl-3 = Cl-3 compartments crest = restiform body D = dentate nucleus D (1,2) = D (1,2) compartments F = fastigial nucleus FLO = flocculus lA = anterior interposed nucleus IP = posterior interposed nucleus PFLD = dorsal paraflocculus PFLV = ventral paraflocculus PMD = paramedian lobule.

Fig. 148. Compartmentation in AChE-stained transverse sections of the flocculus, the ventral paraflocculus and the petrosal lobule and the caudal hemisphere of Saimiri sciureus. Note AChE stained borders of the compartments and the differential staining in the molecular layer AChE-positive cells of the basal interstitial nucleus of Langer are located along the borders of the compartments C2, 1 and 2 in (D) and (E). Group y is located within the floccular peduncle in (E), ANS = ansiform lobule br.p = brachium pontis c.rest = restiform body Cl-3 = C21-3 compartments D = dentate nucleus Dl,2 = Dl,2 compartments F = fastgial nucleus fis.post.lat = posterolateral fissure FLOC = flocculus lA = anterior interposed nucleus IP = posterior interposed nucleus Ib.petr = petrosal lobule PFLD = dorsal paraflocculus PFLV = ventral paraflocculus. Courtesy of Dr. D.T. Hess.

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