Delayed postnatal settlement of cerebellar Purkinje cells in vermal lobules VI and VII of the mouse

The postnatal development of the ganglionic (Purkinje) layer was studied in the mouse cerebellum from P0 to young adulthood with special emphasis to vermal lobules VI-VII (oculomotor vermis) in the mouse. In order to visualize Purkinje cells (PCs), toluidine blue staining of resin-embedded semithin sections and calbindin immunohistochemistry were utilized. The number of PCs in the whole cerebellum was 199,080+/-2966 at postnatal day eight (P8), 222,000+/-2979 at P20 and nearly the same, 225,800+/-7549 in young adults; i.e., there was an approximately 13.4% increase of PCs between P8 and adults. The number of PC somata aligned into a rostrocaudal stripe along the developing ganglionic layer increased by about 24% in vermal cerebellar lobule III but much more markedly (i.e., by 49%) in VI+VII between P6 and young adulthood. Between P6 and P16, the increase of the number of PCs in the ganglionic layer of lobules VI and VII resulted in the (delayed) completion of PC layer, caused by the (late) alignment of rostrocaudally dispersed PCs, although late postnatal migration of a smaller population of these cells cannot be excluded either. It is concluded that the oculomotor vermis belongs to the latest developing cerebellar cortical structures, which could be the reason for its frequent involvement in developmentally related disturbances and disorders.