Fig. 5

Reconstructions and morphological features of CRH neurons in the PaAp and Pe. A Three-dimensional distribution of reconstructed whole morphologies of CRH neurons in the PaAp. The somata are indicated by the purple bodies, the gray bodies indicate the dendritic varicosities, and the red lines indicate the dendrites; the transparent structure on the left represents the reconstructed 3V. B Four typical reconstructed neurons in the PaAp. B (a) A bipolar neuron with short dendrites and no varicosities; B (b) a bipolar neuron with varicosities located on the dendrite at one end of the cell body. B (c) A bipolar neuron with varicosities located on dendrites at both ends of the cell body; B (d) a multipolar neuron with varicosities located on the dendrites (scale bar = 100 μm). C Three-dimensional distribution of reconstructed whole morphologies of CRH neurons in the Pe. The somata are indicated by purple bodies, the gray bodies indicate the dendritic varicosities, and the red lines indicate the dendrites; the transparent structure in the center represents the reconstructed 3V. D Three individual reconstructed neurons in the Pe. D (e) A bipolar neuron with both ends of dendrites extending to the 3V and with varicosities located on the dendrites at both ends of the cell body; D (f) a bipolar neuron with one end of the dendrite extending to the 3V and with varicosities located on the dendrite at one end of the cell body; D (g) shows a multipolar neuron with one dendrite extending to the 3V and with varicosities mostly located on the dendrite at one end of the cell body (scale bar = 100 μm). E EYFP-labeled varicosities contain MAP 2-immunopositive signals (indicated by the arrowheads, image below is a magnified image from the dotted box of the upper image, scale bar: 50 μm and 10 μm for the magnified image). F EYFP-labeled varicosities contain ChgB-immunopositive signals (indicated by the arrowheads in the magnified images from the dotted boxes, scale bar: 50 μm and 10 μm for the insert). G The dendrite extends to the third ventricle and a large varicosity (indicated by the yellow arrowhead) is attached to the ependymal cells (indicated by the white arrowhead, scale bar: 10 μm). H–K Statistical results showing the differences of somatic volume (H) (P = 0.0119), varicosities number (I) (P = 0.0005), total varicosities volume per cell (J) (P = 0.0003), and the average volume of the varicosities (K) (P = 0.0047) between neurons in the PaAp and Pe. L Correlation between somatic volume and varicosities number of neurons in the PaAp. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was r = − 0.4519, P = 0.0455. Each point in the scatterplot represents a single cell. M, N There were no significant differences in dendritic features (M, total dendritic length; N, total number of dendritic branches) of neurons between PaAp and Pe. ns: not significant. O Comparison of primary dendritic branches and the proportions of bipolar or multipolar cells in the PaAp and Pe. N = 20 cells for PaAp and 10 cells for Pe