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  • 1
    ISSN: 1432-1351
    Keywords: Electric fish ; Pacemaker ; GABA ; Glutamate ; Ultrastructure
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The medullary pacemaker nucleus of Hypopomus triggers each electric organ discharge (EOD) by a single command pulse. It consists of electrotonically coupled ‘pacemaker’ cells, which generate the rhythm, and ‘relay’ cells, which follow the pacemaker cells and excite the spinal motoneurons of the electric organ. The pacemaker cells receive two inputs from the complex of the diencephalic prepacemaker nucleus (PPn), a GABA-ergic inhibition and a glutamatergic excitation. Relay cells, on the other hand, receive two glutamatergic inputs, one from a subnucleus of the PPn, the PPn-C, and a second from the sublemniscal prepacemaker nucleus (SPPn). We have labelled afferents to the pacemaker nucleus by injecting HRP to specific sites of the prepacemaker complex. By using immunogold-labelled antibodies and en-grid staining techniques, we demonstrated GABA and glutamate immunoreactivity in labelled synaptic profiles of ultra-thin sections of the pacemaker nucleus. The two types of synapses were interspersed on the surfaces of pacemaker cells, with GABA-immunoreactive synapses apparently representing the GABA-mediated input of the ‘PPn-I’, an inhibitory subdivision of the PPn, and glutamate-immunoreactive synapses representing the input of the ‘PPn-G’, an excitatory subdivision of the PPn. Only glutamate-immunoreactive synapses were found on relay cells.
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  • 2
    ISSN: 1433-2981
    Keywords: Cat ; Dog ; Impedence analysis ; Flow cytometric analysis ; Pseudoleucocytosis ; Pseudothrombocytopenia ; Macrocytosis ; Postal transportation
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The performance of a prototype AVL MS8 VET impedance haematology analyser was compared with that of a Technicon H*1 flow cytometry haematology analyser using blood from dogs and cats. Analysis was performed with the AVL MS8 VET on the day of blood collection and with the Technicon H*1 on the following day. Differences were noted in feline leucocyte and platelet counts and in canine and feline mean cell volume and mean cell haemoglobin concentration between analyses. The results indicate that the AVL MS8 VET is a reliable analyser for blood samples from dogs but may not be for those from cats. Attention is drawn to the importance of considering the type of analyser, calibration of the analyser, time of analysis after blood collection (effect of postal delay) and the effect of anticoagulants.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 3
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Comparative clinical pathology 4 (1994), S. 226-231 
    ISSN: 1433-2981
    Keywords: ADP ; Snake ; Thrombocyte ; Ultrastructure ; Waglerophis merremii
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The ultrastructure of the resting thrombocytes of the snake Waglerophis merremii and the process of ADP aggregation are studied. These thrombocytes are nucleate, ellipsoidal, and contain a marginal band. Endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes are few. An open canalicular system, Golgi complex, granules resembling the alpha-granules in human platelets, and structures similar to secondary lysosomes are also present. The activation response of W. merremii thrombocytes to ADP is examined and compared to the morphological alterations in human platelets. The thrombocytes, normally ellipitical in shape, become spheroid with cytoplasmic protrusions, and adhere to one another. The open canalicular system undergoes dilation and the granules cluster at the centre of the thrombocytes. The release reaction of these granules occurs after stimulation by ADP, similar to what happens in human platelets. This similarity may suggest a process of evolutional specialization since thrombocytes in the majority of non-mammal vertebrates are not aggregated by ADP.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 4
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Virchows Archiv 425 (1994), S. 93-99 
    ISSN: 1432-2307
    Keywords: Pituitary adenoma ; Sellar gangliocytoma ; Immunohistology ; Ultrastructure
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Three cases of a composite sellar tumour composed of a gangliocytoma and an adenoma are presented. Two patients who showed acromegaly and hyperprolactinaemia had a gangliocytoma and a growth hormone (GH)-prolactin cell adenoma in close proximity. The gangliocytoma contained growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) by immunohistochemistry. At the electron microscopical level, the gangliocytoma was characterized by numerous synaptic vesicles. The third patient, a child with Cushing's disease, presented a corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-positive gangliocytoma in close contact with an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secreting adenoma, the latter a typical densely granulated ACTH cell adenoma. Ultrastructurally, the gangliocytoma revealed synaptic vesicles and sparse secretory granules. The results suggest that gangliocytomas may promote the development of pituitary adenomas by hypersecretion of releasing hormones. Whereas 20 cases of sellar GHRH producing gangliocytomas in acromegaly are reported in the literature, the combination of a CRH-positive gangliocytoma and an ACTH cell adenoma in Cushing's disease is apparently the first case.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 5
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Virchows Archiv 425 (1994), S. 305-313 
    ISSN: 1432-2307
    Keywords: Rat ; Pancreatic beta cells ; Immunocytochemistry ; Ultrastructure ; Insulin
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract When studied morphologically in semi-thin sections in the rat in vivo, pancreatic beta cells displayed heterogeneous immunoreactivities for insulin and amylin, depending on the islet size and the intra-islet position of the beta cells. In larger islets, cortical beta cells (beta cells with contacts with all islet cell types and with the exocrine parenchyma) which are located in the periphery were more densely immunostained for insulin and amylin than medullary beta cells (beta cells with contacts only with other beta cells) which are located in the centre of the islet. Ultrastructurally, these findings were accompanied by differences in the number of secretory granules and mitochondria. Beta cells in small islets and at extra-islet sites exhibited a dense immunoreactivity. After administration of glibenclamide, immunoreactivities for insulin and amylin were diminished in a time-dependent manner, decreasing first in medullary and thereafter in cortical beta cells of larger islets. Ultrastructurally, the beta cells exhibited the typical signs of stimulation. A minority of beta cells in small islets and all beta cells in extra-islet locations remained unchanged. Thus pancreatic beta cells under basal and stimulatory conditions in vivo exhibit heterogeneity in hormone content and in ultrastructural features. These differences may represent the basis for a functional heterogeneity of the insulin secretory response of the individual beta cell both in vivo and in vitro in states of normal and impaired insulin secretion. As heterogeneity was observed only among beta cells in islets, while single beta cells surrounded by acinar cells exhibited no changes in insulin immunoreactivity, interactions between beta cells as well as between beta cells and other endocrine cells may be critical for expression of heterogeneity within the beta cell population.
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  • 6
    ISSN: 1432-2307
    Keywords: Mast cell ; Compound 48/80 ; Ultrastructure ; Quick-freezing
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The ultrastructure of mast cells stimulated with compound 48/80 was examined by quick-freezing and deep-etching (QF-DE) or freeze-substitution (QF-FS) methods. Peritoneal cells including mast cells of adult male rats were stimulated in vitro with compound 48/80 at 17° C for 0, 10, 30, 60 or 180 s. The QF-DE replicas revealed that the mast cells stimulated with compound 48/80 for 30 s decreased filamentous actin around secretory granules. In the QF-FS specimens, perigranular membranes in mast cells stimulated for 60 s formed pentalaminar structures between adjacent granules in their cytoplasm prior to degranulation. These findings suggest that preparatory states for degranulation occur in the whole cytoplasm of stimulated mast cells at early stages. Moreover, both QF-FS specimens and QF-DE replicas revealed a compact morphological appearance of discharged granules in the extra-cellular space, indicating the existence of considerable content within the granules. Skeletal structures in the granules were also demonstrated on QF-DE replicas prepared after extracting soluble elements from the cytoplasm. It is suggested that the granular contents associated with the skeletal structures are gradually detached from the discharged granules to ensure local concentration in the tissues.
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  • 7
    ISSN: 1434-0879
    Keywords: GnRH-DT vaccine ; Testosterone ; Ultrastructure ; Rat ; Prostate
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract To evaluate the effects of active immunization against gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) on the ultrastructure of the rat ventral prostate, male Sprague-Dawley rats received three consecutive intramuscular injections of 10 μg/100g body weight (D-Lys6)-GnRH-diphtheria toxoid conjugate (GnRH-DT vaccine). Following immunization, test animals developed sufficiently high antibody titres to block the pituitary gonadal axis. Consequently testosterone values dropped to the levels in castrates. This therapy leads to atrophy of the prostate. Following immunization a strong immunological response, indicating the presence of considerable amounts of a GnRH-like peptide, was observed in the ventral prostates as early as 14 days after the first injection of GnRH-DT. Immunoneutralisation of GnRH-like activity may contribute to the effects observed.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 8
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Mycopathologia 128 (1994), S. 181-192 
    ISSN: 1573-0832
    Keywords: Aflatoxin B1 ; Embryo ; Mature ; Ultrastructure ; Zea mays L.
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Mature maize (Zea mays L.) embryos were exposed to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 25 µg/ml for 9 days. With increasing toxin concentration above 2 µg/ml, primary root elongation of germinated embryos was progressively inhibited, to reach a maximum value of 81% at 25 µ/ml toxin. An ultrastructural investigation of the subcellular alterations induced following toxin exposure provided evidence of deteriorative changes in several compartments of the plant cell. Alteration in membrane integrity (e.g., the tonoplast, plasmalemma and inner mitochondrial membrane) was a frequent feature of many cells. Apparent fusion of vacuoles, incorporation of cytoplasmic components into vacuoles and intravacuolar membrane whorls might be interpreted as deteriorative alterations. The results are discussed in the light of ultrastructural findings for other plant systems exposed to similar AFB1 concentrations, as well as findings for animal systems.
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  • 9
    ISSN: 1432-0533
    Keywords: Key words Extraskeletal osteosarcoma ; Brain neoplasms ; Ultrastructure ; Multinucleated giant cells
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract A 57-year-old woman with primary intracerebral osteosarcoma is reported. The tumor was identified by computed tomography as a mass with hemorrhage in the right parietal lobe. The surgical and pathological examinations confirmed an osteosarcoma of intracerebral origin. She suffered from repeated local recurrence of the tumor and died about 1 year after the onset. The pathological findings showed features of osteoblastic osteosarcoma with numerous osteoclast-like multinucleated giant cells. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells were positive for vimentin, and partially for actin. Multinucleated giant cells were reactive with vimentin and CD68 antibodies. Ultrastructurally, tumor cells were rich with rough endoplasmic reticulum. These findings are consistent with the histological features of skeletal or extraskeletal osteosarcoma. This is the third case of primary intracerebral osteosarcoma reported in the literature and the first one analyzed ultrastructurally.
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  • 10
    ISSN: 1432-0533
    Keywords: Vacuolization ; Neurotoxicity ; Neuropathology ; Electron microscopy ; Ultrastructure
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Cytoplasmic vacuoles appear in neurons of the posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex (PC/RS) of rats after treatment with N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. Prominent dilatation of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum has been described within 2 h; however, the ultrastructural features of vacuole formation are unknown. To investigate this, the present study examined the PC/RS cortex of male rats (age 60–70 days) at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min after subcutaneous treatment with 1 mg/kg of the noncompetitive NMDA antagonist MK-801 (dizocilpine maleate, 5-methyl-10, 11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo [a,d] cyclohepten-5,10-imine). Subtle mitochondrial dilatation was identified in a few neurons as early as 15 min postdose (MPD). By 30 MPD, dilatation was more pronounced in mitochondria and also involved the endoplasmic reticulum and perinuclear space. Ribosomal disaggregation and degranulation were also evident by 30 MPD. At all subsequent time points, dilatation of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum progressed in severity. Although the relative involvement of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum varied, glia were not involved. These ultrastructural data suggest that after treatment with MK-801, mitochondrial dilatation precedes involvement of endoplasmic reticulum in vacuolization of susceptible PC/RS cortical neurons. The early mitochondrial effects identified in this study suggest an initial metabolic insult that rapidly progresses to affect endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes. This strengthens the relationship between the ability of certain NMDA antagonists to induce energy perturbations and neuronal vacuoles in the same region of the rat cerebral cortex.
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  • 11
    ISSN: 1432-0533
    Keywords: Corticobasal degeneration ; Ultrastructure ; Tau ; Glial inclusions ; Progressive supranuclear palsy
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract We have studied brain tissues from three patients with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) histologically, ultrastructurally and immunohistochemically. Ballooned neurons in the cerebral cortex and severe degeneration of the substantia nigra were observed in them all and weakly basophilic neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) were distributed widely in the basal ganglia and brain stem. Ultrastructural examination demonstrated that the NFTs comprised characteristic 15-nm-wide straight tubules, which showed positive immunohistochemical staining with an antibody against tau, but not ubiquitin. Tau-immunoreactive neuronal cell bodies without NFTs also were found in the cerebral cortex and subcortical nuclei, predominantly in the brain stem, and the greatest number of tau-positive glial inclusions occurred in the cerebral gray and white matter of the pre- and post-central gyri. These inclusions comprised tubular structures with diameters of about 15 nm and were localized in the oligodendroglial cellular cytoplasm and processes. These findings indicate that there is a close cytoskeletal pathological relationship between CBD and progressive supranuclear palsy.
