Transient increase of calcium in pre-and postsynaptic organelles of rat superior cervical ganglion after tetanizing stimulation

Abstract

The stimulation-dependent translocation and redistribution of intracellular calcium was studied in synapses of the rat superior cervical ganglion. For the cytochemical demonstration of calcium at the ultrastructural level the oxalate-pyroantimonate technique was used. Calcium-containing deposits were observed as electron-dense particles in synaptic vesicles and occasionally in presynaptic mitochondria. On the postsynaptic side, vesicles and vacuoles in dendrites contained increased amounts of reaction product. Following a short train of impulses (20 s, 20 c.p.s.), the ganglionic response to a single stimulus was increased. This potentiation effect which lasted about 1–5 min was accompanied by a change in the distribution of calcium at fine structural level. In ganglia fixed 1 and 5 min after the train, but not later, the number of calcium-containing synaptic vesicles and postsynaptic vacuoles increased significantly.