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Distribution of glutamate-like immunoreactivity in excitatory hippocampal pathways: a semiquantitative electron microscopic study in rats.

A semiquantitative electron microscopic immunocytochemical procedure was used to study the cellular and subcellular distribution of glutaraldehyde-fixed glutamate in rat hippocampal formation. Ultrathin plastic-embedded sections were incubated with a primary glutamate antiserum followed by a secondary antibody coupled to colloidal gold particles. A computer-assisted assessment of gold particle densities revealed that the axon terminals of all of the main excitatory pathways in the hippocampus were enriched with glutamate-like immunoreactivity relative to other tissue elements, including the parent cell bodies (granule and pyramidal cells). The different excitatory pathways showed slightly different labelling intensities: boutons in the termination zone of the lateral perforant path were covered by higher gold particle densities than boutons situated in the termination zones of the medial perforant path, the Schaffer collateral/commissural pathway and the hilar associational/commissural pathway. The mossy fibre terminals were significantly less enriched in immunoreactivity than terminals of the lateral perforant path and the Schaffer collateral/commissural pathway. Within the terminals, glutamate-like immunoreactivity was concentrated over synaptic vesicles and mitochondria. Terminals establishing symmetric junctions with cell bodies or dendritic stems displayed low particle densities, as did glial cell processes. These findings support the idea that glutamate is a major excitatory neurotransmitter in hippocampal excitatory synapses. Our observations are also in line with biochemical data pointing to the existence of a considerable neuronal and a smaller glial, metabolic pool of glutamate.

Animals↗

Long-term Potentiation and Field EPSPs in the Lateral and Medial Perforant Paths in the Dentate Gyrus In Vitro: a Comparison.

The entorhinal cortex projects monosynaptically to the granule cells in the dentate gyrus via the lateral and medial perforant paths. These two subdivisions of the perforant path differ with respect to synaptic properties, and recent studies suggest that they also differ with respect to long-term potentiation (LTP). In the present study, using the in vitro slice preparation of the guinea-pig hippocampus, field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) and LTP in the lateral and medial perforant paths were compared. The two pathways were distinguished on the basis of their different termination in the dendritic layer, their different pharmacology and short-term synaptic facilitation. The field EPSP [obtained in the presence of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) A and B receptor antagonists] consisted of a non-N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) component with different time characteristics in the two pathways, the decay being monoexponential in the lateral perforant path and biexponential in the medial one. In addition, the field EPSP in both pathways contained a small NMDA-mediated component that could also be observed after complete blockade of the non-NMDA one. LTP induction in both lateral and medial perforant paths was facilitated by blockade of GABAA inhibition, showed associative properties, and was blocked by NMDA receptor antagonists. Following the induction event, LTP in both pathways developed to a peak value within 30 - 40 s, and the stability of LTP was correlated with the amount of postsynaptic, but not presynaptic, activity during the induction event. During blockade of GABAA inhibition the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone and the beta-adrenergic antagonist timolol had no effect on the magnitude or stability of LTP. It is concluded that LTP in the lateral and medial perforant paths does not differ with respect to induction mechanisms and early temporal characteristics.

Journal Article↗

Granuloma annulare with follicular perforation.

An instance of perforating granuloma annulare was observed in a 42-year-old female patient in which the necrobiotic material in the dermis was eliminated by a hair follicle. This had previously been described by the author in only 1 other case of perforating granuloma annulare. Transepithelial elimination may occur by the transepidermal and/or transfollicular route. Both pathways are possible in perforating granuloma annulare. Some factors are discussed which may be responsible for the predominance of one route over the other in various disorders of transepithelial elimination.

Adult↗

Long-term synaptic morphometry changes after induction of long-term potentiation and long-term depression in the dentate gyrus of awake rats are not simply mirror phenomena.

