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Unequal representation of the temporal and nasal retina in an anomalous projection to the lateral thalamus.

Study of an anomalously regenerated, nontopographically organized retinal projection in the frog olfactory cortex revealed that the temporal retina is the main source of this projection, suggesting the existence of specific temporal fiber-directed attractant or trophic influences. In the present study, we examined the organization of an anomalous retinal projection that forms in the frog thalamus after ablation of the optic tectum. The projections from different sectors of the retina were studied by means of the anterograde transport of biotinylated dextran-amine (BDA) delivered to incisions made across the nerve fiber layer in frogs surviving ablation of the contralateral tectal hemisphere for 13-46 weeks. The projections from nasal retinal sectors were always lightly constructed in the aberrant terminal field, whereas their projections to the lateral geniculate complex remained reasonably strong. In contrast, the projections from temporal retinal sectors, though also weak initially, in time became robust and filled the aberrant field over most of its extent. The specific amplification of the temporal fiber projection now observed in two foreign targets provides further evidence for the existence of target-based, attractant/trophic molecules with functional specificity for temporal retinal fibers. That such agents can exist or be inducible in a foreign area would suggest that they belong to a family of molecules having natural biological activity in normal development or regeneration. However, the possibility that the augmented role of the temporal retina in these projections is a result of experience-based plasticity is also discussed.

Animals↗

Paleocortex is specified in mice in which dorsal telencephalic patterning is severely disrupted.

The patterning of the telencephalon is regulated by the concerted action of distinct mechanisms operating in different portions of this structure. Although much progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms underlying the specification of dorsal and ventral structures, little is known about the specification of the paleocortex, the olfactory cortex located at the interface of the dorsal and ventral telencephalon. The paleocortex is thought to be a dorsal, cortical structure, derived from the lateral extreme of the dorsal telencephalon. We examined mutant mice in which dorsal telencephalic patterning is severely disrupted, to ask how these perturbations affect the paleocortex. In the Lhx2-/- telencephalon, where the cortex is greatly shrunken such that medial and dorsal cortical tissue is undetectable, normal expression of several paleocortical markers is observed. The Gli3-/- telencephalon, where the dorsal telencephalon is ventralized, also displays paleocortical markers. In contrast, when the ventral telencephalon is almost completely deleted, such as in the BF1-/- brain, paleocortical markers are undetectable. These results indicate that the specification of the paleocortex can occur in spite of drastic perturbations of dorsal patterning. Furthermore, in the Lhx2 mutant, the paleocortex is juxtaposed to an expanded and mislocated source of Wnt and Bmp signaling, the cortical hem, whereas, in the Gli3 mutant, paleocortical markers arise even though the cortical hem is missing. This indicates that an increase or decrease in cues from this dorsal signaling center does not disrupt the specification of the paleocortex. Finally, by using an in vitro assay, we found that isolated explants of lateral telencephalon up-regulate normal expression of paleocortical markers when maintained in vitro, from as early as embryonic day (E) 10.5. Together, the results reveal that, although the paleocortex is considered to be a cortical structure, it is specified even when dorsal telencephalic patterning is grossly perturbed. Furthermore, our in vitro data reveal that, if mechanisms outside the lateral telencephalon are involved in the specification of the paleocortex, they must act extremely early, prior to E10.5.

Animals↗

Phorbol dibutyrate enhances local anaesthetic action.

