We have previously reported that few striatal axons from adult host brain innervate intrastriatal grafts of fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue. To see whether the immature rat brain would favor striatal innervation of the graft, unilateral implantation of fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue was carried out at 7 (P7), 14 (P14), or 60 (adults) days of age in neonatally dopamine-(DA)-lesioned and nonlesioned rats. Immunocytochemistry for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), and/or dopamine- and adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate-regulated phosphoprotein-32 (DARPP-32) was performed 2-6 months later. In the great majority of immature and in all adult recipients, the resulting graft consisted of a distinct intrastriatal mass of tissue surrounded by the host parenchyma. Most TH-immunopositive neurons were found within the confines of such grafts, although some were lying at short distances into the host striatal tissue, particularly in immature recipients. In a few immature recipients, there was, however, extensive intermingling of TH-positive neurons with the adjacent host brain tissue. In all recipients grafted at P7, P14, or as adults, the distinct, intraparenchymal grafts contained moderate numbers of DARPP-32-positive processes, mainly at their periphery. These results indicate that the limited capacity of host striatal neurons to grow axons into transplanted fetal ventral mesencephalic tissue is not markedly different in young versus adult rats. A better integration of the ventral mesencephalic graft into the striatal circuitry of immature--as opposed to adult--recipients should therefore rely more on the higher tendency of DA neurons to become located into the host tissue following transplantation in young rats.