3-Acetylpyridine-induced degeneration and regeneration in the adult lizard brain: a qualitative and quantitative analysis
Abstract The neurotoxin 3-acetylpyridine (3AP) produces highly selective neuronal damage in specific areas of the lizard brain. Following 3AP intoxication, proliferation and migration of replacement neurons born in the ventricular walls lead to regeneration of the lesioned areas. Earlier studies established the time course of 3AP-induced degeneration and subsequent regeneration in the medial cerebral cortex of adult lizards (Font, E., Garcia-Verdugo, J.M., Alcantara, S. and Lopez-Garcia, C., Neuron regeneration reverses 3-acetylpyridine-induced cell loss in the cerebral cortex of adult lizards, Brain Res. , 551 (1991) 230–235 [13] ). Complementary to our previous studies, we now provide a q…
Neuron regeneration reverses 3-acetylpyridine-induced cell loss in the cerebral cortex of adult lizards
Systemic administration of the neurotoxin 3-acetylpyridine to adult lizards results in extensive loss of neurons in the medial cerebral cortex, other brain areas remaining largely unaffected. After the neurotoxic trauma, new cells are produced by mitotic division of cells in the ventricular wall. The new cells migrate along radial glial fibers and replace lost neurons in the medial cortex. Electron microscopic examination of cells labeled with [3H]thymidine confirms that the newly generated cells are neurons. Thus, neuron regeneration can occur in the cerebral cortex of adult lizards.
BDNF regulates spontaneous correlated activity at early developmental stages by increasing synaptogenesis and expression of the K+/Cl- co-transporter KCC2
Spontaneous neural activity is a basic property of the developing brain,which regulates key developmental processes, including migration, neural differentiation and formation and refinement of connections. The mechanisms regulating spontaneous activity are not known. By using transgenic embryos that overexpress BDNF under the control of the nestin promoter, we show here that BDNF controls the emergence and robustness of spontaneous activity in embryonic hippocampal slices. Further, BDNF dramatically increases spontaneous co-active network activity, which is believed to synchronize gene expression and synaptogenesis in vast numbers of neurons. In fact, BDNF raises the spontaneous activity of…