Postnatal development of GABA- and glycine-like immunoreactivity in the cochlear nucleus of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus)

The maturation of the morphological substrate for inhibitory interactions was investigated in the cochlear nucleus of the gerbil with immunocytochemistry for gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine on alternating vibratome sections. The patterns of immunostaining obtained with both antibodies in the adult closely conformed to the general mammalian scheme. Qualitative analyses revealed an age-related increase in staining intensity and in the relative numbers of immunolabelled cells after birth up to the age of 3–4 weeks. As early as birth and in all subdivisions of the cochlear nucleus, a few labelled cells and puncta in the sections were stained either with the GABA or the glycine antibody. Immunoreactive puncta and cells were, however, far less abundant than in the adult, and the staining intensity of cells was only weak. The most strikingly GABA-immunolabelled cells at birth were the Golgi cells of the granule-cell domains. The numbers of weakly GABA- and glycine-immunostained cells of the dorsal cochlear nucleus clearly increased between birth and the third postnatal week. At approximately the onset of hearing (postnatal day 12–14), some cells of the dorsal cochlear nucleus and small cells of the ventral cochlear nucleus gained adult-like GABA-staining properties. Almost adult-like labelling intensity was observed in glycine-immunoreactive cells of the deep dorsal cochlear nucleus and in some small cells of the ventral cochlear nucleus. Puncta staining to both antibodies appeared adult-like throughout the cochlear nucleus. About 2 weeks after the onset of hearing (at the latest), adult-like staining of all subsets of immunoreactive cells occurred throughout the cochlear nucleus in all specimens. Received: 25 March 1997 / Accepted: 15 March 1998