Histochemical localization of synaptic zinc in the developing cat visual cortex

The terminal boutons of many neurons in the telencephalon are known to contain a vesicle‐bound, chelatable pool of zinc (Zn2+) that can be selectively visualized with histochemical procedures. In this paper, the normal laminar, areal, and ultrastructural distribution of histochemically reactive zinc in the visual cortex of the adult cat as well as its development from birth are described. In the adult cat visual cortex, intense zinc staining was found in layers I, II, III, and V, with layer VI staining only lightly. The primary geniculostriate input zone, layer IV, was conspicuously distinguished by the relative absence of zinc. This distinct pattern was restricted only to areas 17 and 18 and differentiated them from adjacent cortical area 19 laterally and the subadjacent cingulate cortex. The earliest zinc‐positive staining in visual cortical areas 17 and 18 was first apparent by postnatal day 2 (P2) and was characterized by staining of a thin layer at the bottom of the cortical plate. By P10, and continuing through P20, synaptic zinc formed a trilaminar pattern of dense staining in areas 17 and 18, which included the top of layer I, and layers III and V. The laminar pattern of synaptic zinc in visual cortex appeared mature by P30, except that the distribution of zinc in layer IV was not uniform. This was most apparent around P50 in tangential sections through layer IV from opened and flattened cortex, where columnar patches of increased zinc staining were apparent in area 17. These columns were approximately 400 μm in diameter, with a centre‐to‐centre spacing of approximately 900 μm. The distribution of synaptic zinc apparently reflects the process of synaptic maturity of the cat visual cortex and appears to demarcate a particular form of columnar organization in visual cortex. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.