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  • 12
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Acta neuropathologica 88 (1994), S. 222-227 
    ISSN: 1432-0533
    Keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ; Anterior horn neuron ; Synapse ; Active zone ; Ultrastructure
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract This report deals with an ultrastructural investigation of the synapses of anterior horn neurons in the lumbar spinal cords of five patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who had mild neuronal depletion. Specimens from five age-matched, neurologically normal individuals served as controls. In each instance, the autopsy was performed within 3 h after death. A statistically significant decrease in cell body area, number of synapses and total synaptic length was found in the normal-appearing neurons of the ALS patients. The alterations were more pronounced in neurons with central chromatolysis. However, despite an approximately 20% reduction in the number of synapses, the length of the active synaptic zone of the normal-appearing neurons in the ALS patients was not diminished. This observation may be accounted for by a plasticity to the loss of synapses which maintained the active zone of the remaining synapses to increase synaptic efficiency. It is suggested that when the plasticity of the active zone reaches its limit, the continuing loss of synapses may lead to functional impairment. The capacity of the active synaptic zone to respond to progressive denervation of the anterior horn neurons may preserve motor function or slow the development of motor deficits in the early stage of degeneration of the lower motor neurons.
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  • 13
    ISSN: 1432-0533
    Keywords: Key words Human pineal gland ; Pineal parenchymal tumors ; Ultrastructure ; Chromogranin A
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract We have studied 20 pineal parenchymal tumors (PPT) and 4 normal or cystic pineal glands both by light and electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry with antibodies against glial markers [glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and protein S-100] or neural/neuroendocrine markers [neurofilaments (NF), synaptophysin and chromogranin A]. Light microscopy revealed the cellular organization of pinealocytes in the normal gland and in different morphological types of pineal tumors (typical pineocytomas, PPT with intermediate differentiation, mixed PPT exhibiting elements of both pineocytoma and pineoblastoma and pineoblastomas). Immunohistochemistry showed the presence of GFAP and protein S-100 in interstitial cells in non-neoplastic pineal gland. Cell processes were labeled with anti-synaptophysin and anti-NF antibodies. No immunoreactivity was found for chromogranin A in non-neoplastic pineal gland. In pineocytomas, GFAP and protein S-100 were observed in interstitial cells. Synaptophysin and NF were present in the large rosettes of pineocytomas. Synaptophysin, NF and chromogranin A were present in pineocytomas with a lobular arrangement of cells. Anti-chromogranin A immunoreactivity was also seen in lobular areas of some PPT with intermediate differentiation. Analysis of normal human pineal gland by electron microscopy showed the presence of vesicle-crowned rodlets (VCR or synaptic ribbons), fibrous filaments (F), paired twisted filaments but few dense-core vesicles (DCV) in normal pinealocytes. Tumoral pineal cells appeared to differentiate either towards a neurosensory pathway characterized by the presence of sensory cells elements (VCR and F), or towards a neuroendocrine pathway, with the occurrence of many DCV. Immunogold labeling demonstrated the presence of chromogranin A in neurosecretory granules.
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  • 14
    ISSN: 1432-0533
    Keywords: Human pineal gland ; Pineal parenchymal tumors ; Ultrastructure ; Chromogranin A
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract We have studied 20 pineal parenchymal tumors (PPT) and 4 normal or cystic pineal glands both by light and electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry with antibodies against glial markers [glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and protein S-100] or neural/neuroendocrine markers [neurofilaments (NF), synaptophysin and chromogranin A]. Light microscopy revealed the cellular organization of pinealocytes in the normal gland and in different morphological types of pineal tumors (typical pineocytomas, PPT with intermediate differentiation, mixed PPT exhibiting elements of both pineocytoma and pineoblastoma and pineoblastomas). Immunohistochemistry showed the presence of GFAP and protein S-100 in interstitial cells in nonneoplastic pineal gland. Cell processes were labeled with anti-synaptophysin and anti-NF antibodies. No immunoreactivity was found for chromogranin A in non-neoplastic pineal gland. In pineocytomas, GFAP and protein S-100 were observed in interstitial cells. Synaptophysin and NF were present in the large rosettes of pineocytomas. Synaptophysin, NF and chromogranin A were present in pineocytomas with a lobular arrangement of cells. Anti-chromogranin A immuno-reactivity was also seen in lobular areas of some PPT with intermediate differentiation. Analysis of normal human pineal gland by electron microscopy showed the presence of vesicle-crowned rodlets (VCR or synaptic ribbons), fibrous filaments (F), paired twisted filaments but few dense-core vesicles (DCV) in normal pinealocytes. Tumoral pineal cells appeared to differentiate either towards a neurosensory pathway characterized by the presence of sensory cells elements (VCR and F), or towards a neuroendocrine pathway, with the occurrence of many DCV. Immunogold labeling demonstrated the presence of chromogranin A in neurosecretory granules.
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  • 15
    ISSN: 1432-0533
    Keywords: Extraskeletal osteosarcoma ; Brain neoplasms ; Ultrastructure ; Multinucleated giant cells
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract A 57-year-old woman with primary intracerebral osteosarcoma is reported. The tumor was identified by computed tomography as a mass with hemorrhage in the right parietal lobe. The surgical and pathological examinations confirmed an osteosarcoma of intracerebral origin. She suffered from repeated local recurrence of the tumor and died about 1 year after the onset. The pathological findings showed features of osteoblastic osteosarcoma with numerous osteoclastlike multinucleated giant cells. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells were positive for vimentin, and partially for actin. Multinucleated giant cells were reactive with vimentin and CD68 antibodies. Ultrastructurally, tumor cells were rich with rough endoplasmic reticulum. These findings are consistent with the histological features of skeletal or extraskeletal osteosarcoma. This is the third case of primary intracerebral osteosarcoma reported in the literature and the first one analyzed ultrastructurally.
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  • 16
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Anatomy and embryology 190 (1994), S. 583-590 
    ISSN: 1432-0568
    Keywords: Cattle ; Epithelium ; Oviduct ; Secretion ; Ultrastructure
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The non-ciliated (NC) cells of the bovine oviduct epithelium, have been shown to release embryotrophic substances to the oviduct lumen. The aim of the present study was to investigate the ultrastructure, focusing on aspects of the secretory machinery, of NC cells in different segments of the oviduct during and after transoviduct migration of zygotes and embryos. Dairy heifers (n=8) were superovulated with an ECG/cloprostenol regimen, and the time of ovulation was estimated by ultrasound scanning. Samples from the infundibulum, ampulla, isthmus and uterotubal-junction of the oviduct were surgically collected from animals at 19–96 h and 7 1/2; –8 1/2 days after ovulation and processed for transmission electron microscopy, following standard procedures. The NC cells contained characteristic membrane-bound secretory granules composed of a lamellar cortex encaging an amorphous medulla. The two components could still be recognized during extrusion of the granule content into the oviduct lumen by exocytosis. During granulogenesis, small maturing granules without the lamellar structure were observed, but distinct condensing vacuoles were absent. An abundance of granules was found in the early versus the late group. In both groups the uterotubual junction was almost free of granules. This segment, on the contrary, was characterized by the presence of primary and secondary lysosome-like bodies. In the early group the intracellular location of the granules varied between oviduct segments. In the infundibulum they were placed in the supranuclear cytoplasm, in the isthmus they were found in the most apical part of the cells, while in the ampulla an intermediate granule position was noticed. In both groups the uterotubal junction was almost free of granules. This segment, on the contrary, was characterized by the presence of primary and secondary lysosome-like bodies. Cytoplasmic protrusions, often containing nuclei, were more frequent in the late than in the early group. This phenomenon may represent epithelial renewal. In conclusion, the NC cell of the bovine oviduct epithelium possesses an extensive capacity for protein synthesis and secretion. The numbers and location of secretory granules show cyclic and segmental variations. Most granules are present in the infundibulum and ampulla during the period of transoviduct migration of zygote and embryo.
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  • 17
    ISSN: 1432-0533
    Keywords: Key words Vacuolization ; Neurotoxicity ; Neuropathology ; Electron microscopy ; Ultrastructure
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Cytoplasmic vacuoles appear in neurons of the posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex (PC/RS) of rats after treatment with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists. Prominent dilatation of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum has been described within 2 h; however, the ultrastructural features of vacuole formation are unknown. To investigate this, the present study examined the PC/RS cortex of male rats (age 60 – 70 days) at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min after subcutaneous treatment with 1 mg/kg of the noncompetitive NMDA antagonist MK-801 (dizocilpine maleate, 5-methyl-10, 11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo [a,d] cyclohepten-5,10-imine). Subtle mitochondrial dilatation was identified in a few neurons as early as 15 min postdose (MPD). By 30 MPD, dilatation was more pronounced in mitochondria and also involved the endoplasmic reticulum and perinuclear space. Ribosomal disaggregation and degranulation were also evident by 30 MPD. At all subsequent time points, dilatation of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum progressed in severity. Although the relative involvement of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum varied, glia were not involved. These ultrastructural data suggest that after treatment with MK-801, mitochondrial dilatation precedes involvement of endoplasmic reticulum in vacuolization of susceptible PC/RS cortical neurons. The early mitochondrial effects identified in this study suggest an initial metabolic insult that rapidly progresses to affect endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes. This strengthens the relationship between the ability of certain NMDA antagonists to induce energy perturbations and neuronal vacuoles in the same region of the rat cerebral cortex.
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  • 18
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Acta neuropathologica 88 (1994), S. 222-227 
    ISSN: 1432-0533
    Keywords: Key words Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ; Anterior horn neuron ; Synapse ; Active zone ; Ultrastructure
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract This report deals with an ultrastructural investigation of the synapses of anterior horn neurons in the lumbar spinal cords of five patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who had mild neuronal depletion. Specimens from five age-matched, neurologically normal individuals served as controls. In each instance, the autopsy was performed within 3 h after death. A statistically significant decrease in cell body area, number of synapses and total synaptic length was found in the normal-appearing neurons of the ALS patients. The alterations were more pronounced in neurons with central chromatolysis. However, despite an approximately 20  % reduction in the number of synapses, the length of the active synaptic zone of the normal-appearing neurons in the ALS patients was not diminished. This observation may be accounted for by a plasticity to the loss of synapses which maintained the active zone of the remaining synapses to increase synaptic efficiency. It is suggested that when the plasticity of the active zone reaches its limit, the continuing loss of synapses may lead to functional impairment. The capacity of the active synaptic zone to respond to progressive denervation of the anterior horn neurons may preserve motor function or slow the development of motor deficits in the early stage of degeneration of the lower motor neurons.
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  • 19
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Anatomy and embryology 190 (1994), S. 461-468 
    ISSN: 1432-0568
    Keywords: Oocyte ; Ultrastructure ; Zebu ; Nucleolus
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The objective of the study was to investigate the light and ultrastructural morphology of dominant and subordinate oocytes from zebu (Bos indicus) cattle. Healthy cycling animals, which had a well-developed corpus luteum as judged by rectal palpation, were administered cloprostenol to induce luteolysis and therefore ovulation. The animals were slaughtered at days 3–11 post-ovulation, but those slaughtered at days 8–11 received a second injection of cloprostenol at day 7. Cumulus-oocyte complexes were aspirated from the largest (dominant) and the second largest (subordinate) follicles, and processed for transmission electron microscopy. Up to day 7, the dominant oocyte presented a peripherally located spherical oocyte nucleus with a compact dense fibrillar nucleolus. After day 7, the nuclear envelope became undulated and the nucleolus vacuolated. The nuclei contained an average of four nucleoli. In addition to vesicles, mitochondria, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complexes and cortical granules, the ooplasm contained annulate lamellae and microtubules. Moreover, mitochondrial granules and pleomorphic forms of mitochondria were commonly observed. Some subordinate oocytes exhibited advanced stages of meiotic maturation. It is concluded that (1) the dominant oocyte undergoes certain prematurational changes, including nucleolus vacuolation, in the period from luteolysis up to the presumptive occurrence of the LH peak and (2) subordinate oocytes may undergo meiotic maturation.
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  • 20
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Anatomy and embryology 190 (1994), S. 439-444 
    ISSN: 1432-0568
    Keywords: Chick embryo ; Bursectomy ; Female gonads ; Steroidogenic cells ; Ultrastructure
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract We examined the ultrastructural characteristics of the medullary steroidogenic cells in left and right female gonads of surgically bursectomized chick embryos killed on the 17th day of incubation. The steroidogenic cells of the bursectomized embryos have a more developed system of cisternae in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum than controls, and their mitochondria show some alterations in the density of the matrix and in the shape of the cristae. On the basis of these results, an enhancement of the steroidogenic activity in both gonads is suggested.