1. Synaptically-evoked field responses were elicited by stimulation of the lateral olfactory tract of rat olfactory cortex slices maintained in vitro. 2. Various concentrations of lignocaine (5-500 microM) were applied to the solution bathing the slices. These produced dose-dependent depressions of the synaptically-evoked potential over the concentration range 20-500 microM. The responses completely recovered on washing out the lignocaine. Similar depressions were also noted for procaine (100-1000 microM). 3. In the 47 slices tested, application of beta-phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (1 microM) increased the amplitude of the synaptic response (from 0.99 +/- 0.05 to 1.36 +/- 0.06 mV). beta-Phorbol 13-monbutyrate (1 microM) had no effect. 4. In the presence of phorbol dibutyrate the depressant effect of lignocaine was increased: the EC50 changed from 91 +/- 10 to 24 +/- 2 microM (a mean potency increase of 3.47 +/- 0.14). A similar increase in potency for procaine was observed with phorbol dibutyrate (from 264 +/- 23 to 49 +/- 9 microM: a 5.49 +/- 0.82 increase in potency). If the tissue was pre-equilibrated in a concentration of lignocaine which produced a 60-80% depression, addition of phorbol ester caused a complete abolition of the evoked potential. 5. beta-Phorbol 13-monobutyrate (1 microM) had no effect on the potency of lignocaine. 6. The Na and K currents generating the action potential in the presynaptic nerve terminals were unaffected by phorbol dibutyrate. The depressant effect of lignocaine on these currents was not modified by phorbol dibutyrate. The depressant effect of lignocaine on these currents was not modified by phorbol dibutyrate. 7. The potentiation of lignocaine could not be accounted for by membrane depolarization or by nonspecific actions of phorbol dibutyrate, and was distinct from the action on transmitter release. Therefore, it seems likely that protein kinase C activation was responsible for the modified action of lignocaine, although the mechanism for this is unclear.

Anesthetics, Local↗

Expression and distribution of CYP2C enzymes in rat basal ganglia.

The function and integrity of the basal ganglia is modulated by sex steroids whose activity may be controlled by P450 enzymes, such as members of the CYP2C subfamily. The expression of CYP2C enzymes in rat basal ganglia was examined by immunohistochemistry along with some of the factors that might control their expression. Whereas no CYP2C11 or CYP2C12 immunoreactivity was detected in the basal ganglia of either male or female rats, marked CYP2C13 immunoreactivity was evident in neurones of the subthalamic nucleus, substantia nigra, and interpeduncular nucleus. Strong CYP2C13 immunoreactivity was also expressed in the cortex, olfactory tubercle, hippocampus, dentate gyrus, hypothalamic nuclei, medial habenular nucleus, red nucleus, and medial forebrain bundle. Similar results were found in male and female rats. Following 6-hydroxydopamine lesioning of the nigro-striatal tract, tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity was absent and CYP2C13 immunoreactivity was decreased markedly in the substantia nigra pars compacta, implying its presence in dopaminergic neurones. Modulation of sex steroids, using castrated rats, had no effect on the number of CYP2C13 positive neurones in the substantia nigra pars compacta. These results indicate that CYP2C13 protein is constitutively and widely expressed in rat brain. However, its expression is not sex-specific and is unaffected by castration. The role of CYP2C13 in brain is unknown but it may be involved in the generation of neurosteroids and catecholoestrogens.

Animals↗

Expression of PTPRO during mouse development suggests involvement in axonogenesis and differentiation of NT-3 and NGF-dependent neurons.

Competition and cooperation between type II and type III receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) regulate axon extension and pathfinding in Drosophila. The first step to investigate whether RPTPs influence axon growth in the more complex vertebrate nervous system is to identify which neurons express a particular RPTP. We studied the expression of mouse PTPRO, a type III RPTP with an extracellular region containing eight fibronectin type III domains, during embryogenesis and after birth. Mouse PTPRO mRNA is expressed exclusively in two cell types: neurons and kidney podocytes. Maximal expression in the brain was coincident with mid to late gestation and axonogenesis in the brain. We cloned two cDNAs, including a splice variant without sequence coding of 28 amino acids within the juxtamembrane domain that was found mostly in kidney. In situ hybridization detected mPTPRO mRNA in the cerebral cortex, olfactory bulb and nucleus, hippocampus, motor neurons, and the spinal cord midline. In addition, mPTPRO mRNA was found throughout dorsal root, cranial, and sympathetic ganglia and within kidney glomeruli. Mouse PTPRO mRNA was observed in neuron populations expressing TrkA, the high-affinity nerve growth factor receptor, or TrkC, the neurotrophin-3 receptor, and immunoreactive mPTPRO and TrkC colocalized in large dorsal root ganglia proprioceptive neurons. Our results suggest that mPTPRO is involved in the differentiation and axonogenesis of central and peripheral nervous system neurons, where it is in a position to modulate intracellular responses to neurotrophin-3 and/or nerve growth factor.

