Optic fiber development between dual transplants of retina and superior colliculus placed in the occipital cortex.

Abstract

Fetal rat retina was excised from donor rats at 15 days of gestation and transplanted to the occipital cortex of neonatal host rats in combination with and adjacent to: 1) the appropriate portion of the superior colliculus to serve as a specific target tissue in an attempt to stimulate an outgrowth of optic fibers from the isolated retinal transplant; 2) a sample of the medial thalamus to provide a alternate tissue not normally recipient to the retinofugal projection, thereby serving as a control to further test for the target specificity of the axonal outgrowth from the retinal transplant. After 5–30 days of development samples of transplant and surrounding host cortex were removed and subjected to light and electron microscopic study.