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  • 21
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Calcified tissue international 55 (1994), S. 180-189 
    ISSN: 1432-0827
    Keywords: Collagen ; Crystal habit ; Ultrastructure ; Turkey leg tendon
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine , Physics
    Notes: Abstract Transmission electron micrographs of fully mineralized turkey leg tendon in cross-section show the ultrastructure to be more complex than has been previously described. The mineral is divided into two regions. Needlelike-appearing crystallites fill the extrafibrillar volume whereas only platelike crystallites are found within the fibrils. When the speciment is tilted through a large angle, some of the needlelike-appearing crystallites are replaced by platelets, suggesting that the needlelike crystallites are platelets viewed on edge. If so, these platelets have their broad face roughly parallel to the fibril surface and thereby the fibril axis, where the intrafibrillar platelets are steeply inclined to the fibril axis. The projection of the intrafibrillar platelets is perpendicular to the fibril axis. The extrafibrillar volume is at least 60% of the total, the fibrils occupying 40%. More of the mineral appears to be extrafibrillar than within the fibrils. Micrographs of the mineralized tendon in thickness show both needlelike-appearing and platelet crystallites. Stereoscopic views show that the needlelike-appearing crystallites do not have a preferred orientation. From the two-dimensional Fourier transform of a selected area of the cross-sectional image, the platelike crystallites have an average dimension of 58 nm. The needlelike-appearing crystallites have an average thickness of 7 nm. The maximum length is at least 90 nm. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) of unstained, unmineralized turkey leg tendon shows collagen fibrils very much like shadow replicas of collagen in electron micrographs. AFM images of the mineralized tendon show only an occasional fibril. Mineral crystallites are not visible. Because the collagen is within the fibrils, the extrafibrillar mineral must be embedded in noncollagenous organic matter. When the tissue is demineralized, the collagen fibrils are exposed. The structure as revealed by the two modalities is a composite material in which each component is itself a composite. Determination of the properties of the mineralized tendon from the properties of its elements is more difficult than considering the tendon to be just mineral-filled collagen.
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  • 22
    ISSN: 1432-0827
    Keywords: In vitro ; Bioactive glass ceramic ; Mineralization ; Bone bonding mechanisms ; Ultrastructure
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine , Physics
    Notes: Abstract Rat bone cells were cultured in the presence of bioactive glass-ceramic containing crystalline apatite and wollaston te. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the surface of the seeded ceramic disks revealed that cells attached, spread, and proliferated on the material surface. Soaking in cell-free culture medium showed that no change occurred in the surface structure. However, when cultured with bone cells and observed under a transmission electron microscope, an electron-dense layer was noted initially at the surface of the material, before bone formation occurred. In addition, energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis demonstrated the presence of calcium and phosphorus in this layer. Progressively, during the following days of culture, active osteoblasts synthetized and laid down an osteoid matrix composed of numerous collagen fibrils arranged either parallel or perpendicularly to the first-formed electron-dense layer. Mineralization initiated on the ceramic surface dispersed then along the collagenous fibrils, leading to a mineralized matrix which surrounded the ceramic particles. These results demonstrate the capacity of apatite-wollastonite glass ceramic to initiate biomineralization in osteoblast cultures and to achieve a direct bond between the surface apatite layer of the bioactive glass-ceramic and the mineralized bone matrix.
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  • 23
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Carbachol ; Serotonin ; Pontine reticular formation ; Medullary reticulospinal neuron ; Postural atonia ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The present study was aimed at elucidating the pontomedullary and spinal cord mechanisms of postural atonia induced by microinjection of carbachol and restored by microinjections of serotonin or atropine sulfate into the nucleus reticularis pontis oralis (NRPo). Medullary reticulospinal neurons (n=132) antidromically activated by stimulating the L1 spinal cord segment were recorded extracellularly. Seventy-eight of them were orthodromically activated with mono- or disynaptic latencies by stimulating the NRPo area at the site where carbachol injections effectively induced postural atonia. Most of these reticulospinal neurons (71 of 78) were located in the nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis (NRGc). Following carbachol injection into the NRPo, discharge rates of the NRGc reticulospinal neurons (29 of 34) increased, while the activity of soleus muscles decreased bilaterally. Serotonin or atropine injections into the same NRPo area resulted in a decrease in the discharge rates of the reticulospinal neurons with a concomitant increase in the levels of hindlimb muscle tone. Membrane potentials of hindlimb extensor and flexor alpha motoneurons (MNs) were hyperpolarized and depolarized by carbachol and serotonin or atropine injections, respectively. In all pairs of reticulospinal neurons and MNs (n=11), there was a high correlation between the increase in the discharge rates and the degree of membrane hyperpolarization of the MNs. Spike-triggered averaging during carbachol-induced atonia revealed that inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) were evoked in 15 MNs by the discharges of nine reticulospinal neurons. Four of them evoked IPSPs in more than one MN. The mean segmental delay and the mean time to the peak of IPSPs were 1.6 ms and 2.0 ms, respectively. Axonal trajectories of reticulospinal neurons (n=6), which evoked IPSPs in MNs, were investigated in the lumbosacral segments (L1-S1) by antidromic threshold mapping. The stem axons descended through the ventral (n=2) and ventrolateral (n=4) funiculi in the lumbar segments. All axons projected their collaterals to the intermediate region (laminae V, VI) and ventromedial part (laminae VII, VIII) of the gray matter. All these results suggest that the reticulospinal pathway originating from the NRGc is involved in postural atonia induced by pontine microinjection of carbachol, and that the pathway is inactivated during the postural restoration induced by subsequent injections of serotonin or atropine. It is further suggested that the pontine inhibitory effect is mediated via segmental inhibitory interneurons projecting to MNs.
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  • 24
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 53-64 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Single units ; Inferior colliculus ; Organization ; Vocal stimuli ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The aim of this study was to gain information from anesthetized cats about the differential coding properties of neurons in the three major subdivisions of the inferior colliculus: the central (CNIC) and external (EN) nuclei and dorsal cortex (DC). Stimuli were presented in the free field from a speaker facing the contralateral pinna. For each unit, the characteristic frequency (CF, where threshold was lowest) was determined, and impulse rates to CF tone bursts, noise bursts and four feline vocal stimuli were measured as a function of increasing sound pressure level (rate/level functions). Peristimulus-time histograms were computed for responses to all stimuli. Sustained firing patterns to CF stimuli were observed for 81% of units in CNIC, for 50% of units in EN and 27% of units in DC. Sustained discharges were evoked by noise in 78–100% of units in all regions, and by at least one vocal stimulus in 86% of units in CNIC, 82% in EN and 55% in DC. In the CNIC, non-monotonic rate/level functions to CF stimuli were more common (41%) than either monotonie or plateau functions, whereas the reverse was the case with noise and vocal stimuli. Non-monotonic functions were uncommon to any stimulus in EN and DC (21–24%). Vocal stimuli were more effective in terms of higher firing rates than noise or CF stimuli in 27% of units in CNIC, 82% in EN and 72% in DC. There were no units that responded exclusively to one vocal stimulus, but a high proportion of units in EN responded strongly to broad band stimuli, and some of these showed clear preferences for one vocal stimulus over others.
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  • 25
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 213-228 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Fictive locomotion ; Proprioception ; Spinal cord ; Interneurones ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract It has been previously shown that phasic stimulation of group I afferents from ankle and knee extensor muscles may entrain and/or reset the intrinsic locomotor rhythm; these afferents are thus acting on motoneurones through the spinal rhythm generators. It was also concluded that the major part of these effects originates from Golgi tendon organ Ib afferents. Transmission in this pathway to lumbar motoneurones has now been investigated during fictive locomotion in spinal cats injected with nialamide and l-DOPA, and in decerebrate cats with stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region. In spinal cats injected with nialamide and l-DOPA, it was possible to evoke long-latency, long-lasting reflexes upon stimulation of high threshold afferents before spontaneous fictive locomotion commenced. During that period, stimulation of ankle and knee extensor group I afferents evoked oligosynaptic excitation of extensor motoneurones, rather than the “classical” Ib inhibition. Furthermore, a premotoneuronal convergence (spatial facilitation) between this group I excitation and the crossed extensor reflex was established. During fictive locomotion, in both preparations, the transmission in these group I pathways was phasically modulated within the step cycle. During the flexor phase, the group I input cut the depolarised (active) phase in flexor motoneurones and evoked EPSPs in extensor motoneurones; during the extensor phase, the group I input evoked smaller EPSPs in extensor motoneurones and had virtually no effect on flexor motoneurones. The above results suggest that the group I input from extensor muscles is transmitted through the spinal rhythm generator and more particularly, through the extensor “half-centre”. The locomotor-related group I excitation had a central latency of 3.5–4.0 ms. The excitation from ankle extensors to ankle extensors remained after a spinal transection at the caudal part of L6 segment; the interneurones must therefore be located in the L7 and S1 spinal segments. Candidate interneurones for mediating these actions were recorded extracellularly in lamina VII of the 7th lumbar segment. Responses to different peripheral nerve stimulation (high threshold afferents and group I afferents bilaterally) were in concordance with the convergence studies in motoneurones. The interneurones were rhythmically active in the appropriate phases of the fictive locomotor cycle, as predicted by their response patterns. The synaptic input to, and the projection of these candidate interneurones must be fully identified before their possible role as components of the spinal locomotor network can be evaluated.
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  • 26
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 379-390 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Eye movements ; Vestibulo-ocular reflex ; Motor learning and plasticity ; Flocculus ; Climbing fibers ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Motor learning can be demonstrated in the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) by changing its gain (eye velocity/head velocity) with goggles and optokinetic (OK) drums. It is known that the flocculus is essential for this plasticity but there is controversy about whether the modifiable synapses mainly responsible are in the flocculus. To investigate this further we utilized the known reciprocal relationship between complex spikes and simple spikes in Purkinje cell discharges. By stimulating climbing fibers from the olive to the flocculus at 7 Hz, the simple spike rate of almost all recorded floccular cells could be driven to zero. This was termed floccular shutdown and is felt to effect a functional, reversible flocculectomy. Sixty single units in the flocculi of four cats were recorded. Stimulation of the climbing fibers at 7 Hz caused the discharge rate to decrease to zero in 95% of these cells. The gain of the horizontal VOR in three cats was driven repeatedly to twice or half its normal value by rotation within a moving OK drum and also by wearing magnifying or fixed-field goggles; this process required 3 days. If, on the 4th day, the cat was exposed to an OK drum rotating in the opposite direction, the gain was driven back to normal in 30 min. If, however, the climbing fibers were stimulated at 7 Hz during these 30 min, the gain did not return — learning was blocked. This verified that loss of floccular activity by this method abolishes VOR gain plasticity. Moreover, when 7 Hz stimulation first began, after 3 days of adaptation, the adapted gain remained at its adapted value, either half or twice normal, even in the face of floccular shutdown. This result appears incompatible with the hypothesis that the modifiable synapses are in the flocculus.
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  • 27
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 31-38 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Striate cortex ; Spatial frequency tuning ; Orientation sensitivity ; Intracortical inhibition ; Bicuculline methiodide ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Responses of simple and complex cells in cat striate cortex were studied with moving sine-wave gratings before and during application of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline methiodide. Both simple and complex cells exhibited a broadening of their spatial frequency tuning functions under bicuculline. This was especially evident at spatial frequencies lower than the ones the cell was responding to before the drug administration. The effects cannot be explained by response saturation and could be reversed by cessation of the iontophoresis. The results indicate that the band-pass response characteristics of the spatial frequency response functions of striate cells derive largely from intracortical inhibition. The findings have implications also for the orientation selectivity of cortical cells. Since many geniculate cells are tuned for stimulus orientation at higher spatial frequencies, suppression of the low-spatial-frequency component would remove some of the orientation non-specific response in striate cortical cells and contribute to their orientation selectivity.
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  • 28
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Photic responsiveness ; Extrastriate cortex ; Orientation selectivity ; Direction selectivity ; End-stop selectivity ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Responsiveness to slits and pattern stimuli was quantified in a total of 68 cells sampled in the posterior extreme of the lateral suprasylvian (PS) cortex as response indices. The cells were studied in relationship to their locations in several subareas of the PS cortex, including areas 19 (n=15) and 21a (n=32) and the posteromedial lateral suprasylvian cortex (PMLS; n=21). These subareas were identified based on retrograde labelling from area 17 and also supplemented with photic responsiveness. This analysis revealed that each cortical area contains cells expressing different combinations of stimulus features. Area 19 contained two major groups of cells: (1) those with strong end-stop selectivity combined with moderate orientation or direction selectivity, and (2) those with weak end-stop selectivity combined with strong orientation selectivity. The groups of cells with strong or moderate orientation selectivity showed a strong preference for stripe over visual noise patterns and relatively large modulatory responses to motion of individual stripes. The PMLS contained one major group of cells with strong end-stop and direction selectivities and with poor orientation selectivity. They also showed stronger preference for visual noise than cells in the other cortical areas and rather weak modulatory responses. Area 21a contained only one group of cells with strong orientation selectivity and length summation property rather than end-stop selectivity, and they also lacked direction selectivity. These cells exhibited a strong preference for stripe patterns and moderate or weak modulatory responses. Altogether, these findings indicate that each cortical area is specialized in expressing different stimulus features. The two groups of cells in area 19 may encode the position and motion of discontinuous visual elements such as corners and line ends and continuous elements such as lines and edges. PMLS cells may encode the motion of single elements or associated motion of multiple discontinuous elements such as textures and backgrounds. Area 21a cells may specifically encode the orientation of long, continuous elements such as lines and edges. In support of this view, two types of statistical analyses demonstrated that the combinations of the response properties expressed in individual PS cells are highly correlated with their locations in cortical areas and that the anatomical locations of individual PS cells are reliably predicted from the sets of response indices expressed in these cells.