Animals↗

Metabolic anatomy of brain: a comparison of regional capillary density, glucose metabolism, and enzyme activities.

Regional variations in capillary density, glucose utilization rate, and activities of the glycolytic enzyme lactate dehydrogenase and the mitochondrial enzyme cytochrome oxidase were compared in the rat brain. The distributions of capillaries and enzymes were studied by means of histochemical staining techniques, and glucose metabolism was measured by means of [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiography. Analysis of 18 gray and five white matter regions revealed a positive correlation between capillary density and glucose utilization rate. A negative correlation was found between capillary density and lactate dehydrogenase among gray matter structures. Analysis of capillaries and enzymes was also performed within laminated histological fields: hippocampus, olfactory bulb, and olfactory cortex. In general, this revealed reciprocal patterns of staining for lactate dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase. Capillary density paralleled cytochrome oxidase activity. The zones of intense staining for lactate dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase corresponded to the synaptic terminal fields of different input pathways. These findings demonstrate distinct distributions of a glycolytic and an oxidative enzyme within the brain which are at least partly associated with pathway specificity.

Animals↗

Sources of presumptive glutamatergic/aspartatergic afferents to the magnocellular basal forebrain in the rat.

The distribution of presumptive glutamatergic and/or aspartatergic neurons retrogradely labeled following injections of [3H]-D-aspartate into the magnocellular basal forebrain of the rat was compared with the distribution of neurons labeled by comparable injections of the nonspecific retrograde axonal tracer wheat germ agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase. Cells retrogradely labeled by wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase were found in a wide range of limbic and limbic-related structures in the forebrain and brainstem. In the telencephalon, labeled neurons were seen in the orbital, medial prefrontal, and agranular insular cortical areas, the amygdaloid complex, and the hippocampal formation. Labeled cells were also seen in the olfactory cortex, the lateral septum, the ventral striatopallidal region, and the magnocellular basal forebrain itself. In the diencephalon, neurons were labeled in the midline nuclear complex of the thalamus, the lateral habenular nucleus, and the hypothalamus. In the brainstem, labeled cells were found bilaterally in the ventral midbrain, the central gray, the reticular formation, the parabrachial nuclei, the raphe nuclei, the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus, and the locus coeruleus. A significant fraction of the afferents to the magnocellular basal forebrain appear to be glutamatergic and/or aspartatergic. Only a few of the regions labeled with wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase were not also labeled with [3H]-D-aspartate in the comparable experiments. Most prominent among the non-glutamatergic/aspartatergic projections were those from fields CA1 and CA3 of the hippocampus, the hilus of the dentate gyrus, the dorsal subiculum, the tuberomammillary nucleus, and the ventral pallidum. In addition, most of the lateral hypothalamic and brainstem projections to the magnocellular basal forebrain were not significantly labeled with [3H]-D-aspartate. In addition to these inputs, a commissural projection from the region of the contralateral nucleus of the horizontal limb of the diagonal band was confirmed with both wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase and the anterograde axonal tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin. This projection did not label with [3H]-D-aspartate or [3H]-GABA, suggesting that it is not glutamatergic/aspartatergic or GABAergic. Furthermore, double labeling experiments with the fluorescent retrograde tracer True Blue and antibodies against choline acetyltransferase indicate that the projection is not cholinergic.

Afferent Pathways↗

Impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation in microtubule-associated protein 1B-deficient mice.

