The relationship between synaptic vesicles,Golgi apparatus,and smooth endoplasmic reticulum: a developmental study using the zinc iodide-osmium technique

Summary Routine electron microscopy and a zinc iodide-osmium tetroxide technique (ZIO), recently found to be specific for synaptic vesicles, were used to study the origin of synaptic vesicles during postnatal development in the lumbosacral enlargement of the albino rat. In immature nervous tissue, a large number of vesicles, indistinguishable from synaptic vesicles (S vesicles), were found in the Golgi apparatus and in different portions of the axon where they were often intermingled with elements of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER). Ten to twenty percent of these S vesicles within the Golgi apparatus as well as the majority of these vesicles in all parts of the axon were positive to ZIO. Much of the SER in axons was also positive. The number of vesicles and elements of the SER showed some decrease in the non-terminal portion of axons on day 21 and even more of a decrease in adult neurons. These data suggest that synaptic vesicles are produced in the Golgi apparatus and SER in immature neurons. The decrease in S vesicles and SER in adult neurons suggests a drop in synaptic vesicle production after synaptogenesis has ended. In addition, the material that has been studied shows that ZIO staining is not limited to synaptic vesicles during development since oligodendroglia and endothelial cells are also stained during this period.