Mechanisms of expression of long-term synaptic plasticity are believed to involve morphological changes of the activated synapses and remodelling of connectivity. Here, we investigated changes in synaptic and neuronal parameters in the dentate gyrus 24 h after induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) in awake rats. In dentate granule cells, tetanization of the medial or lateral perforant paths induces LTP in specific synaptic bands along the dendrites in the middle and outer molecular layers, respectively, and tetanization of the lateral path induces robust LTD heterosynaptically in the middle molecular layer. This functional segregation allowed us to assess morphological changes associated with LTP and LTD in each pathway in the same population of neurons. Electron microscopy and unbiased counting methods were used to estimate neuronal density, axospinous, axodendritic and perforated synapse density, multiple synapse bouton density and postsynaptic density (PSD) area. Whereas there was no change in neuronal density, PSD area and multiple synapse boutons 24 h after either LTP or LTD, there was a noninput-specific increase in unperforated axospinous synapses after both LTP and LTD. However, we found that LTP of the medial, but not lateral, perforant path is associated with a specific increase in perforated axospinous synapses in the potentiated area. We also show that heterosynaptic LTD is associated with an input-specific increase in axodendritic synapse density. These results suggest that each perforant pathway may differ with respect to the nature of LTP-induced long-term changes and show that morphologically LTD is not simply the converse of LTP.

Animals↗

Kinetic pathway of the bilayered-micelle to perforated-lamellae transition.

Using time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering, we have studied the kinetics of the recently observed bilayered-micelle (or so-called "bicelle") to perforated-lamellar transition in phospholipid mixtures. The data suggest that phase-ordering occurs via the early-time coalescence of bicelles into stacks of lamellae that then swell. Our measurements on this biomimetic system highlight the ubiquitous role of transient metastable states in the phase ordering of complex fluids.

Biophysics↗

Septo-hippocampal deafferentation protects CA1 neurons against ischemic injury.

Excessive synaptic excitation caused by transient cerebral ischemia has been proposed to explain the greater vulnerability of specific neuronal populations to ischemic injury. We tested this hypothesis in rats by cutting, alone or in combination, the afferent fibers that travel in the fimbria/fornix, the perforant, or the Schäffer collateral pathways and innervate the right CA1 hippocampus. Seven to twelve days later the animals were subjected to 30 min of reversible forebrain ischemia. Irreversible damage to the CA1 neurons was assessed with the light microscope after 70-120 h of cerebral reperfusion. The left, unlesioned hippocampus served as a control. Simultaneous cutting of the 3 major afferent pathways significantly reduced CA1 neuronal damage compared to the unlesioned side (P less than 0.001) or to sham-lesioned controls (P less than 0.001). Selective lesions of the fimbria/fornix but not the perforant or the Schäffer collateral pathways also protected against ischemic CA1 damage. These data indicate that afferent fiber input modulates hippocampal damage caused by ischemia, but they are inconsistent with the hypothesis that excitatory afferent fibers, travelling in either the perforant or the Schäffer collateral pathways alone, play a major role. Neurotransmitters, other than those activating excitatory amino acid receptors or yet-to-be-identified synaptic events, may be invoked to explain the spatial and temporal sensitivity of hippocampal CA1 neurons to ischemia.

Animals↗

Amplification of perforant-path EPSPs in CA3 pyramidal cells by LVA calcium and sodium channels.

The perforant path forms a monosynaptic connection between the cells of layer II of the entorhinal cortex and the pyramidal cells in hippocampal area CA3. Although this projection is prominent anatomically, very little is known about the physiological properties of this input. The distal location of these synapses suggests that somatically recorded perforant-path excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) may be influenced by the activation of voltage-dependent channels in CA3 cells. We observed that perforant-path EPSPs are reduced (by approximately 25%) by blockade of postsynaptic low-voltage-activated calcium and sodium channels, indicating that perforant-path EPSPs are amplified by the activation of these channels. These data suggest that the perforant path may represent an important and highly modifiable direct connection between the entorhinal cortex and area CA3.

Animals↗

Rectus abdominis muscle-musculocutaneous flap in chest-wall reconstruction.

The rapid development of postmastectomy breast reconstruction has shown that the rectus abdominis muscle is a useful carrier for abdominal wall skin. Detailed analysis of the vascular anatomy of the abdominal wall has extended the uses of the transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap to major chest-wall reconstruction, both as a transposition flap and as a free-tissue transfer. Although the most direct pathway to the paraumbilical perforators that supply the large skin island of the flap is from the deep inferior epigastric artery, numerous collateral pathways exist from above that recruit blood from the intercostal vessels and the internal mammary artery even if it has been ligated or used for myocardial revascularization. Awareness of these collateral pathways and care to preserve them whenever possible, combined with the willingness to supplement blood flow with a microvascular anastomosis of the deep inferior epigastric vessels, allows the surgeon to use the rectus abdominis flap and its variations in almost any major chest-wall reconstruction (Fig. 11).