Microtubule-associated protein (MAP)1B-heterozygous (MAP1B+/-) mice are deficient in the expression of MAP1B in the hippocampus, cerebellum, and olfactory cortex. Although MAP1B+/- mice showed half the normal levels of MAP1B protein, they had no measurable amounts of phosphorylated MAP1B. High-frequency theta burst stimulation of Schaffer collateral-CA1 axons in hippocampal slices from MAP1B+/- mice elicited long-term potentiation (LTP) that decayed rapidly to baseline, in contrast to the non-decremental LTP exhibited by age-matched wild-type slices. A separate group of MAP1B+/- and wild-type slices was examined for a longer time course of 3 hr post-tetanus in response to multiple high-frequency stimulus trains that induced saturated LTP. MAP1B+/- slices showed marked reductions in both immediate post-tetanic potentiation and LTP that decayed much more rapidly than that in wild-type slices. The induction of LTP was associated with a rapid dephosphorylation of MAP1B within 5-15 min post-tetanus, suggesting that the normal expression of MAP1B and conversion to a dephosphorylated state may be a cellular mediator of cytoskeletal alterations necessary for long-term activity-dependent synaptic plasticity.

Animals↗

Review: cholinergic mechanisms and epileptogenesis. The seizures induced by pilocarpine: a novel experimental model of intractable epilepsy.

High-dose treatment with pilocarpine hydrochloride, a cholinergic muscarinic agonist, induces seizures in rodents following systemic or intracerebral administration. Pilocarpine seizures are characterized by a sequential development of behavioral patterns and electrographic activity. Hypoactivity, tremor, scratching, head bobbing, and myoclonic movements of the limbs progress to recurrent myoclonic convulsions with rearing, salivation, and falling, and status epilepticus. The sustained convulsions induced by pilocarpine are followed by widespread damage to the forebrain. The amygdala, thalamus, olfactory cortex, hippocampus, neocortex, and substantia nigra are the most sensitive regions to epilepsy-related damage following convulsions produced by pilocarpine. Spontaneous seizures are observed in the long-term period following the administration of convulsant doses of pilocarpine. Developmental studies show age-dependent differences in the response of rats to pilocarpine. Seizures are first noted in 7-12 day-old rats, and the adult pattern of behavioral and electroencephalographic sequelae of pilocarpine is seen in 15-21-day-old rats. During the third week of life the rats show an increased susceptibility to the convulsant action of pilocarpine relative to older and younger animals. The developmental progress of the convulsive response to pilocarpine does not correlate with evolution of the brain damage. The adult pattern of the damage is seen after a delay of 1-2 weeks in comparison with the evolution of seizures and status epilepticus. The susceptibility to seizures induced by pilocarpine increases in rats aged over 4 months. The basal ganglia curtail the generation and spread of seizures induced by pilocarpine. The caudate putamen, the substantia nigra, and the entopeduncular nucleus govern the propagation of pilocarpine-induced seizures. The antiepileptic drugs diazepam, clonazepam, phenobarbital, valproate, and trimethadione protect against pilocarpine-induced convulsions, while diphenylhydantoin and carbamazepine are ineffective. Ethosuximide and acetazolamide increase the susceptibility to convulsant action of pilocarpine. Lithium, morphine, and aminophylline also increase the susceptibility of rats to pilocarpine seizures. The pilocarpine seizure model may be of value in designing new therapeutic approaches to epilepsy.

Animals↗

Cytoplasmic CREB alpha-like antigens in specific regions of the rat brain.

We have investigated the expression of the alpha-region of CREB (amino acids 88-101) in the rat brain. This region is encoded by a separate exon and has been reported to enhance the transcriptional efficiency of CREB. Light microscopic immunohistochemistry showed labeled neurons in several brain regions, such as the spinal cord, pontine reticular formation, cerebellum, hypothalamus, hippocampus and olfactory cortex. The labeling was exclusively cytoplasmic, and electron microscopy revealed that the CREB alpha-immunoreactivity was localized to the Golgi apparatus and axon terminals. Immunoblotting after SDS-PAGE showed specifically detected proteins of 21 and 160 kD. We suggest that neuronal CREB alpha-proteins represent alternatively spliced isoforms of CREB that lack the nuclear translocation signal. These isoforms may be involved in the regulation of CREB-mediated transcription.

Animals↗

Distribution of kappa opioid receptor mRNA in adult mouse brain: an in situ hybridization histochemistry study.

