Characteristics of the Structural Organization of the Ventral Posteromedial and Posterolateral Nuclei and the Reticular Nucleus of the Thalamus in Rats (an immunohistochemical study)

The aim of the present work was to conduct an immunohistochemical study of the expression of neuronal and glial proteins, as well as gap junction contacts (connexins 36 and 43) in the ventral posteromedial (VPMN) and posterolateral (VPLN) nuclei and the reticular (RTN) nucleus of the thalamus in rats. The VPMN and VPLN of the thalamus were found to be characterized by homogeneous distributions of synaptophysin, grouping of astrocytes, a horizontal orientation of somatostatin-containing myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers forming bundles and passing through barreloid septa, along with expression of connexins 36 and 43, as well as parvalbumin, identifying barreloids on sections of thickness 4 μm. In the RTN, the contents of myelin basic protein, neurofilaments, parvalbumin, and somatostatin were higher and there were moderate quantities of glial fibrillary acidic protein and connexin 43, while synaptophysin and connexin 36 were absent.

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