In the present study, we observed neurons with
calbindin-D28k immunoreactivity in the trigeminal
ganglion of porcupine.
Neurons encircled by nerve fibers are called
‘pericellular basket-like formations'14. Immuno-positive
pericellular baskets have been reported in the guinea pig
trigeminal ganglion10,15,16. However, Shimizu et al.6 couldn't detect any pericellular basket-like formations
in the rat. In our study, pericellular basket-like formations
of ganglion neurons were observed. This study shows
the possibility that species difference may affect the
occurrence of pericellular basket-like formations in
neurons of trigeminal ganglion.
Shin et al.8 reported that calbindin-D28k
immunoreactivity was observed in small and large cell
forms and immunoreactivity was evenly distributed in
both small and large cells. Lazarov9 and Ichikawa et
al.11 suggested that calcium-binding proteins were
mainly localized at large neurons. Shimizu et al.6
described large, medium and small-sized calbindinimmunoreactive
neurons. According to Shimizu et al.6
small- sized neurons were the most common. In the
present study, immunoreactivity was observed in two
neuronal forms including medium and large cells and,
evenly distributed in both medium and large cells.
Beaver et al.17 described lack of basal membrane
in some parts of tight contact of two satellite cells. This
report is in aggreement with our results.
Ichikawa et al.11 suggested that calbindinimmunoreactive
neurons showed no topographic
preference in mouse. Similarly, our results showed that
immunoreactive calbindin-D28k neurons were widely
distributed to all region of the trigeminal ganglion.
Shin et al.8 reported that almost all neurons were
round-shaped in trigeminal ganglion of goat. In present
study, the neurons were in different shapes.
In general our study is in agreement with the results
of many authors working on trigeminal ganglion of
different animals. However, there were some spesific
features in porcupine trigeminal ganglion.