Abdominal Muscles↗

NMDA-dependent heterosynaptic long-term depression in the dentate gyrus of anaesthetized rats.

This report examines the inductive mechanisms involved in long-term heterosynaptic depression (LTD) in the dentate gyrus of anaesthetized rats. Associative and non-associative stimulus protocols were implemented, using the ipsilateral medial and lateral perforant path inputs to the dentate gyrus as the test pathways. In all experiments, the medial perforant path (MPP) received the conditioning stimuli which consisted of eight stimulus trains of 2 s duration, spaced 1 minute apart. Within each train the stimuli occurred as a burst of 5 pulses at 100 Hz, repeated at 200 ms intervals. The lateral perforant path (LPP) served as the test pathway in all of the initial experiments. In the associative condition, it received single pulses equally spaced between the medial path bursts. In the non-associative condition, no lateral path stimuli were given during the medial path trains. In both conditions, the application of the conditioning stimuli resulted in a long-term potentiation (LTP) of the medial path evoked responses (P less than 0.001), while the lateral path responses showed LTD (P less than 0.001). A two-way analyses of variance revealed there to be no difference between the two paradigms in the expression of LTP or LTD in naive pathways or in their ability to depress a potentiated pathway (P greater than 0.05) An occlusion test also showed there to be no further decreases in synaptic efficacy with the associative paradigm after the lateral path synapses were saturated with non-associative LTD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Analysis of Variance↗

Opioid receptor-dependent long-term potentiation at the lateral perforant path-CA3 synapse in rat hippocampus.

The involvement of opioid receptors in the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) was investigated in the lateral and medial perforant path projections to area CA3 of the hippocampus in anesthetized rats. The opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (10 nmol), applied to the hippocampal CA3 region 10 min prior to tetanization, blocked the induction lateral perforant path-CA3 LTP induced by high-frequency stimulation. By contrast, LTP induction in medial perforant path-CA3 was not attenuated by a 10 nmol quantity of naloxone. (+)-Naloxone (10 nmol), the inactive stereoisomer of naloxone, was without effect on the induction of lateral perforant path-CA3 LTP. Naloxone applied 1 h following LTP induction did not reverse established lateral perforant path-CA3 LTP, indicating that opioid receptors are involved in the induction but not the maintenance of LTP in this pathway. LTP of medial perforant path responses developed immediately, while LTP of lateral perforant path responses was slow to develop. The latter pattern is similar to the time course of the development of LTP observed at the mossy fiber-CA3 synapse and suggests that lateral and medial perforant path synapses may use distinct mechanisms of both induction and expression of LTP. These data extend previous findings demonstrating opioid receptor-dependent mechanisms of LTP induction at both the mossy fiber-CA3 synapse and the lateral perforant path-dentate gyrus synapse. We suggest that lateral perforant path and mossy fiber synapses may utilize similar, opioid receptor-dependent, mechanisms of LTP induction and expression.

Animals↗

Epileptogenesis during development: injury, circuit recruitment, and plasticity.

PURPOSE: To use animal models of variable seizure induction in rats at different developmental stages to determine contributing factors for spontaneous seizures resulting from status epilepticus (SE) early in life. METHODS: Two models of SE with distinct modes of seizure induction, lithium-pilocarpine (LiPC) and perforant path stimulation (PPS), were used at different ages. Multiple methods of determining neurodegeneration during an acute period and plastic changes in those monitored during the chronic phase were used. RESULTS: Different modes of seizure induction lead to varying types and extents of damage, dependent on the age of the animals at the time of insult. LiPC resulted in injury to animals as young as 2 weeks and became widespread in animals 3 weeks old, whereas widespread damage after PPS was not seen until P35. Rats at an age with widespread damage in response to seizures also showed extensive immediate-early gene activation and often developed spontaneous seizures and features of hippocampal plasticity seen in the epileptic brain. CONCLUSIONS: SE early in life results in multiple consequences to the developing brain. These changes, coexisting in the nonepileptic brain, can overlap in a maladaptive combination to result in the diseased state of epilepsy. The consequence of early seizures in immature animals is a function of both the developmental stage and the method of seizure induction.

Aging↗

Anomalous asymmetry of fusiform and parahippocampal gyrus gray matter in schizophrenia: A postmortem study.