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  • 29
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 172-177 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Visual cortex ; Directionality Width summation ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Width summation of complex neurones in cat striate cortex was assessed for moving sine-wave gratings. Summation was restricted in special complex neurones, approximately matched receptive field width in intermediate complex neurones and exceeded it in most standard complex neurones. Responses to preferred and opposite directions of motion were compared: 12 of 20 complex neurones showed similar directional bias for moving sinewave gratings and for single moving bars of either contrast polarity; 8 of 20 were similarly or more weakly direction-selective for bars than for grating patches, dependent on patch width. In two of these, this was despite the fact that the directional bias for gratings was invariant with patch width. In the remaining six, differences could be accounted for by progressive increase or decrease in directional bias for gratings, as grating patch width was systematically increased. In conclusion, directional bias of a substantial proportion of complex cells is determined by stimulus configuration.
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  • 30
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Temporal filtering ; Lateral geniculate nucleus ; Signal transmission ; Signal transmission ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The dependency of intrageniculate signal transfer on stimulus temporal frequency was investigated by comparing responses of individual X-relay cells with their direct retinal inputs in anesthetized and paralyzed cats. Temporal frequency response functions of lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) X-cells were more narrowly tuned than those of their retinal inputs. The efficiency of signal transfer was consistently highest at or around the geniculate cells' optimal temporal frequency, and the degree of signal transfer, which was more closely related to the LGN cells' firing rate than to the firing rate of their retinal input, decreased for both lower and higher temporal frequencies. The high temporal frequency cut-offs were significantly lower in geniculate cell responses than those of their direct retinal inputs. This reduction in temporal resolution was exaggerated for relatively low stimulus spatial frequencies. The present results provide clear evidence for the notion that LGN cells function as nonlinear temporal filters and that this stimulus-dependent signal transmission appears to be regulated by complex local mechanisms.
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  • 31
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 546-550 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Neck muscles ; Cervical vertebrae ; Voluntary head tracking ; Control strategies ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The focus of these experiments was to determine the relationships between head movement, neck muscle activation patterns, and the positions and movements of the cervical vertebrae. One standing cat and one prone cat were trained to produce voluntary sinusoidal movements of the head in the sagittal plane. Video-opaque markers were placed on the cervical vertebrae, and intramuscular patch electrodes implanted in four muscles of the head and neck. Cinefluoroscopic images of cervical vertebral motion and electromyographic responses were simultaneously recorded. Analysis of the spinal movement revealed that the two cats used different strategies to keep their heads aligned with the tracker. In the standing cat, vertebral motion described a more circular arc, compared to a forward diagonal in the prone cat. Intervertebral motion was limited, but more acute angles appeared between the vertebrae of the prone lying than of the standing animal. Data revealed that the central nervous system could control several axes of motion to keep the cervical spine matched to the moving stimulus. Phase relations between the sinusoidal motion of the vertebral column, peak activation of the neck muscles, and that of the stimulus were examined, and several different control strategies were observed both between and within animals. The results suggest that the central nervous system engages in multiple strategies of musculo-skeletal coordination to achieve a single movement outcome.
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  • 32
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    Experimental brain research 97 (1994), S. 451-465 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Binocular ; LGNd ; X and Y cells ; Y-block ; Pressure block ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Binocular non-dominant suppression (NDS) in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) of the cat was studied by recording from single neurons in the LGNd of anaesthetized, paralysed cats while stimulating the non-dominant eye with a moving light bar. The maintained discharge rate of LGNd neurons was varied by stimulating the dominant eye in various ways: by varying the size or contrast of a flashed spot, by varying the inner diameter of a flashed annulus of large outer diameter, by varying the velocity of a moving light bar, and by covering the eye. Non-dominant suppression was quantified either as the decrease in the maintained discharge rate (the “dip”), expressed as spikes per second, or as the ratio of the dip to the maintained discharge rate (the “dip ratio”). At low maintained discharge rates the dip, although low in value, frequently approached the maintained rate, i.e. the dip ratio approached unity. As the maintained discharge rate increased the dip value also increased, but more slowly than the maintained discharge rate, i.e. the dip ratio decreased. At maintained discharge rates above about 30 spikes/s, in many neurons the dip appeared to be approaching a constant value. This strong dependence of NDS on the maintained discharge rate of the LGNd neuron suggests that the inhibitory input to the cell arises from a region of the brain that receives an input both from the non-dominant eye and from the LGNd cell. Reasons are given for thinking that this region is the perigeniculate nucleus. Because of the strong dependence of dip and dip ratio on the maintained discharge rate, it was necessary to adopt stringent criteria when comparing NDS in two different sets of neurons or of the same set of neurons in different conditions. We recognized a significant difference in NDS between two classes of neurons or between two states only if: (1) there was no significant difference between the maintained discharge rates, and (2) there was a significant difference for both dip and dip ratio between the two classes or states. Using these criteria we found: (1) no difference between non-lagged X (XNL) and non-lagged Y (YNL) cells, (2) no difference between on-centre and off-centre cells for either XNL or YNL cells, (3) no difference between XNL cells and lagged X (XL) cells. However, there was a significant difference between cells in lamina A and those in lamina A1 for both XNL and YNL cells, dip and dip ratio values being about twice as great in lamina A. In cats in which one optic nerve had been pressure-blocked so as to prevent conduction in the largest axons (Y fibres), loss of conduction in Y fibres crossing the chiasm and projecting to the contralateral LGNd did not affect NDS. Loss of conduction in Y fibres projecting to the ipsilateral LGNd caused a complete loss of NDS in the non-lagged Y cells of lamina A and a substantial decrease in the NDS of the nonlagged X cells of lamina A. The latter cells must, therefore, be partly suppressed by non-Y fibres, presumably X fibres. It also follows that all the NDS of cells in lamina A1 is mediated by non-Y fibres, probably X fibres. Thus, NDS in the cat is partly class-specific and partly not. The discharge of retinal ganglion cells also protects the LGNd cells against NDS. The contribution of Y fibres to this anti-suppressive action was also examined. Contralaterally projecting Y fibres make no contribution. Ipsilaterally projecting Y fibres exert an anti-suppressive action on non-lagged X cells in lamina A1. It follows also that the anti-suppressive action on cells in lamina A mediated by contralaterally projecting fibres is due to non-Y fibres, presumably X fibres. Thus, both the suppressive and the anti-suppressive actions of Y fibres are mediated only by the uncrossed pathway.
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  • 33
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 287-297 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Balance control ; Posture ; Conditioned movement ; Biomechanics ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The relationship between changes in posture and the performance of a forelimb movement required for a transition between two stance positions was analysed in cats. The task consisted of an operantly conditioned, forelimb stepping movement from one support platform to another located more anterior. The reward was given only after a specific vertical force was applied to the second platform. This ensured that the cat performed a clear transition from its initial stance posture to another requiring a different weight distribution. The strategy adopted by an animal during the conditioned movement was studied by analysing the distribution of the vertical forces as a function of time. Specific quantitative functions were used to describe the weight distribution in the anterior-posterior, right-left and diagonal directions as the task was performed. The temporal parameters characterising this behaviour were not significantly different between animals, except for reaction times. In contrast, spatial parameters reflected in the distribution of vertical forces generated during the performance of the task were characteristic for each animal. As a consequence, a variety of strategies were employed. Nevertheless some general features were found, including the persistence of a diagonal support pattern during the phasic part of the movement, and an initial movement to the side of the forepaw performing the movement. The findings support the view that each animal exhibits a specific strategy for performing this well-learned task, and that the strategy is consistently employed over consecutive trials of the movement.
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  • 34
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    Experimental brain research 99 (1994), S. 399-410 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Amblyopia ; Visual cortex ; Monocular deprivation ; Reverse suturing ; Area 17 ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Receptive field properties of extracellularly recorded units in the visual cortex (area 17) of cats made bilaterally amblyopic by a variety of rearing conditions were measured and compared with the properties of units in normal cats. Properties studied included sensitivity to vernier offset, response facilitation to increasing bar length, receptive field size, responsiveness to moving and flashed stimuli, orientation tuning, the relation between mean firing rate and its variance, the amount of overlap of regions of on and off responsiveness in simple and complex cells, and, for flashed stimuli, latency to response onset, time to peak response, and response decay time constant. Behavioural testing of the amblyopic animals showed that spatial resolution was 2–4 times lower and vernier acuity thresholds 10–20 times greater than normal. Despite this, several neuronal response properties did not differ significantly from those in normal animals. These included peak responsiveness to moving stimuli, widths of orientation tuning curves, response variability, and latency to initial response for flashed stimuli. Other properties showed small but significant changes. Sensitivity to vernier offset (impulses per degree of offset) was reduced to nearly half its normal level; receptive field sizes increased by about 24% and an incomplete segregation of regions of on and off responsiveness was found in some cells, which made them hard to classify as simple or complex. Responses to flashed stimuli were smaller and more persistent. Their statistical significance notwithstanding, it seems unlikely that these relatively small response abnormalities in area 17 can fully account for the observed behavioural deficits.
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  • 35
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Inspiratory neurons ; Hypoglossal motoneuron ; Phrenic motoneuron ; Dual-projection neuron ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Localization and projection to the phrenic (PH) nucleus were studied in a sample of premotor neurons that directly projected to hypoglossal motoneurons (XII Mns) and showed respiratory-related patterns of activity. The experiments were carried out in cats, under pentobarbital anesthesia. In the first part of the study, the retrograde double-labeling technique was used to reveal the existence of neurons projecting to both the XII and the PH nuclei. Injection of a fluorescent dye (fast blue, FB) into the XII nucleus and another (nuclear yellow, NY) into the PH nucleus retrogradely labeled, with either FB or NY, medullary reticular neurons mainly in the regions ventrolateral to the nucleus of the tractus solitarius (vl-NTS), ventrolateral to the hypoglossal nucleus (vl-XII), and dorsomedial to the nucleus ambiguus (dm-AMB) bilaterally. In addition, some neurons in these regions were labeled with both FB and NY. In the second part of the study, unitary activity was recorded extracellularly from medullary respiratory neurons. In the regions vl-NTS, vl-XII, and dm-AMB, inspiratory neurons were found which antidromically responded to stimulation of the XII nucleus. Some of them also responded antidromically to stimulation of the PH nucleus. Averaging of rectified and integrated XII and PH nerve discharges by spontaneous spikes of single inspiratory neurons in the vl-NTS and dm-AMB regions revealed a facilitation in either XII nerve discharge or both XII and PH nerve discharges after a short latency of monosynaptic range. It is concluded that in the vl-NTS and dm-AMB regions there are inspiratory neurons that are excitatory premotor neurons projecting to XII Mns showing the respiratory-related activity. Some of them have excitatory synaptic connections to XII and PH Mns via bifurcating axons.
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  • 36
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 39-43 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Optic nerve regeneration ; Myelin sheath Electron microscopy ; g value ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Retinal ganglion cells of adult cats have the potential to regenerate their axons into autografted peripheral nerve. Two months after transplantation of the sciatic nerve to the axotomized optic stump, regenerated axons were labeled anterogradely with biocytin, and myelin formation by Schwann cells was examined electron microscopically. Both myelinated and unmyelinated fibers were labeled with biocytin. Among 511 axons labeled in three grafts, 96 fibers (18.8%) were myelinated and 415 (81.2%) were unmyelinated. Mean diameter with SD of myelinated fibers was 1.28 ± 0.39 μm (range 0.71–2.47) and that of unmyelinated fibers was 0.76± 0.38 μm (range 0.18–2.46). The ratio of inner to outer diameters of the myelin sheath (g value) was 0.82, which is close to the value (0.8) for the optic fibers of intact adult cats.
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  • 37
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 101-109 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Tendon jerk ; Fusimotor ; Reflex Muscle spindle ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract This is a study of the tendon jerk reflex elicited by a brief stretch applied to the triceps surae muscle group in the chloralose-anaesthetised cat. The size of the recorded reflex depended on stretch parameters (optimum at 300 μm amplitude at a rate of 100 mm/s) and on how the muscle had been conditioned. A reflex elicited after a conditioning contraction at the test length was often twice as large as after a contraction carried out at a length longer than the test length. This difference was attributed to the amount of slack introduced in the intrafusal fibres of muscle spindles by conditioning. The question was posed, did ongoing fusimotor activity exert any influence on the size of the tendon jerk? Depolarization indices (DPI) were calculated from responses of muscle spindles to stretch and correlated with the level of reflex tension. Values of DPI obtained from afferent responses with and without repetitive stimulation of identified fusimotor fibres suggested that with the stretch parameters used here the main influence of fusimotor activity was that it removed any pre-existing slack in muscle spindles and thereby increased reflex tension. In the absence of intrafusal slack, stimulation of static and dynamic fusimotor fibres had little additional influence on the size of the reflex. It is concluded that much of the variability typically seen with tendon jerks is due to muscle history effects. Since in muscles which have not been deliberately conditioned there is commonly some slack present in spindles, activity in fusimotor fibres is likely to reduce slack and therefore increase reflex size.