The distribution of the kappa opioid receptor mRNA in adult mouse brain has been determined using the technique of in situ hybridization histochemistry. The mRNA for the kappa opioid receptor was expressed in distinct areas throughout the brain. The telencephalon showed high levels of expression in the deeper layers of the parietal and temporal cortex, olfactory tubercle, nucleus accumbens, claustrum, endopiriform nucleus, nucleus of the vertical and horizontal limb of the diagonal band, and medial and central nuclei of the amygdala. In the diencephalon, kappa opioid receptor mRNA was present in multiple medial thalamic nuclei including the centromedial, paraventricular, parafasicular, central, and peritenial nuclei, as well as in most hypothalamic nuclei including the ventromedial, periventricular, supraoptic, arcuate, and dorsomedial nuclei. The mesencephalon showed highest levels of kappa receptor mRNA in the substantia nigra pars compacta, ventral tegmental area, zona incerta, interpeduncular nucleus, superior colliculus, inferior colliculus, central grey, and the raphe nucleus. In the metencephalon, kappa opioid receptor mRNA was expressed in the parabrachial nuclei, locus coeruleus, dorsal and ventral tegmental nuclei, and the raphe pontine nuclei. The distribution of the kappa receptor mRNA closely coincides with the localization of binding sites in rat brain for [3H]U-69,593, a specific kappa 1 opioid receptor ligand. The mRNA distribution also correlates with neuroanatomical sites of actions of kappa agonists and distribution of the endogenous kappa receptor ligand dynorphin.

Animals↗

Subtype specificity of gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor antagonism by clozapine.

Clozapine, an atypical neuroleptic, functionally antagonizes the gamma-aminobutyric acid-induced chloride uptake via the main central inhibitory receptor, gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor, in brain vesicles. GABAA antagonism by micromolar concentrations of clozapine is more efficient in rat cerebrocortical and hippocampal membranes than in cerebellar membranes, as evidenced by clozapine reversal GABA-inhibition of [35S]t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate ([35S]TBPS) binding. A typical neuroleptic, haloperidol, failed to antagonize GABA in any of these brain regions, while the specific GABAA antagonist 2'-(3'-carboxy-2',3'-propyl)-3-amino-6-p -methoxyphenylpyrazinium bromide (SR 95531) was efficient in all three brain regions. Clozapine action on [35S]TBPS binding was unaffected by the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist flumazenil. Clozapine inhibited the binding of [3H]muscimol and [3H]SR 95531 to the GABA recognition site, but this effect only partially correlated with the regional differences in and the potency of clozapine antagonism of GABA-inhibition of [35S]TBPS binding, suggesting that also other than GABA sites may mediate clozapine actions. Autoradiography of [35S]TBPS binding revealed GABA antagonism by clozapine in most brain regions. Main exceptions were cerebellar granule cell and molecular layers, olfactory bulb external plexiform and glomerular layers and primary olfactory cortex, where clozapine antagonized GABA inhibition less than average, and lateral hypothalamic and preoptic areas where its antagonism was greater than average. Recombinant alpha 6 beta 2 gamma 2 receptors, the predominant alpha 6 subunit-containing receptor subtype in cerebellar granule cells, failed to show GABA antagonism by clozapine up to 100 microM. In contrast, recombinant alpha 1 beta 2 gamma 2 receptors, forming the predominant receptor subtype in the brain, were clozapine sensitive. Recombinant alpha 6 beta 2 gamma 2 and alpha 6 beta 3 gamma 2 receptors resulted in clozapine-insensitive receptors, whereas alpha 6 beta 1 gamma 2 receptors were clozapine sensitive. The efficacy of clozapine to antagonize GABA in alpha 1 beta x gamma 2 receptors decreased in the order of alpha 1 beta 1 gamma 2 > alpha 1 beta 2 gamma 2> alpha 1 beta 3 gamma 2. The results indicate that clozapine antagonizes the function of most GABAA receptor subtypes, and that the interaction is determined by the interaction of the alpha and beta subunit variants. GABA antagonism is a unique property of clozapine, not shared by haloperidol, which might be involved in the pharmacological mechanism for the increased seizure susceptibility associated with clozapine treatment.

Animals↗

Connections of the basal telencephalic areas c and d in the turtle brain.

