Ultrastructure of hair follicle afferent fibre terminations in the spinal cord of the cat

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Abstract
In acute electrophysiological experiments on anaesthetized cats, single identified hair follicle afferent fibres were injected with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The HRP was injected from an intra-axonal microelectrode in the lumbosacral spinal cord. One to six hours after injection the animals were perfused and the tissue prepared for light and electron microscopy (EM). Axon collateral arborizations containing HRP reaction product were identified in thick sections under the light microscope and the same tissue then cut on the ultramicrotome for EM study. The terminal branches of the collaterals kept their myelin sheaths until they were 0.45–l.0 μm in diameter, just before they formed synaptic boutons. Synaptic boutons (1.0–4.0 μm in diameter) were usually of theen passant variety and made contact with dendrites. The contacts were asymmetrical (Type I) and contained round, clear synaptic vesicles of 35–60 nm diameter. Both the non-myelinated portion of the terminal axon and the synaptic boutons received axo-axonic contacts. These axo-axonic boutons contained clear (agranular) vesicles irregular in profile.