Distribution and ultrastructure of primary afferent axons in Lissauer's tract in the northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens).

Dorsal roots were transected and filled with horseradish peroxidase to identify the primary afferent axons in Lissauer's tract (LT) of the spinal cord in a ranid frog with light and electron microscopy. Axons in LT could be traced at least 2-3 segments rostral and caudal to the level of the filled root. Some axons in LT entered a nucleus in the dorsal lateral funiculus at brachial and lumbar levels, while other axons terminated in widespread regions of the dorsal horn. Electron microscopy revealed unlabelled terminals with numerous large, dense-cored vesicles in LT. However, large vesicles were rarely observed and were never abundant in labelled primary afferent axons. S type synaptic contacts between labelled axons and unlabelled profiles were observed. The presynaptic axons in these synapses contained many small, spherical vesicles. The cross-sectional area of LT was related to the spinal cord level, with the largest area at the brachial level, and intermediate area at the lumbar level, and the smallest area at the thoracic level. No difference in number of labelled axons was observed in the medial and lateral parts of LT.