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  • 38
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    Experimental brain research 98 (1994), S. 373-378 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Otolith ; Utricular nerve ; Vestibulocollic reflex ; Neck flexor motoneuron ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract We studied the circuitry between the utricular (UT) nerve and ventral neck motoneurons innervating the longus capitis (LC), a neck flexor muscle, in decerebrate cats. We recorded intracellularly from 63 LC (ipsilateral 37, contralateral 26) motoneurons in C1 and C2 segments. UT nerve stimulation evoked disynaptic, excitatory postsynaptic potentials in all ipsilateral LC motoneurons, and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials that were at least trisynaptic in almost all contralateral LC motoneurons. UT effects on neck motoneurons innervating muscles involved in flexion and lateral turning are similar to the connections between the UT nerve and neck extensor motoneurons. These neuron circuits may play a role in fixing the head and the neck to the body during horizontal linear acceleration.
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  • 39
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    Experimental brain research 99 (1994), S. 170-174 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Vision ; Visual cortex ; Receptive fields ; Complex neurons ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Excitatory receptive field (ERF) response profiles and length summation functions were derived from complex neurones in cat striate cortex. Measured length summation was compared with summation predicted from integration over ERF profiles. In a minority of neurones, measured and predicted summation were well matched. In the majority, whether end-stopped or not, responsiveness in length summation tests was appreciably greater than predicted for short stimuli, compared with ERF profiles. The mismatch was least in standard and greatest in special complex neurones; in the latter group, response levels to long stimuli fell well below predicted levels. In end-stopped neurones the decremental portion of length summation functions was not predicted by ERF profiles. These results implicate the involvement of non-linear mechanisms, whereby concomitant stimulation of central regions of the receptive field (RF) potentiate the efficacy of loci towards either end of the RF.
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  • 40
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    Experimental brain research 99 (1994), S. 277-288 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Classical conditioning ; Red nucleus ; Excitatory postsynaptic potentials ; Corticorubral synapses ; Sprouting ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The present study was performed to clarify whether or not structural plasticity of synaptic connections underlies classical conditioning mediated by the red nucleus (RN) in the cat. Conditioned forelimb flexion is established by pairing electrical conditioned stimuli (CS), applied to corticorubral fibers at the cerebral peduncle (CP), with a forelimb skin shock (the unconditioned stimulus, US), but not by applying the CS alone or by pairing the CS and US at random intervals. In our previous study, it was shown that the firing probability of rubrospinal neurons (RN neurons) in response to the CS was well correlated with acquisition of the conditioned forelimb flexion and that the primary site of neural change underlying establishment of the conditioned forelimb flexion was suggested to be at corticorubral synapses. In the present study, we investigated corticorubral excitatory postsynaptic potentials evoked by CP stimulation (CP-EPSPs), in order to identify the neuronal mechanism underlying establishment of classical conditioning. In normal cats, CP-EPSPs had a typical slow-rising phase, which has been attributed to the distal location of corticorubral synapses on the dendrites of RN neurons. In contrast, in animals that received paired conditioning, subsequent CP stimulation evoked potentials with a fast-rising time course. In control groups of cats that received CS alone, CS randomly paired with the US, or only the same surgical operations as the conditioned animals, most of the CP-EPSPs displayed slow-rising EPSPs that similar to those observed in normal cats. The mean time from onset to peak of the potentials in the conditioned animals was significantly shorter than that seen in other groups. Therefore, the appearance of a fast-rising potential correlates well with acquisition of the conditioned forelimb flexion. The amplitude of the fast-rising potential was gradually changed with stimulus intensity. It had a short onset latency following CP stimulation (0.9 ms), which was similar to that of the slow-rising EPSP in normal cats. It followed high-frequency stimulation up to 100 Hz. These results suggest that the newly appearing, fast-rising potential was a monosynaptically evoked EPSP. Fast-rising EPSPs were also induced by stimulation of the sensorimotor cortex (SM). Since the SM-EPSP was occluded by the CP-EPSP, the SM cortex is, at least in part, a likely source of fast-rising EPSPs. Fast-rising SM-EPSPs were also observed at the unitary level. The SM-EPSPs in the conditioned animals exhibited somatotopical representation in their cortical origin, as has been described in normal cats. The electrotonic length was calculated from the voltage transient responses to current steps injected into the RN neurons. There was no concomitant change in the electrotonic length following the classical conditioning. Furthermore, the fastrising EPSPs were often observed as if they were superposed on the slow-rising EPSPs that were observed in normal animals. These observations suggest that the appearance of fast-rising EPSPs is due to the formation of new corticorubral synapses on the somata or the proximal dendrites of the RN neurons, and not as a result of a reduction in the electrotonic length of the RN neurons. The present study provides further evidence that this type of structural plasticity of synaptic connections underlies establishment of the classically conditioned forelimb flexion.
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  • 41
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    Experimental brain research 79 (1994), S. 369-375 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Calcium entry blocker ; Electrical potential ; Interstitial ion activity ; Spinal cord injury ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Interstitial and tissue cations and electrical potential were studied in an experimental model of spinal cord contusion injury in anaesthetised cats. Measurements of interstitial ion activity in the grey matter at the injury site (with ion-selective electrodes), showed a decrease of sodium and calcium, an increase of potassium, a small acidification and a negative shift in the electrical potential 5 min after injury. The interstitial ionic changes were completely reversible within 90 min following injury. Measurements of the ion content in a tissue sample from the injury site (flame photometry) showed an increase of sodium and calcium and a decrease of potassium 5 min after injury. The magnitude of the post-injury sodium change was much larger than the potassium change, both for interstitial and tissue measurements. Treatment of the animals with the calcium entry blocker flunarizine before the injury did not influence the magnitude of post-injury interstitial calcium decrease but significantly increased the rate of subsequent recovery. Pre-injury flunarizine treatment also significantly increased the recovery rate of the electrical potential. The experiments suggest the occurrence of a net ionic shift towards the intracellular space, which may contribute to oedema formation in the very early post-injury period. The post-injury decrease of interstitial calcium activity is probably not mediated by flunarizine-sensitive calcium entry mechanisms; such mechanisms may, however, be involved in the subsequent recovery period for interstitial calcium activity. Calcium ions may be involved in the recovery process of the negative electrical potential after injury.
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  • 42
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Dopaminergic grafts ; Neuropeptide Y ; Ultrastructure ; Striatum ; Rat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract In a previous study we demonstrated that grafted dopamine (DA) neurons are able to induce an early and widespread normalization of DA-neuropeptide Y (NPY) interactions in the host striatum previously deprived of its DA input. Since similar recoveries were found to occur in striatal areas densely or poorly reinnervated by the graft, the question was raised as to what mechanisms (synaptic or volumic release) were involved in these functional effects. Ultrastructural analysis of graft-to-host relationships was performed using single — and double — immunolabelling techniques to detect neurons containing tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and NPY, with a view to analysing the early establishment of synaptic connectivity in various areas of the host striatum. Within 1 month of the grafting, TH-immunoreactive (TH-IR) neurons showed most of the normal intrinsic morphological features characteristic of adult rat neurons and were found to have established direct relationships with various striatal neuronal populations. TH-NPY relationships were observed only in the area most densely reinnervated by the graft, and their relative frequency was found to be roughly the same as that determined in the intact striatum. Three months after the grafting, this percentage decreased, probably owing to the further elongation in TH-IR axons resulting in a wider distribution of the TH-NPY associations over the host striatum. In the zones distal from the graft, the reinnervation was far from complete and the few TH-IR fibres projected only to some unlabelled elements, mainly of the spiny type, which have been shown to interact normally with both DA afferents and NPY cells and therefore may relay the DA action over the whole striatum on the NPY population. It can be concluded from these data that the rapid and extensive functional normalization of the TH-NPY interactions previously found to occur in the entire striatum may depend on the restoration of direct and indirect synaptic relationships. A diffuse action of DA through non-synaptic mechanisms may also account for the fact that the amine has access to broader striatal populations than to those presumably reached by DA fibres arising from the graft.
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  • 43
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Eye movement ; Horseradish peroxidase ; Semicircular canals ; Three-neuron arc ; Vestibulo-ocular reflex ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Second-order vestibular neurons form the central links of the vestibulo-oculomotor three-neuron arcs that mediate compensatory eye movements. Most of the axons that provide for vertical vestibulo-ocular reflexes ascend in the medial longitudinal fasciculus (MLF) toward target neurons in the oculomotor and trochlear nuclei. We have now determined the morphology of individual excitatory second-order neurons of the anterior semicircular canal system that course outside the MLF to the oculomotor nucleus. The data were obtained by the intracellular horseradish peroxidase method. Cell somata of the extra-MLF anterior canal neurons were located in the superior vestibular nucleus. The main axon ascended through the deep reticular formation beneath the brachium conjunctivum to the rostral extent of the nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis, where it crossed the midline. The main axon continued its trajectory to the caudal edge of the red nucleus from where it coursed back toward the oculomotor nucleus. Within the oculomotor nucleus, collaterals reached superior rectus and inferior oblique motoneurons. Some axon branches recrossed the midline within the oculomotor nucleus and reached the superior rectus motoneuron subdivision on that side. Since these neurons did not give off a collateral toward the spinal cord, they were classified as being of the vestibulo-oculomotor type and are thought to be involved exclusively in eye movement control. The signal content and spatial tuning characteristics of this anterior canal vestibulo-oculomotor neuron class remain to be determined.
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  • 44
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    Experimental brain research 97 (1994), S. 404-414 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Anterior ectosylvian cortex ; Vision ; Audition ; Somesthesis ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Modality specificity of neuronal responses to visual, somesthetic and auditory stimuli was investigated in the anterior ectosylvian cortex (AEC) of cats, using single-unit recording techniques. Seven classes of neurons were found, and according to their responsiveness to sensory stimuli regrouped into three categories: unimodal, bimodal and trimodal. Unimodal cells that responded to only one of the three stimulus modalities formed 59% of the units; 30.2% were bimodal, in that they showed a clear increase of neuronal discharges to two of the three stimulus types; 10.8% were defined as trimodal because they responded to all three stimulus modalities. Although the different categories of cells were intermingled within the AEC, indicating a certain degree of overlap between sensory modalities, some clustering of cell types was nonetheless evident. Thus, the somatosensory responsive cells were mainly located in the anterior two-thirds of the dorsal bank of the anterior ectosylvian sulcus. Visually responsive cells were concentrated on the ventral bank of the sulcus, whereas neurons with an auditory response occupied the banks and fundus of the posterior three-quarters of the sulcus. The histological distribution and physiological properties of AEC neurons suggest that this cortical region is a higher-order associative area whose function may be to integrate information from different sensory modalities.
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  • 45
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Optokinetic nystagmus and afternystagmus ; Vestibuloocular reflex ; Adaptation and habituation ; Vestibulocerebellum ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Bilateral surgical lesions of the flocculus or the nodulo-uvular lobes were performed in the cat. Effects of these lesions on optokinetic and optokinetic afternystagmus (OKAN), vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), visual suppression, and adaptation and habituation of VOR were studied using an identical experimental protocol. After flocculectomy, all these functions were impaired, except for habituation. Long-term postoperative recordings only revealed a recovery of the suppression of VOR, suggesting a limited contribution of the flocculus to this function. After nodulo-uvulectomy, only habituation and OKAN were modified. When the lesion was restricted to part of the uvula, OKAN duration was decreased. For other lesions involving the uvula together with the nodulus and/or the lobules VII-VIII, OKAN duration was increased. Habituation was lost after destruction of the nodulo-uvular lobes. When this latter structure was damaged, the retention component of habituation was selectively impaired, sparing the acquisition. Additional lesions outside the vestibulocerebellum appeared necessary to suppress the two components. Comparison of results obtained after flocculectomy and after nodulouvulectomy confirms and extends to nonprimate species the concept of a “differential control” of adaptation and habituation by distinct vestibulocerebellar structures.
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  • 46
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Omnipause neurons ; Superior colliculus ; Fixation ; Saccade ; Gaze ; Eye-head coordination ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The superior colliculus has long been recognized as an important structure in the generation of saccadic displacements of the visual axis. Neurons with presaccadic activity encoding saccade vectors are topographically organized and form a “motor map.” Recently, neurons with fixation-related activity have been recorded at the collicular rostral pole, at the area centralis representation or fixation area. Another collicular function which deals with the maintenance of fixation behavior by means of active inhibition of orientation commands was then suggested. We tested that hypothesis as it relates to the suppression of gaze saccades (gaze = eye in space = eye in head + head in space) in the head-free cat by increasing the activity of the fixation cells at the rostral pole with electrical microstimulation. Long stimulation trains applied before gaze saccades delayed their initiation. Short stimuli, delivered during the gaze saccades, transiently interrupted both eye and head components. These results provide further support for a role in fixation behavior for collicular fixation neurons. Brainstem omnipause neurons also exhibit fixation-related activity and have been shown to receive a direct excitatory input from the superior colliculus. To determine whether the collicular projection to omnipause neurons arises from the fixation area, the deep layers of the superior colliculus were electrically stimulated either at the rostral pole including the fixation area or in more caudal regions where stimulation evokes orienting responses. Forty-nine neurons were examined in three cats. 61% of the neurons were found to be orthodromically excited by single-pulse stimulation of the rostral pole, whereas only 29% responded to caudal stimulation. In addition, stimuli delivered to the rostral pole activated, on average, omnipause neurons at shorter latencies and with lower currents than those applied in caudal regions. These results suggest that excitatory inputs to omnipause neurons from the superior colliculus are principally provided by the fixation area, via which the superior colliculus could play a role in suppression of gaze shifts.
