Neuronal projections from the mesencephalic raphe nuclear complex to the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the deep pineal gland of the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus)

Abstract

Neuronal projections from the mesencephalic raphe system to the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the pineal complex were mapped in this study of the golden hamster, by use of the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin and the retrograde tracer cholera toxin subunit B. From the median raphe nucleus, a rostral projection ascended in the ventral part of the mesencephalon to continue in the medial forebrain bundle of the forebrain. Nerve fibres from this bundle innervated the ventral and medial parts of the suprachiasmatic nucleus. At the level of the interpeduncular nucleus of the mesencephalon, fibres of the ventral bundle bent dorsally to reach the epithalamic area and to continue in the forebrain in a periventricular position. Some of these fibres innervated the dorsal tip of the suprachiasmatic nucleus. The dorsal raphe nucleus was the origin of a nerve fibre bundle, located in the periaqueductal gray of the mesencephalon, innervating the deep pineal gland and pineal stalk. Injection of cholera toxin B into the suprachiasmatic nucleus labelled cells in the median raphe. Combination of the retrograde tracing from the suprachiasmatic nucleus and serotonin transmitter immunohistochemistry showed that some of the cholera toxin B–immunoreactive nerve cells also contained serotonin. Thus, this study of the golden hamster shows a serotonergic projection from the median raphe nucleus to the suprachiasmatic nucleus and a projection from the dorsal raphe nucleus to the deep pineal gland supporting physiological indications of an influence of serotonin on the photoreceptive circadian system of the brain. J. Comp. Neurol. 399:73–93, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.