Neuron Soma (neuron + soma)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Involvement of adenylate cyclase and tyrosine kinase signaling pathways in response of crayfish stretch receptor neuron and satellite glia cell to photodynamic treatment

GLIA, Issue 3 2005
Anatoly Uzdensky
Abstract Neuroglial interactions are most profound during development or damage of nerve tissue. We studied the responses of crayfish stretch receptor neurons (SRN) and satellite glial cells to photosensitization with sulfonated aluminum phthalocyanine Photosens. Although Photosens was localized mainly in the glial envelope, neurons were very sensitive to photodynamic treatment. Photosensitization gradually inhibited and then abolished neuron activity. Neuronal and glial nuclei shrank. Some neurons and glial cells lost the integrity of the plasma membrane and died through necrosis after the treatment. The nuclei of other glial cells but not neurons become fragmented, indicating apoptosis. The number of glial nuclei around neuron soma increased, probably indicating proliferation for enhanced neuron protection. Adenylate cyclase (AC) inhibition by MDL-12330A, or tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibition by genistein, shortened neuron lifetime, whereas AC activation by forskolin or protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTP) inhibition by sodium orthovanadate prolonged neuronal activity. Therefore, cAMP and phosphotyrosines produced by AC and TK, respectively, protected SRN against photoinactivation. AC inhibition reduced photodamage of the plasma membrane and subsequent necrosis in neuronal and glial cells. AC activation prevented apoptosis in photosensitized glial cells and stimulated glial proliferation. TK inhibition protected neurons but not glia against photoinduced membrane permeabilization and subsequent necrosis whereas PTP inhibition more strongly protected glial cells. Therefore, both signaling pathways involving cAMP and phosphotyrosines might contribute to the maintenance of neuronal activity and the integrity of the neuronal and glial plasma membranes. Adenylate cyclase but not phosphotyrosine signaling pathways modulated glial apoptosis and proliferation under photooxidative stress. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Loss of synaptophysin-positive boutons on lumbar motor neurons innervating the medial gastrocnemius muscle of the SOD1G93A G1H transgenic mouse model of ALS

JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, Issue 5 2005
Da Wei Zang
Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a common form of motor neuron disease (MND) that involves both upper and lower nervous systems. In the SOD1G93A G1H transgenic mouse, a widely used animal model of human ALS, a significant pathology is linked to the degeneration of lower motor neurons in the lumbar spinal cord and brainstem. In the current study, the number of presynaptic boutons immunoreactive for synaptophysin was estimated on retrogradely labeled soma and proximal dendrites of , and , motor neurons innervating the medial gastrocnemius muscle. No changes were detected on both soma and proximal dendrites at postnatal day 60 (P60) of , and , motor neurons. By P90 and P120, however, , motor neuron soma had a reduction of 14 and 33% and a dendritic reduction of 19 and 36%, respectively. By P90 and P120, , motor neuron soma had a reduction of 17 and 41% and a dendritic reduction of 19 and 35%, respectively. This study shows that levels of afferent innervation significantly decreased on surviving , and , motor neurons that innervate the medial gastrocnemius muscle. This finding suggests that the loss of motor neurons and the decrease of synaptophysin in the remaining motor neurons could lead to functional motor deficits, which may contribute significantly to the progression of ALS/MND. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Local axon collaterals of lamina I projection neurons in the spinal cord of young rats

THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, Issue 14 2010
Peter Szucs
lpsilateral spinal cord areas occupied by axon collaterals of different types of ALT projection neurons. Dorsal Collateral Type projection neurons (DCT-I and II, upper right and left corners; respectively) send axon collaterals into the dorsal laminae of the same segment and these axons may extend into the overlying white matter. The collateral area of Lateral Collateral Type (LCT) neurons (purple cell, lower left) extends beyond the segment of the neuron, includes the lateral spinal nucleus, a part of the dorsolateral funiculus and may include the lateral part of laminae I-V. Collaterals of Ventral Collateral Type (VCT) neurons (yellow cell, lower right) are occupying an area that could be best described as a transverse slice of the grey matter ventral to lamina IV, centered on the rostrocaudal position of the neuron soma. The Journal of Comparative Neurology, Volume 518, Number 14, pages 2645,2665. [source]


Nicotinic synapses formed between chick ciliary ganglion neurons in culture resemble those present on the neurons in vivo

DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2001
Min Chen
Abstract We studied nicotinic synapses between chick ciliary ganglion neurons in culture to learn more about factors influencing their formation and receptor subtype dependence. After 4,8 days in culture, nearly all neurons displayed spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs), which occurred at about 1 Hz. Neurons treated with tetrodotoxin displayed miniature EPSCs (mEPSCs), but these occurred at low frequency (0.1 Hz), indicating that most sEPSCs are actually impulse driven. The sEPSCs could be classified by decay kinetics as fast, slow, or biexponential and, reminiscent of the situation in vivo, were mediated by two major nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) subtypes. Fast sEPSCs were blocked by ,-bungarotoxin (,Bgt), indicating dependence on ,Bgt-AChRs, most of which are ,7 subunit homopentamers. Slow sEPSCs were unaffected by ,Bgt, and were blocked instead by the ,3/,2-selective ,-conotoxin-MII (,CTx-MII), indicating dependence on ,3*-AChRs, which lack ,7 and contain ,3 subunits. Biexponential sEPSCs were mediated by both ,Bgt- and ,3*-AChRs because they had fast and slow components qualitatively similar to those comprising simple events, and these were reduced by ,Bgt and blocked by ,CTx-MII, respectively. Fluorescence labeling experiments revealed both ,Bgt- and ,3*-AChR clusters on neuron somata and neurites. Colabeling with antisynaptic vesicle protein antibody suggested that some ,3*-AChR clusters, and a few ,Bgt-AChR clusters are associated with synaptic sites, as is the case in vivo. These findings demonstrate the utility of ciliary ganglion neuron cultures for studying the regulation of nicotinic synapses, and suggest that mixed AChR subtype synapses characteristic of the neurons in vivo can form in the absence of normal inputs or targets. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Neurobiol 47: 265,279, 2001 [source]


Differential effects of NT-4, NGF and BDNF on development of neurochemical architecture and cell size regulation in rat visual cortex during the critical period

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 2 2007
Maren Engelhardt
Abstract Development of inhibition is a crucial determinant of the time course of visual cortical plasticity. BDNF strongly affects interneuron development and the onset and closure of the critical period for ocular dominance plasticity. Less is known on the effects of NT-4 despite a clear involvement in ocular dominance plasticity. We have investigated the effects of NT-4 on interneuron development by supplying NT-4 with osmotic minipumps during two time windows overlapping the onset (P12,20) and the peak (P20,28) of the critical period. We assessed the expression of interneuronal markers and soma size maturation either after the end of the infusion periods or at the end of the critical period (P45). We found that NT-4 was very effective in regulating interneuron development. NPY, SOM and PARV neuron somata grew faster during both infusion periods whereas CR neurons only responded during the early infusion period. The effects of soma size elicited during the earlier infusion period were still present at P45. In PARV neurons, NT-4 caused a long-lasting stabilization of CB and NPY expression. Furthermore, NT-4 accelerated the expression of GAD-65 mRNA in a subset of non-PARV neurons of layer V, which normally up-regulate GAD-65 towards the end of the critical period. Most of these effects were shared by NT-4 and BDNF. Some were unexpectedly also shared by NGF, which promoted growth of layer V PARV neurons, stabilized the CB expression and accelerated the GAD-65 expression. The results suggest that neurotrophins act on critical period plasticity by strengthening inhibition. [source]


Painful neuropathy alters the effect of gabapentin on sensory neuron excitability in rats

ACTA ANAESTHESIOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 4 2004
A. Kanai
Background:, Pain following peripheral nerve injury is associated with increased excitability of sensory neurons. Gabapentin (GBP), a novel anticonvulsant with an uncertain mechanism of action, is an effective treatment for neuropathic pain. We therefore investigated the effect of GBP on dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons from normal rats and those with painful peripheral nerve injury. Methods:, Dorsal root ganglions were excised from rats with neuropathic pain behaviour following chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve, and from normal rats. Intercellular recordings were made from myelinated sensory neuron somata using a microelectrode technique from DRGs bathed in artificial CSF with or without GBP (100 µM). Results:, Compared with normal neurons, injury decreased the refractory interval (RI) for repeat action potential (AP) generation increased the number of APs during sustained depolariza- tion, and shortened the after hyperpolarization following an AP. In normal neurons, GBP decreased the RI and increased the AP number during sustained depolarization. In an opposite fashion, the result of GBP application to injured neurons was a decreased number of APs during depolarization and no change in RI. In injured neurons only, GBP increased the time-to-peak for AP depolarization. Conclusions:, Nerve injury by CCI is associated with increased sensory neuron excitability, associated with a decreased AHP. In normal peripheral sensory neurons, GBP has pro-excitatory effects, whereas GBP decreases excitability in injured neurons, possibly on the basis of altered sodium channel function. [source]