Tracer substances were injected into the basal telencephalic areas c and d of the turtle brain. These areas (Acd) have recently been shown to be connected reciprocally with the dorsal spino-medullary region, though the particular subregions involved in these projections remained unclear. We demonstrated that the efferent projections of area d terminate predominantly within or immediately adjacent to the trigeminal nuclear complex and in the high cervical spinal gray. The dendritic domain of the vagus-solitarius complex and the dorsal column nuclear complex might also receive some basal telencephalic efferents. The afferent projections to Acd, on the other hand, arise predominantly in the dorsal column nuclei as defined according to cytoarchitectural and hodological criteria. A few retrogradely labeled cells were found in the vagus-solitarius complex, the principal trigeminal nucleus and the high cervical spinal cord. Numerous labeled cells were found in the dorsolateral isthmo-rhombencephalic tegmentum, especially the n. visceralis secundarius, the n. vestibularis superior and parts of the lateral lemniscal complex. Aminergic cell populations projecting to Acd were the n. raphes inferior and superior, the locus coeruleus, the substantia nigra, pars compacta and the ventral tegmental area. Other meso-diencephalic cell groups were the griseum centrale (including the n. laminaris of the torus semicircularis), the n. interpeduncularis dorsalis, the nucleus of the fasciculus longitudinalis medialis, the nucleus and the nucleus interstitialis of flm, the n. interstitialis commissuralis posterior and then n. caudalis. Several hypothalamic regions, the reuniens complex and the perirotundal region of the thalamus also appeared to project heavily to Acd. Telencephalic areas retrogradely labeled after injection of tracer into Acd and its immediate surroundings were the rostral part of the lateral (olfactory) cortex, adjacent regions of the basal dorsal ventricular ridge and the n. centralis amygdalae, the n. tractus olfactorius lateralis as well as the areas g and h. The data suggest that areas c and d may correlate best with the 'extended' amygdala in mammals; further correlation with structures similar to the ventral striopallidum, however, cannot be excluded. Homostrategies are discussed with regard to the processing of higher-order somatovisceral information in turtles, birds and mammals.

Animals↗

Fos protein induction, neuropathology, and pharmacological protection after excitotoxic brain insult.

The excitotoxins kainic acid and N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) were unilaterally injected in the rat striatum. Kainic acid injections resulted in a widespread pattern of Fos protein induction, mainly involving cortical olfactory structures and hippocampus. Immunoreactive cells were observed in large number 2-24 h after injection and had almost completely disappeared by 48 h. NMDA injections elicited a shorter (2-8 h) expression of Fos protein, involving a lower number of cells in cortical olfactory structures, a much larger number of cells in the other cortical regions, and not involving the hippocampus at all. Characteristically none of the two excitotoxins stimulated Fos expression from striatal neurons, even in the close vicinity of the needle tract. In addition to striatal lesions almost equivalent in size, the two excitotoxins caused distant lesions of different extension: kainic acid resulted in extensive neuronal degeneration in the olfactory-entorhinal cortices and among pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus; NMDA caused a less widespread neurodegeneration, restricted to the olfactory cortex. Administration of the competitive NMDA antagonist CGP 39551 largely prevented the distant, but not the local, neuropathological changes caused by intrastriatal kainic acid or NMDA. The expression of Fos protein, however, was partially prevented only in NMDA cases. The present results show a good relationship between the spreading of circuit overexcitation caused by the two excitotoxins and the regional and temporal patterns of Fos expression. The relationship between Fos expression and neuropathological condition remains, however, elusive.

2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate↗

Role of the phosphoinositide signal system and methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine in the development of long-term post-tetanic potentiation in rats.