OBJECTIVE: Anomalies of structure and asymmetry of the parahippocampal gyrus (origin of the perforant path input to the hippocampal formation in the medial temporal lobe) have been shown in some postmortem studies of schizophrenia, but previous studies have not included the fusiform gyrus (which may have a role in facial recognition and naming), adjacent to the parahippocampal gyrus on the ventral occipitotemporal surface. METHOD: The volumes of gray matter in the left and right parahippocampal and fusiform gyri were assessed with a stereological point-counting technique in the temporal lobes from formalin-fixed brains of 27 comparison subjects and 31 patients with schizophrenia. Age was a covariate and gender was a factor in the analysis. RESULTS: In relation to the comparison subjects, the schizophrenic patients (both sexes) had lower volumes of both the parahippocampal and fusiform gyri on the left side. For both structures a left-greater-than-right volume asymmetry was present in the comparison subjects, but this asymmetry was reversed in the parahippocampal and fusiform gyri of the schizophrenic patients. A sex difference was present with respect to age at onset-degree of anomaly of asymmetry for both gyri increased with age at onset in men but not in women. CONCLUSIONS: The findings add substance to the view that the sex-related dimension of symmetry/asymmetry is integral to the disease process in schizophrenia and draw attention to the fusiform gyrus as a structure of particular interest in relation to disturbances of identification and naming in psychosis.

Adult↗

Modulation of spontaneous Ca2+-activated Cl- currents in the rabbit corpus cavernosum by the nitric oxide-cGMP pathway.

The whole-cell perforated patch clamp technique was used to study membrane currents in isolated rabbit corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells. Depolarization from -80 mV to the range -40 to -10 mV evoked a nifedipine-sensitive Ca(2+) current that was followed by a slower inward current that activated over several hundred milliseconds. The slow current reversed near the Cl(-) equilibrium potential (E(Cl)) and was reduced by anthracene-9-carboxylic acid (A9C; 1 mm) and niflumic acid (100 microm), suggesting that it was a Ca(2+)-activated Cl(-) current. When held constantly at -60 mV, over 70% of cells fired spontaneous transient inward currents (STICs), the amplitudes of which were reduced by A9C and niflumic acid. STICs reversed near E(Cl) in a symmetrical Cl(-) gradient and when [Cl(-)](o) was substituted with glutamate or I(-), the reversal potential shifted to more positive or more negative values, respectively, confirming that STICs were mediated by Cl(-) channels. STICS were also blocked by cyclopiazonic acid, 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB) and 2-nitro-4-carboxyl-N,N-diphenylcarbamate (NCDC), suggesting that they depended on IP(3)-mediated Ca(2+)-release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Modulation by the NO-cGMP pathway was investigated by applying nitrosocysteine, 3-(5-hydroxymethyl-2-furyl)-1-benzyl indazole (YC-1), and 8-bromo cGMP, all three of which abolished STIC activity. YC-1 also reduced noradrenaline-evoked inward currents, but had no effect on similar currents evoked by caffeine, suggesting that cGMP selectively inhibited IP(3)-mediated Ca(2+) release. We propose that Ca(2+)-activated Cl(-) currents underlie detumescent tone in the corpus cavernosum, and that modulation of this mechanism by the NO-cGMP pathway is important during penile erection.

Animals↗

Activity-dependent presynaptic autoinhibition by group II metabotropic glutamate receptors at the perforant path inputs to the dentate gyrus and CA1.

Pharmacological activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) can inhibit synaptic transmission; however, relatively little evidence exists regarding the physiological conditions under which such autoreceptors are activated by synaptically released glutamate. Bath application of selective group II mGluR agonists profoundly inhibited field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) evoked by stimulation of the perforant path inputs to both the mid-molecular layer of the dentate gyrus and the stratum lacunosum moleculare of the CA1. Application of the group II selective mGluR antagonist LY341495 resulted in an increase in the relative amplitude of a test fEPSP evoked 200 ms after a conditioning burst, but not after a single conditioning stimulus, in both pathways. Antagonist application also resulted in a marked increase in the relative amplitude of test population spikes evoked in the dentate gyrus following a conditioning burst. These observations are consistent with a presynaptic autoinhibitory action of group II metabotropic receptors that is revealed following burst stimulation of the pathway, consistent with their localisation in the preterminal zone. Activation of group II mGluRs during theta-gamma pattern discharge of projection neurones in the entorhinal cortex is likely to play an important role in the regulation of synaptic transmission and plasticity in the perforant pathway.

