Shapes of nerve cells in the myenteric plexus of the guinea-pig small intestine revealed by the intracellular injection of dye

Abstract

The shapes of myenteric neurons in the guineapig small intestine were determined after injecting living neurons with the dye Lucifer yellow via a microelectrode. The cells were fixed and the distribution of Lucifer yellow rendered permanent by an immunohistochemical method. Each of 204 nerve cells was examined in whole-mount preparations of the myenteric plexus and drawn using a camera lucida at 1250 x magnification. Four cell shapes were distinguished: (1) neurons with several long processes corresponding to type II of Dogiel; (2) neurons with a single long process and lamellar dendrites corresponding to type I of Dogiel; (3) neurons with numerous filamentous dendrites; and (4) small neuron..