High-frequency stimulation eliciting long-term post-tetanic potentiation of neuronal excitation in slices of the rat olfactory cortex was accompanied by changes in the metabolism of phospholipid components of cell membranes. At the first stage of the development of long-term potentiation (10 min after tetanization), there was a reduction in phosphoinositide metabolism. The maintenance phase of the potentiated state (30 min after tetanization) was associated with a three-fold increase in the incorporation of 14C-labeled groups from adenosylmethionine into phosphatidylethanolamine methylation products and with normalization of phosphoinositide metabolism. Sixty minutes after tetanization, when potentiation had decayed, there was activation of phosphoinositide metabolism and the intensity of phosphatidylethanolamine methylation returned to the control level. It is suggested that the phosphoinositide system plays an important role in the induction of long-term potentiation, as well as at the stage of recovery of normal neuronal excitability, while the long-term maintenance phase of elevated neuronal excitability was associated with long-lasting changes in the level of phosphatidylethanolamine methylation. The effect of glutamate receptor agonists on the carbachol-stimulated phosphoinositide response in potentiated slices was found to differ from that in nonpotentiated slices. The development of the long-term potentiated state is thus accompanied by a modulatory action of glutamate on the phosphoinositide response.

Animals↗

Involvement of intracellular regulatory systems in the adaptive effects of transient anoxia in vitro.

The involvement of the calcium and phosphoinositide intracellular regulatory systems in the molecular-cellular mechanisms of adaptation of the brain to hypoxia induced by transient anoxia were studied in slices of rat olfactory cortex. Anoxia lasting 2 min initiated the development of moderate but stable activation of intracellular regulatory systems during the reoxygenation period, with increases in binding of Ca2+ to intracellular hydrophobic domains and increases in the level of polyphosphoinositide metabolism. During this period, cells in the slices released neuromediator factors into the perfusion fluid; transfer of these to recipient slices induced similar changes in the activities of intracellular regulatory system components in the recipient slices. After anoxia lasting 10 min, NMDA-mediated pathogenic hyperactivity of the calcium and phosphoinositide systems developed. Preliminary moderate activation of these systems by transient anoxia or neuromodulator factors released by cells in response to transient anoxia prevented disruption of intracellular regulatory system activity induced by subsequent longer-lasting anoxia.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Total gangliosides, ganglioside species and the activity of neuraminidase in different brain regions and spinal cord of normal and undernourished rats.

Total gangliosides, their concentrations and the distribution of individual ganglioside species were determined in the spinal cord, pons-medulla, midbrain, cerebellum, hypothalamus, cerebral cortex, olfactory lobes and the rest of the forebrain, of 18- and 33-day-old normal and food-restricted and rehabilitated rats. The activity of neuraminidase in the different regions of the brain and spinal cord was determined. Differences in total gangliosides as well as individual species in different regions of the brain were observed. Among brain regions, while total ganglioside content was significantly reduced in the case of the cerebellum, the hypothalamus was the most affected in the distribution of ganglioside species and the activity of neuraminidase was decreased. The significance of the distribution of ganglioside species in different brain regions in relation to the activity of neuraminidase is discussed.

Animals↗

Virus spread, tissue inflammation and antiviral response in brains of flavivirus susceptible and resistant mice acutely infected with Murray Valley encephalitis virus.

Inborn resistance to flaviviruses, conferred by a single chromosome 5 locus Flv, is a genetic trait operative in wild mice and a few strains of laboratory mice. In this study we have used in situ hybridisation to trace the spread of flavivirus genomic RNA within the brains of flavivirus susceptible C3H/HeJARC and congenic resistant C3H.PRI- Flv(r) mice following infection with Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVE) in parallel to studying a brain histopathology and induction of cellular genes involved in antiviral response. We find that in contrast to a high viral RNA content in brains of susceptible mice, viral RNA was markedly reduced in the cortex, olfactory bulb, thalamus and hypothalamus of resistant mice. Trace amounts of viral RNA were detected in the medulla oblongata while it was completely absent from the hippocampus, pons and cerebellum of resistant mice at different time points post infection. The low virus titres within brains of resistant mice coincided with a very mild inflammation, low counts of infiltrating inflammatory cells, and lower IFN I/II and TNFalpha gene induction than in susceptible mice. Furthermore, transcripts of several genes belonging to a 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase ( OAS) family, implicated in IFN I-inducible OAS/RNase L antiviral pathway, showed similar brain tissue induction in both strains of mice suggesting only minor contribution of this pathway to the resistance phenotype.

2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase↗