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  • 47
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Periaqueductal gray ; Tracing Spinal cord ; Axial muscles ; Defense behavior ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The periaqueductal gray (PAG) plays an important role in analgesia as well as in motor activities, such as vocalization, cardiovascular changes, and movements of the neck, back, and hind limbs. Although the anatomical pathways for vocalization and cardiovascular control are rather well understood, this is not the case for the pathways controlling the neck, back, and hind limb movements. This led us to study the direct projections from the PAG to the spinal cord in the cat. In a retrograde tracing study horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected into different spinal levels, which resulted in large HRP-labeled neurons in the lateral and ventrolateral PAG and the adjacent mesencephalic tegmentum. Even after an injection in the S2 spinal segment a few of these large neurons were found in the PAG. Wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated HRP injections in the ventrolateral and lateral PAG resulted in anterogradely labeled fibers descending through the ventromedial, ventral, and lateral funiculi. These fibers terminated in lamina VIII and the medial part of lamina VII of the caudal cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spinal cord. Interneurons in these laminae have been demonstrated to project to axial and proximal muscle motoneurons. The strongest PAG-spinal projections were to the upper cervical cord, where the fibers terminated in the lateral parts of the intermediate zone (laminae V, VII, and the dorsal part of lamina VIII). These laminae contain the premotor interneurons of the neck muscles. This distribution pattern suggests that the PAG-spinal pathway is involved in the control of neck and back movements. Comparing the location of the PAG-spinal neurons with the results of stimulation experiments leads to the supposition that the PAG-spinal neurons play a role in the control of the axial musculature during threat display.
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  • 48
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    Experimental brain research 102 (1994), S. 198-209 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Primary spindle afferents ; Secondary spindle afferents ; Classification ; Discharge pattern regularity ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The discharge frequency of primary (Ia) and secondary (II) muscle spindle afferents from the tibial anterior muscle of the cat were recorded under a rampand-hold stretch of the host muscle. The rate of ramp stretch and the prestretch of the muscle were varied systematically. The degree of stretch was kept constant. For a discharge pattern recorded at a ramp rate of 10 mm/s, the peak dynamic discharge, the maximum static value and the final static value were determined. These three discharge rate values were plotted against the maximum static value. In the resulting charts the II afferents presented themselves as a homogeneous group of spindle afferents, whereas the Ia fibers separated into three subgroups. The existence of three subpopulations of Ia fibers was verified by the method of Hald. Furthermore, it is shown that each subpopulation generated its discharge patterns in its own regularly systematic manner. It was concluded that, as one of the three Ia subpopulations exhibits much the same dynamic and static stretch properties as the II fibers, the encoder of this subpopulation must receive its receptor current from the sensory terminals of passive intrafusal chain fibers. The encoder of a second Ia subpopulation indicates its action potentials using the receptor current stemming from the bag1 sensory terminals, these Ia fibers eliciting a slow adaptation component of a high magnitude which is assumed to be the consequence of a high level of “creep” in the passive intrafusal bag1 fiber. The third Ia subpopulation initiates its action potential sequences by means of the receptor current stemming from the passive bag2 fiber, producing behavior patterns that lie between those of the other two Ia subpopulations.
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  • 49
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Globus pallidus ; Entopeduncular nucleus GABA ; Muscimol ; Bicuculline ; Reaction time Intracerebral microinjection ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The possible role of GABAergic mechanisms in the control of the basal ganglia output structures, the globus pallidus (GP) and the entopeduncular nucleus (EP), was studied in cats performing a conditioned flexion movement triggered by an auditory stimulus. The effects of discrete unilateral microinjections of low doses of the GABAA receptor agonist (muscimol 5–100 ng/ 0.5 μl) and antagonist (bicuculline methiodide 25–150 ng/0.5 μl) in the GP and the EP were tested on the motor performance of eight animals trained to release a lever in a simple reaction time (RT) schedule after an auditory stimulus. Control injections in neighboring structures did not induce any effect except with five- to tenfold higher doses in the closest injection sites. The dose of 20 ng muscimol injected into the ventral and medial part of the GP produced an arrest of the performance after a few unsuccessful trials (over the RT reinforcement limit of 500 ms), while muscimol injected in sites located in the lateral GP resulted in a dose-dependent lengthening in RTs, with a concomitant increase in the force change latency. In most of the subjects, the force exerted on the lever was higher after muscimol than after vehicle injection. Force change velocity was then significantly increased. In contrast, muscimol injected in the ventral and rostral region of the EP produced a decrease in RTs or a complete cessation of responding after a high number of anticipatory responses (release of the lever before the trigger stimulus). No significant changes in the force change latency could be observed while there was a non-significant tendency for the force levels to be lowered. Bicuculline injections in the EP were found to increase RTs with a concomitant increase in force change latency and a slowness of velocity, while no significant effect was observed following injections in the GP. These results suggest that a balance between GABAergic activity in the two output nuclei of the basal ganglia, the GP and the EP, is crucial for the correct initiation and execution of the conditioned motor task.
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  • 50
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    Experimental brain research 102 (1994), S. 210-226 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Primary auditory cortex ; Frequency representation ; Intensity representation ; Single neuron ; Cortical topography ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The tonotopicity of the cat's primary auditory cortex (AI) is thought to provide the framework for frequency-specific processing in that field. This study was designed to assess this postulate by examining the spatial distribution of neurons within AI that are activated by a single tonal frequency delivered to the contralateral ear. Distributions obtained at each of several stimulus levels were then compared to assess the influence of stimulus amplitude on the spatial representation of a given stimulus frequency in AI. Data were obtained from 308 single units in AI of four adult, barbiturate-anesthetized cats, using extracellular recording methods. Stimuli were 40-ms tone pulses presented through calibrated, sealed stimulating systems. In each animal, the CF (stimulus frequency to which the unit is most sensitive), threshold at CF, response/level function at CF, and binaural interactions were determined for isolated neurons (usually one per track) in 60–90 electrode tracks. For each unit, regardless of its CF, responses to 40 repetitions of contralateral tones of a single frequency, presented at each of four or five sound pressure levels (SPLs) in the range from 10 to 80 dB were obtained. Different test frequencies were used in each of four cats (1.6, 8.0, 11.0, and 16.0 kHz). For tones of each SPL, we generated maps of the response rates across the cortical surface. These maps were then superimposed on the more traditional maps of threshold CF. All units whose CF was equal to the test frequency could be driven at some SPL, given an appropriate monaural or binaural configuration of the stimulus. There was a clear spatial segregation of neurons according to the shapes of their CF tone response/level functions. Patches of cortex, often occupying more than 2 mm2, seemed to contain only monotonic or only nonmonotonic units. In three cortices, a patch of nonmonotonic cells was bounded ventrally by a patch of monotonie cells, and in one of these cases, a second patch of monotonic cells was found dorsal to the nonmonotonic patch. Contralateral tones of any given SPL evoked excitatory responses in discontinuous cortical territories. At low SPLs (10, 20 dB), small foci of activity occurred along the isofrequency line representing the test frequency. Many of these cells had nonmonotonic response/level functions. At mid- and high SPLs, the CFs of neurons activated by a pure tone varied across 3 octaves. At the highest SPL used (80 dB), most of the neurons with nonmonotonic response/level functions were inactive, or responded poorly; the active neurons were widely spread across the cortex, and the distribution of activity had a pattern bearing little relationship to the threshold CF contour map. These data indicate that only isolated patches of units within the relevant isofrequency contour are activated by a given suprathreshold contralateral tone. At suprathreshold stimulus levels, the region of cortex containing active patches extends widely beyond the threshold isofrequency contour region corresponding to the test stimulus frequency. The spatial representation of a stimulus delivered to the contralateral ear appears, therefore, to be highly level dependent and discontinuous. These observations suggest that in the cat's AI, tonotopicity and isofrequency contours are abstractions which bear little resemblance to the spatial representation of tonal signals.
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  • 51
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    Experimental brain research 100 (1994), S. 1-6 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Spinal cord ; Ascending tracts ; Spinocervical neurons ; Group II muscle afferents ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Peripheral input to spino-cervical tract (SCT) neurons located in the L4 and L5 segments of the cat spinal cord was investigated using both extracellular and intracellular recording. The main aim was to find out whether midlumbar SCT neurons are excited monosynaptically not only by cutaneous afferents but also by group II muscle afferents, as in the sacral segments but apparently not in the caudal lumbar segments. Input from group II muscle afferents was found in 73% of investigated neurons; the latencies of excitation by group II afferents were compatible with a monosynaptic coupling between these afferents and 62% of neurons. The majority of the midlumbar SCT neurons were excited by group II afferents of the quadriceps and deep peroneal nerves. The predominant monosynaptic input from cutaneous afferents to the same neurons was from the saphenous nerve.
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  • 52
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Posterior semicircular canal ; Vestibular nucleus neuron ; Medial mesodiencephalic junction ; Thalamus ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The axonal projections of 62 posterior canal (PC)-activated excitatory and inhibitory secondary vestibular neurons were studied electrophysiologically in cats. PC-related neurons were identified by monosynaptic activation elicited by electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve and activation following nose-up rotation of the animal's head. Single excitatory and inhibitory neurons were identified by antidromic activation following electrical stimulation of the contralateral and ipsilateral medial longitudinal fasciculus, respectively. The oculomotor projections of identified neurons were confirmed with a spike-triggered averaging technique. The axonal projections of the identified neurons were then studied by systematic, antidromic stimulation of the mesodiencephalon. Excitatory neurons showed two main types of axonal projections. In one type, axonal branches were issued to the interstitial nucleus of Cajal, central gray, and thalamus including the ventral posterolateral, ventral posteromedial, ventral lateral, ventral medial, centromedian, central lateral, lateral posterior, and ventral lateral geniculate nuclei. The other type was more frequently observed, giving off axon collaterals to the above-mentioned regions and to Forel's field H as well. Inhibitory neurons issued axonal branches to limited areas which included the central gray, interstitial nucleus of Cajal, its adjacent reticular formation and caudalmost part of Forel's field H, but not the rostral part of the Forel's field H and the thalamus. These results suggest that PC-related excitatory neurons participate in the genesis of vertical eye movements and in the perception of the vestibular sensation, and that PC-related inhibitory neurons seem to take part only in the genesis of vertical eye movements.
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  • 53
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    Experimental brain research 100 (1994), S. 58-66 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Muscle spindle ; Fusimotor Succinyl choline ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract This report describes the effects of succinylcholine (SCh) on the secondary endings of cat soleus muscle spindles and attempts to explain them in terms of the action of the drug on intrafusal fibres. All but 2 of 41 secondary endings studied in detail showed a significant response to a single intravenous injection of 200 μg kg-1 SCh. This consisted of a rise in the resting rate or development of a resting discharge if the spindle had previously been silent and an increase in the response to stretch. The increases in the responses to stretch were weaker than those observed for primary endings of spindles, but were much larger than those of tendon organs, which showed very little effect with this concentration of drug. The response to SCh showed two features consistent with its action being mediated via an intrafusal muscle fibre contraction rather than a direct depolarising action on the afferent nerve ending. In the presence of SCh, secondary endings were able to maintain a discharge during muscle shortening at rates, on average, more than 5 times greater than under control conditions. Secondly, the increase in spindle discharge produced by SCh showed a length dependence similar to that for fusimotor stimulation. Further support for the action of SCh being principally via an intrafusal fibre contraction was provided by the observation that its effects were abolished by the neuromuscular blocker gallamine triethiodide. The time course of recovery of SCh responses, following their blockade by gallamine, was much slower than recovery of extrafusal tension and closely paralleled that for the recovery of fusimotor responses. In three separate experiments on the medial gastrocnemius muscle the possibility that SCh may exert an excitatory action on spindle sensory endings through the liberation of potassium ions from the muscle was tested by tetanic stimulation of the muscle. This had no detectable excitatory effect. Several observations were made on the effect of SCh on responses of cutaneous receptors. SCh did not change levels of spontaneous activity or responses to mechanical stimulation of either slowly or rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors. It was argued for both tendon organs and cutaneous receptors that if SCh had a direct action on the nerve ending at the concentrations used here, some responses of these receptors to the drug might have been expected. All of the above supports the view that secondary endings of spindles are able to respond to SCh by the development of an intrafusal fibre contracture. The question of the intrafusal fibre types involved is discussed.
