Cytoarchitecture of the Rat Dorsal Root Ganglia as Revealed by Scanning Electron Microscopy

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Abstract
After removal of extracellular connective tissue components by tryptic digestion and HCl hydrolysis, we examined the three-dimensional cytoarchitecture of the rat dorsal root ganglia by scanning electron microscopy. Several classical light microscopical findings were reconfirmed at the fine structural level. The ganglia consisted of many spherical corpuscles ranging from 10 to 30 μm in diameter. Each corpuscle, representing a complex of a central neuron and an external satellite cell sheath, gave rise to a single dendro-axonal process enclosed by the Schwann cell investment. The stems of the processes showed a striking morphological variability; some formed a spoon-like expansion at their base and abruptly left their parent complexes, while some showed a highly convoluted texture, forming the initial glomeruli of Cajal. A few complexes were found to be completely enclosed within a network of fine nerve fibers; this feature apparently corresponded to the pericellular nests of Dogiel and Cajal.

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