Amino Acids↗

Tracing of the entorhinal-hippocampal pathway in vitro.

In vitro tract tracing allowing for continuous observation of the perforant path is a crucial prerequisite for experimental studies on the entorhinal-hippocampal interaction in an organotypic slice culture containing the entorhinal cortex, the perforant path, and the dentate gyrus (OEHSC). We prepared horizontal slices of the temporal entorhinal-hippocampal region of the rat on a vibratome, and the perforant path axons were traced by application of the fluorescent tracer Mini Ruby on the entorhinal cortex. After 2 days in vitro (div), the perforant path became visible in most cultures. Entorhinal neurons and single perforant fibers could be followed to the outer molecular layers of the dentate gyrus by in vitro fluorescence microscopy and it was possible to monitor the perforant path directly over a period of 25 div. Moreover, ultrastructural analysis proved the existence of traced perforant path boutons forming synapses with spines and dendritic shafts in the outer molecular layers of the dentate gyrus. Transsection of the prelabelled perforant path in vitro resulted in anterograde degeneration and subsequent phagocytosis of axonal material by activated microglial cells in the zone of denervation. In conclusion, in vitro tracing demonstrates the maintenance of the entorhinal-hippocampal pathway in OEHSCs and permits monitoring of dynamic changes in the prelabeled perforant path after various lesion paradigms, e.g., transsection or neurotoxin treatment. This approach permits further studies on the efficacy of neuroprotectants, cytokines, and growth factors in the treatment of lesion-induced neuronal degeneration.

Animals↗

Current source density analysis of the potential evoked in hippocampus by perirhinal cortex stimulation.

Previous anatomical research has demonstrated that the perirhinal cortex (PRC) projects to the dorsal hippocampal CA1 field. We have recently presented data (Liu and Bilkey, Hippocampus 1996; 6:125-135) which suggests that this pathway courses via the lateral perforant path (LPP). In the present study, laminar profiles of the average evoked potentials and current source density (CSD) analysis were used to study the input from the perirhinal cortex to the dorsal hippocampus in the urethane-anaesthetized rat. Stimulation of the lateral perforant path activated a current sink in the stratum lacunosum-moleculare of CA1 and the outer molecular layer of the dentate gyrus with an onset latency of 3.5 ms. Stimulation of the perirhinal cortex produced a very similar sink-source pattern with an onset latency of 4.0 ms. Higher-intensity stimulation of lateral entorhinal cortex also produced a similar pattern with an onset latency of 4.5 ms. Electrolytic lesions of PRC conducted 4-5 days prior to testing resulted in a major decrease (58%) in the amplitude of the LPP-elicited potentials and a corresponding reduction across the whole source-sink pattern. A similar result was observed following ibotenic acid lesions of PRC. In contrast, similar-sized electrolytic lesions of lateral entorhinal cortex produced a much smaller (16%) decrease in potential amplitude and little change in the source-sink pattern. These data provide further support for the hypothesis that perirhinal cortex projects to both the dentate gyrus and CA1 regions of the hippocampus via the lateral perforant path.

Afferent Pathways↗

Morphodynamics of the secretory pathway.

A careful scrutiny of the dynamics of secretory compartments in the entire eukaryotic world reveals many common themes. The most fundamental theme is that the Golgi apparatus and related structures appear as compartments formed by the act of transporting cargo. The second common theme is the pivotal importance for endomembrane dynamics of shifting back and forth the equilibrium between full and perforated cisternae along the pathway. The third theme is the role of a continuous membrane flow in anterograde transfer of molecules from the endoplasmic reticulum through the Golgi apparatus. The last common theme is the self-regulatory balance between anatomical continuities and discontinuities of the endomembrane system. As this balance depends on secretory activity, it provides a source of morphological variability among cell types or, for a given cell type, according to environmental conditions. Beyond this first source of variability, it appears that divergent strategies pave the evolutionary routes in different eukaryotic kingdoms. These divergent strategies primarily affect the levels of stacking, of stabilization, and of clustering of the Golgi apparatus. They presumably underscore a trade-off between versatility and stability to adapt the secretory function to the degree of environmental variability. Nonequilibrium secretory structures would provide yeasts, and plants to a lesser extent, with the required versatility to cope with ever changing environments, by contrast to the stabler milieu intérieur of homeothermic animals.

Animals↗