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  • 54
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    Experimental brain research 101 (1994), S. 415-426 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Visual cortex ; Orientation selectivity ; GABA inhibition ; Interlaminar connections ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Intracortical inhibition is believed to enhance the orientation tuning of striate cortical neurons, but the origin of this inhibition is unclear. To examine the possible influence of ascending inhibitory projections from the infragranular layers of striate cortex on the orientation selectivity of neurons in the supragranular layers, we measured the spatiotemporal response properties of 32 supragranular neurons in the cat before, during, and after neural activity in the infragranular layers beneath the recorded cells was inactivated by iontophoretic administration of GABA. During GABA iontophoresis, the orientation tuning bandwidth of 15 (46.9%) supragranular neurons broadened as a result of increases in response amplitude to stimuli oriented about ±20° away from the preferred stimulus angle. The mean (±SD) baseline orientation tuning bandwidth (half width at half height) of these neurons was 13.08±2.3°. Their mean tuning bandwidth during inactivation of the infragranular layers increased to 19.59±2.54°, an increase of 49.7%. The mean percentage increase in orientation tuning bandwidth of the individual neurons was 47.4%. Four neurons exhibited symmetrical changes in their orientation tuning functions, while 11 neurons displayed asymmetrical changes. The change in form of the orientation tuning functions appeared to depend on the relative vertical alignment of the recorded neuron and the infragranular region of inactivation. Neurons located in close vertical register with the inactivated infragranular tissue exhibited symmetric changes in their orientation tuning functions. The neurons exhibiting asymmetric changes in their orientation tuning functions were located just outside the vertical register. Eight of these 11 neurons also demonstrated a mean shift of 6.67±5.77° in their preferred stimulus orientation. The magnitude of change in the orientation tuning functions increased as the delivery of GABA was prolonged. Responses returned to normal approximately 30 min after the delivery of GABA was discontinued. We conclude that inhibitory projections from neurons within the infragranular layers of striate cortex in cats can enhance the orientation selectivity of supragranular striate cortical neurons.
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  • 55
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    Experimental brain research 101 (1994), S. 452-464 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Somatosensory thalamus ; Knee joint ; Nociception ; Bradykinin ; Capsaicin ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract In order to gain insight into the representation of articular pain of the knee at the supraspinal level, recordings were made from lateral thalamic neurons receiving input from afferent fibres of the knee joint in chloralose-anaesthetized cats. Dorsoventral penetrations were made through the ventral posterior lateral nucleus (VPL) using high intensity electrical stimulation of the medial articular nerve (MAN), which contains a high proportion (80%) of Aδ and C afferent fibres. All recording sites were verified histologically. Close retrograde injections (300 μl over 6 s) into geniculate artery of KCl (2 × isotonic), bradykinin (BK, 2.6 or 26 μg) and capsaicin (200 μM) were used to test the response properties of thalamic neurons. Of the 50 MAN-positive units tested, 20 showed a response to intra-arterial KCl; of these 20, 12 had a response to BK; 8 of these 12 units were additionally tested with capsaicin and all responded. KCl and capsaicin injections had similar mean response latencies (4.5 and 6.8 s), whereas BK had a longer mean latency (18.6 s). The mean peak response was greatest for capsaicin (168 impulses/s), then KCl (87.5 imp/s) and least with BK (36.4 imp/s). The mean response duration was longest with capsaicin (118 s), followed by BK (67.5 s) and least with KCl (27.9 s). Most of these were convergent wide dynamic range (WDR) neurons with a deep receptive field in the knee joint and hindlimb muscle and/or cutaneous distal hind limb digit, located to the dorsal or ventral periphery of the lateral division of the VPL, the VPLl. In addition, 8 neurons showed inhibitory responses to KCl and/or BK injections. The background activity of the VPLl neurons activated by saphenous nerve stimulation was inhibited by the nociceptive articular stimulus with a magnitude and time course which mirrored the excitatory responses in the periphery of VPLl. These results support the concept that the lateral thalamus plays an important role in mediating discriminative aspects of joint pain.
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    Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology 350 (1994), S. 339-345 
    ISSN: 1432-1912
    Keywords: Locus coeruleus ; Dopamine ; Noradrenaline ; Adrenaline ; Veratridine ; Tetrodotoxin ; Push-pull cannula ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract To investigate the release of endogenous dopamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline in the locus coeruleus, this brain area was superfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) through push-pull cannulae and the release of catecholamines was determined in the superfusate radioenzymatically. Collection of superfusates in time periods of 10 min revealed that release rates of the three catecholamines fluctuated, thus pointing to the existence of ultradian rhythms with following mean periods (minutes per cycle): noradrenaline 52±4, dopamine 37±2, adrenaline 36±2. The rhythm frequency of noradrenaline was significantly lower than the frequencies of dopamine and adrenaline. When the locus coeruleus was superfused with neuroactive drugs, superfusates were collected in time periods of 3 min. Superfusion with tetrodotoxin (1 μmol 1−1) for 12 min elicited a prompt and sustained decrease (−70%) in the release rates of dopamine and adrenaline. The release rate of noradrenaline was also reduced, although to a lesser extent (−40%). Superfusion with veratridine (50 μmol 1−1) led to an immediate and very pronounced enhancement in the release rates of dopamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline. The veratridine-induced increase in catecholamine outflow was decreased strongly by simultaneous superfusion with tetrodotoxin. The findings suggest that the release of endogenous catecholamines in the locus coeruleus fluctuates according to ultradian rhythms. Changes in the release on superfusion with veratridine and tetrodotoxin demonstrate the neuronal origin of the three catecholamines. The observed differences in the release characteristics between noradrenaline on the one hand and dopamine and adrenaline on the other might indicate that noradrenaline is partly released from somatodendritic sites of the noradrenergic cell bodies in the locus coeruleus.
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  • 57
    ISSN: 1432-1963
    Keywords: Schlüsselwörter Invertiertes Harnblasenpapillom ; Wachstumstypen ; Ultrastruktur ; Maligne Transformation ; Klinischer Verlauf ; Key words Inverted urinary bladder papilloma ; Growth types ; Ultrastructure ; Malignant transformation ; Clinical course
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Description / Table of Contents: Summary The histopathology, ultrastructure, pathological status and clinical course are described in a total of 29 cases of inverted papilloma of the urinary bladder (IP). The IP was isolated in 16 cases and occurred in combination with a papillary urothelial carcinoma in 13 cases. Histologically, a trabecular, a glandular and a mixed type can be differentiated. The trabecular from predominates in a ratio of 4 : 1. The glandular form is further subdivided into a cystic form and an adenomatous form containing cylindrical cells. Contrary to earlier assumptions, dysplasia and malignant transformation also occur in IP. Amongst the 16 isolated IP observed, four showed slight and four showed moderate dysplasia. One isolated IP was malignant and invasive. In IP in combination with papillary urothelial carcinomas, malignant transformation is somewhat more frequent. Four malignant IP and up to 85 % dysplasias were found among the 13 cases. The ultrastructure of IP reveals two cell types: a light cell form which corresponds to a slightly dysplastic urothelium and a darker cell form with or without microvilli which is observed in the glandular type. A frequent characteristic is a thickening of the basement membrane besides abundant “tight junctions”. The immunohistochemistry is relatively uncharacteristic. This also applies to the blood group isoantigens, which showed irregular and relative uninformative results in the SCRA test. IP is observed in all age groups and the sex ratio (M/F) is 3 : 1. The average age of manifestation is 56 years, about 10 years earlier than bladder carcinoma. Just under two-thirds of IPs are in the region of the trigonum, the ureteral ostia at the neck of the bladder and the prostatic part of the urethra, and IPs rarely exceed 3 cm in size. Malignant transformation and recurrence are only rarely observed. With regard to the formal pathogenetics, there are correlations with Brunn cell clusters and with the basal urothelial cell, which can be characterized as the urothelially determinative cell.
    Notes: Zusammenfassung Auf der Basis von insgesamt 29 Fällen mit einem invertierten Harnblasenpapillom (IP), von denen bei 16 das IP isoliert vorkam und in weiteren 13 eine Kombination mit einem papillären Urothelkarzinom vorlag, wird zur Histopathologie, Ultrastruktur, Dignität und zum klinischen Verlauf Stellung genommen. Histologisch zeigen sich Wachstumstypen, die sich in einem trabekulären, glandulären und einem Mischtyp äußern. In einem Verhältnis von 4 : 1 überwiegt die trabekuläre Form. Entgegen früheren Annahmen kommen beim IP auch Dysplasien sowie eine maligne Transformation vor. Die Ultrastruktur des IP läßt 2 Zellarten erkennen: eine helle Zellform, die einem gering dysplastischen Urothel entspricht und eine dunklere Zellform mit oder ohne Mikrovilli, die beim drüsigen Typ zur Beobachtung kommt. Häufiges Merkmal ist eine Basalmembranverdickung neben reichlich „tight junction“. Die Immunhistochemie zeigt eine Differenzierung in Richtung Basalzelle, ist jedoch wenig charakteristisch, so auch die Blutgruppenisoantigene, die sich irregulär verhalten. Das IP wird in allen Altersgruppen beobachtet und überwiegt mit 3 : 1 beim männlichen Geschlecht. Durchschnittliches Manifestationsalter liegt im 56. Lebensjahr, etwa 10 Jahre früher als beim Harnblasenkarzinom. Knapp zwei Drittel sind im Bereich Trigonum, der Ureterostien des Blasenhalses und der Pars prostatica urethrae lokalisiert und überschreiten nur sehr selten die Größe von 3,0 cm. Ebenso wie die maligne Transformation werden auch Rezidive nur selten beobachtet. Formalpathogenetisch bestehen Beziehungen zu den Brunn-Zellnestern und zur basalständigen Urothelzelle, die als urotheliale Determinativzelle charakterisiert werden kann.
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    Pflügers Archiv 426 (1994), S. 304-309 
    ISSN: 1432-2013
    Keywords: Mechanoreceptors ; Cat ; Urinary bladder ; Functional properties ; Bladder pressure ; Wall tension ; Natural distension
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Bladder wall mechanoreceptors are essential elements in micturition and continence reflexes. While they have been described as tension receptors, their response to bladder wall deformation has always been characterised in terms of pressure. The firing patterns of 10 bladder wall mechanoreceptors were determined during bladder distensions at a natural and a much faster rate. In all units firing rate was higher at any given pressure at the slower bladder distension rate. This inverse rate dependence was reduced when firing rate was related to a derived measure of bladder wall tension and abolished when multi-fibre recordings were used. We conclude that it is important to incorporate volume effects in studies of continence control systems.
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  • 59
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    Experimental brain research 102 (1994), S. 175-180 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Striate cortex ; Simple cells ; Single spot stimuli ; Axis preference ; Influence of velocity ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Directional tuning for motion of a long bar and a spot was compared quantitatively over a wide range of velocities in 23 simple cells of cat striate cortex whose “on” and “off” receptive field subregions had been mapped with optimally oriented, stationary flash-presented bars. Tuning curves were derived using stimuli whose polarity of contrast was appropriate for the dominant receptive field subregion of each cell (i.e. light stimuli for on-subregions and dark stimuli for off-subregions); stimulus sweep was centred accurately on the centre of that subregion. Bar stimuli were of optimal width, and spot diameter was equal to the width of the bars. In all simple cells, preferred axis of motion for a long bar was invariant with velocity, being orthogonal to preferred orientation, as assessed with a stationary flash-presented bar. In 20 of 23 simple cells, preferred axis for spot motion was approximately orthogonal to that for bar motion (i.e., parallel to preferred orientation) at all velocities tested, including those just above threshold for spot stimuli. However, tuning for the spot became sharper as velocity was increased, due to an increase in response to the spot moving along the preferred axis and a decrease in response to spot motion along other axes, including the preferred axis for the bar. Both preferred and upper cut-off velocity were consistently higher for spot than for bar motion. The remaining 3 simple cells showed no response to spot motion at any velocity, and their preferred axis of motion for the shortest bar which evoked a consistent response was the same as that for a long bar. We conclude that simple cells respond to motion of a spot per se and not just to its oriented components, and that in most simple cells preferred axis for spot motion is genuinely approximately orthogonal to that for motion of a long bar. A spatio-temporal filter model incorporating intracortical feedforward facilitation along the long axis of the receptive field can account for the observed differences in axis preference and velocity sensitivity for spot and bar motion.
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    Experimental brain research 102 (1994), S. 319-326 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Visual cortex ; Simple cells ; Mach bands ; Receptive fields ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Mach bands are a visual illusion evoked by a luminance ramp dividing two luminance plateaux (blurred edges), but not by sharp edges. Recently, two physiology-based models have tried to cope with the psychophysical data concerning this phenomenon. The basic components of both models are neurons with even- or odd-symmetric receptive fields (RFs). Both models predict that odd-symmetric cells respond better to sharp edges, while even-symmetric cells respond better to blurred ones. We have measured the responses of 34 primary visual cortex simple cells of the cat to blurred edges of various degrees. Twenty-one cells had RFs of even symmetry, responding best to blurred edges than to sharp ones. The rest were odd-symmetric cells, of which 12 responded best to sharp edges, and only one exceptional cell responded best to a 0.85°-wide edge. Thus, the different cell types responded as predicted by the two different Mach band models. Simple cells may thus serve as the physiological basis of the psychophysical phenomenon of Mach bands. Furthermore, our evidence suggests the existence of inhibition between odd-and even-symmetric cells, as predicted by one of the models.
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    Experimental brain research 100 (1994), S. 149-154 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Long-term potentiation ; GABAA receptor ; NMDA receptor ; Low-threshold calcium channel ; Motor cortex ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Long-term potentiation of synaptic transmission (LTP), as documented by the enhancement of evoked field potentials in layer III following stimulation of the underlying white matter, has been studied in slices of motor cortex from adult cats. With a 1 M NaCl-filled recording electrode, LTP was induced only in one out of eight slices. When the recording electrode in addition contained 5 mM bicuculline metiodide, LTP was obtained with a much higher rate of success (15/19), suggesting that reduction of GABAA receptor-mediated inhibition facilitated the induction of LTP in the motor cortex. Bath application of dl-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV, 100 μM) or Ni2+ (100 μM) significantly reduced the success rate for LTP occurrence (6/16 and 5/16, respectively); but when LTP was induced, it did not show significant change in magnitude and time course. In slices perfused with APV (100 μM) plus Ni2+ (100 μM), LTP induction was completely blocked (0/12). These results suggest that two different mechanisms may subserve LTP induction in the cat motor cortex: one is mediated by N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors and can be blocked by APV; the other may be mediated by low-threshold calcium channels and can be blocked by Ni2+.
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  • 62
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Superior colliculus ; Microstimulation ; Gaze saccades ; Tecto-reticulo-spinal neurons ; Fixation ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract In our previous paper we demonstrated that electrical microstimulation of the fixation area at the rostral pole of the cat superior colliculus (SC) elicits no gaze movement but, rather, transiently suppresses eye-head gaze saccades. In this paper, we investigated the more caudal region of the SC and its interaction with the fixation area. In the alert head-free cat, supra-threshold stimulation in the anterior portion of the SC but outside the fixation area evoked small saccadic shifts of gaze consisting mainly of an eye movement, the head's contribution being small. Stimulating more posteriorly elicited large gaze saccades consisting of an ocular saccade combined with a rapid head movement. At these latter stimulation sites, craniocentric (goal-directed) eye movements were evoked when the cat's head was restrained. The amplitude of eye-head gaze saccades elicited at a particular stimulation site increased with stimulus duration, current strength, and pulse rate, until a constant or “unit” value was reached. The peak velocity of gaze shifts depended on both pulse rate and current strength. The movement direction was not affected by stimulus parameters. The unit gaze vector evoked, in the head-free condition, by stimulating one collicular site was similar to that coded by efferent neurons recorded at that site, thereby indicating a retinotopically coded gaze error representation on the collicular motor map which is not revealed by stimulating the head-fixed animal. Evoked gaze saccades were found to be influenced by fixation behavior. The amplitude of evoked gaze shifts was reduced if stimulation occurred when the hungry animal fixated a food target. Electrical activation of the collicular fixation area was found to mimic well the effects of natural fixation on evoked gaze shifts. Taken together, our results support the view that the overall distribution and level of collicular activity contributes to the encoding of the metrics of gaze saccades. We suggest that the combined levels of activity at the site being stimulated and at the fixation area influence the amplitude of evoked gaze saccades through competition. When stimulation is at low intensities, fixation-related activity reduces the amplitude of evoked gaze saccades. At high activation levels, the site being stimulated dominates and the gaze vector is specified only by that site's collicular output neurons, from which arises the close correspondence between the unit-evoked gaze saccades and the neurally coded gaze vector at that site.
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    Experimental brain research 101 (1994), S. 307-313 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Perigeniculate nucleus ; X and Y cells ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The spike activity of perigeniculate cells evoked by small light spots flashing along the axes of their receptive fields was recorded and presented in response planes. This method allowed the investigated neurons to be grouped into two classes characterized by (1) large receptive fields and phasic-like responses and (2) small fields and tonic responses. The latency measurements for stimulation of the optic chiasma and visual cortex revealed that the cells from the first group are excited by fast, Y fibers and the second by slow, X axons. The spatial tuning curves of the second harmonic component, as measured from the responses of the cells from the two groups for slowly moving square gratings, are also different. We conclude that the X and Y systems of the visual pathway are segregated at the level of the perigeniculate nucleus.
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    Experimental brain research 102 (1994), S. 34-44 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Fictive locomotion ; Scratch ; Flexor reflex afferents ; Group Ib ; Plateau potentials ; NMDA receptor ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Lumbar motoneurones were recorded intracellularly during fictive locomotion induced by stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region in decerebrate cats. After blocking the action potentials using intracellular QX-314, and by using a discontinuous current clamp, it is shown that the excitatory component of the locomotor drive potentials behaves in a voltage-dependent manner, such that its amplitude increases with depolarisation. As the input to motoneurones during locomotion is comprised of alternating excitation and inhibition, it was desirable to examine the excitatory input in relative isolation. This was accomplished in spinalised decerebrate cats treated with nialamide and l-dihydroxy-phenylalanine (l-DOPA) by studying the excitatory post-synaptic potentials (EPSPs) evoked from the “flexor reflex afferents” (FRA) and extensor Ib afferents, both of which are likely to be mediated via the locomotor network. As expected, these EPSPs also demonstrate a voltage-dependent increase in amplitude. In addition, the input to motoneurones from the network for scratching, which is thought to share interneurones with the locomotor network, also results in voltage-dependent excitation. The possible underlying mechanisms of NMDA-mediated excitation and plateau potentials are discussed:both may contribute to the observed effect. It is suggested that this nonlinear increase in excitation contributes to the mechanisms involved in the production of the high rates of repetitive firing of motoneurones typically seen during locomotion, thus ensuring appropriate muscle contraction.
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    Experimental brain research 102 (1994), S. 69-74 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Motoneurone ; Recruitment ; Force modulation ; Rat ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract In the context of an analysis concerning factors of importance for the relative contributions of recruitment and rate gradation of muscle force, the distribution of electrical excitability was analyzed for medial gastrocnemius (MG) motoneurones of rat and cat. The experimental data came from previously collected intracellular measurements in animals anaesthetized with pentobarbitone. Electrical excitability was measured as the threshold (nanoamperes) for single spike generation (rheobase) in rat and for maintained repetitive firing (rhythmic threshold) in cat. Furthermore, the data included measurements of axonal conduction velocity and of contractile properties of the muscle units innervated by the studied motoneurones. The units were categorized into types S (slow-twitch, fatigue-resistant), FR (fast-twitch, fatigue-resistant) and FF (fast-twitch, fatiguable) on the basis of the combined criteria of twitch-speed and sensitivity to fatigue. We confirmed that, in spite of the presence of normal-looking symmetrical distributions of axonal conduction velocity, there was a positive skew in the distribution of electrical excitability (relatively high numbers of cells with low thresholds, few with high ones). Within each unit category (S, FR, FF), we ranked the motoneurones according to their relative electrical excitability and calculated the threshold difference between consecutive cells (“threshold spacing”). In accordance with the skewed distribution of electrical excitability, we found that the mean threshold spacing was ranked in the same way as the mean thresholds, i.e. S〈FR〈FF; the statistical analysis showed that, for cats as well as rats, small threshold-spacing steps were significantly more common for S than for FF motoneurones. In the discussion it is pointed out that the narrow threshold-spacing for S units, as compared to FF units, would tend to decrease the relative amount of recruitment-parallel rate modulation in these cells. Thus, the spacing of recruitment thresholds tends to allow the easily recruited S motoneurones to remain firing at relatively low rates during ongoing recruitment gradation, which would be of potential value in promoting a high degree of endurance for long-lasting postural contractions.
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    Experimental brain research 102 (1994), S. 181-197 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Cross-correlation analysis ; Connection strength ; Somatosensory cortex ; Ventrobasal thalamus ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Neuronal responses to hairy skin stimulation were simultaneously recorded in the ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPL) of the thalamus and primary somatosensory cortex (SI) of halothane-anesthetized cats. Among 233 thalamocortical neuron pairs, cross-correlation analysis revealed significant interactions in 120 pairs. Excitatory interactions were most prevalent and included influences occurring exclusively in the thalamocortical (41 pairs) or corticothalamic (23 pairs) directions as well as multiphasic interactions (40 pairs) in both directions. Only 16 pairs exhibited inhibitory interactions and 7 of these involved multiphasic combinations of excitation and inhibition. In 14 of these neuron pairs, inhibition was exerted in the corticothalamic direction. Receptive field (RF) overlap between thalamic and cortical neurons varied considerably, and neuronal interactions were more likely for neuron pairs sharing large portions of their combined RFs. Computer-controlled stimulation was delivered to multiple RF sites but only 46% of the neuron pairs displayed interactions at more than one stimulation site and only four neuron pairs showed interactions at all stimulus positions. When interactions occurred at multiple stimulus sites, 40% of these interactions were characterized by timing shifts where the time interval between VPL and SI discharges varied as much as 20 ms because of stimulus relocation. In nine neuron pairs, systematic shifts in stimulus position produced reversals in the temporal sequence of thalamic and cortical neuronal discharges. Functional interactions between thalamic and cortical neurons were detected during both spontaneous and stimulus-induced activity. Matched-sample comparisons of connection strength and half-widths of thalamocortical peaks during spontaneous and stimulus-induced activity indicated that functional interactions produced by cutaneous stimulation were significantly stronger and had less temporal variability than those occurring spontaneously.
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    Experimental brain research 100 (1994), S. 160-164 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Superior colliculus ; Tecto-spinal neurons ; Spinal cord ; WGA-HRP ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Injections of WGA-HRP were made within the C1 segment of spinal cord in cats with a midsagittal section of the midbrain. A small number of labelled cells were found in the latero-caudal part of the deeper layers of the superior colliclus (SC) ipsilateral to the injection sites. Because of the complete section of the dorsal tegmental decussation, these results definitively demonstrate the existence of an ipsilateral tecto-spinal pathway projecting to upper cervical segments in the cat. Ipsilaterally projecting tecto-reticulo-spinal neurons represent about 5% of the total population of tectospinal neurons. They were exclusively located in the deeper collicular layers and most of them were found in the latero-caudal part of the SC. Comparison with our previous studies suggests that more ipsilateral tectospinal projections that found after the section of the dorsal tegmental decussation probably exist. They may arise from tecto-reticulo-spinal neurons recrossing the midline in the brainstem or in the rostral part of C1. By analogy with the cortico-spinal tract, we suggest that the existence of an ipsilateral tecto-spinal pathway can be regarded as evidence for a substantial development of the cat tecto-spinal system as compared with other mammals.
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    Experimental brain research 100 (1994), S. 187-199 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Forel's field H Orienting head movements ; Vertical Single unit recording ; Head-free ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Single unit activities were recorded in Forel's field H (FFH) at the mesodiencephalic junction during orienting head movements in two alert cats under headfree conditions. Recordings were made of 63 neurons of which 20 showed phasic firing that preceded the onset of head movements by 20–100 ms and was temporally related to the dynamic phase of the orienting head movement. Nineteen of these neurons showed a preference for upward movements, while the remaining neuron preferred downward movements. Activities during orienting movements in eight different directions (each separated by 45°) were systematically analyzed for 12 of the 19 upward-preferring neurons. The activities were broadly tuned; in most of the neurons, maximum activity was observed for direct upward movements (+90°), but significant activity was also observed for ipsilateral and contralateral oblique upward movements (+45° and +135°). In these cases, the increase in activity preceded the onset of the movement. Some increase in activity was also observed for ipsilateral and contralateral horizontal, oblique downward and downward movements. However, the increase in activity in the latter cases occurred simultaneously with or lagged behind the onset of the movement and was often preceded by a decrease in activity. The same pattern of directional tuning was observed in the EMG of the biventer cervicis muscle, a target of FFH neurons. The preferred directions of the 12 upward-preferring neurons were estimated by calculating the vector sum of the activity and were distributed between +68° and +108°. The same amount of activity was observed for ipsilateral and contralateral oblique upward movements, suggesting that FFH neurons on both sides of the brainstem are equally activated even during oblique orienting. Input from the ipsilateral superior colliculus was investigated in 18 neurons, all of which were orthodromically activated with a latency of 0.8–1.8 ms, suggestive of a mono- or disynaptic excitatory connection. Seven neurons were identified as descending projection neurons by antidromic activation from the ipsilateral medullary reticular formation. Repetitive microstimulation of unilateral FFH induced oblique upward head movements and an accompanying torsional component, while simultaneous bilateral stimulation at comparable stimulus strength induced purely upward head movements. These results strongly suggest that the vertical component of orienting head movements is encoded by equal bilateral activation of the FFH.
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  • 69
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    Experimental brain research 100 (1994), S. 215-226 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Thalamic reticular nucleus Ventroposterior lateral nucleus ; Inhibition Tonic activation ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The thalamic reticular nucleus (RTN) exerts an inhibitory influence upon the dorsal thalamus. During wakefulness and arousal, RTN neurons fire tonically, whereas during slow-wave sleep they fire rhythmic high frequency bursts. The effects produced by RTN inhibition upon the activity of dorsal thalamic neurons will therefore vary in relation to the firing mode of the RTN neurons. In the present study, we compared the effects of oscillating RTN neurons and of RTN neurons tonically activated with glutamate on the response profiles of single units reacting to controlled cutaneous stimulation in cat ventroposterior lateral thalamic nucleus (VPL). Experiments were performed under light barbiturate anesthesia and prior to the glutamate activation of the RTN, both RTN and VPL neurons showed spontaneous bursting patterns of activity consistent with the oscillatory mode. Typically, a cutaneous stimulus evoked a short latency excitatory response in VPL followed by a period of complete inhibition termed post-stimulus inhibition (PSI). In many neurons, the PSI was followed by a period of increased activity termed post-inhibitory excitation (PIE). Ejection of glutamate in the identified somatosensory division of the RTN shifted the oscillatory firing of its neurons to a high tonic mode and usually resulted in a decrease in VPL neuronal activity. Significant variations were observed in the occurrence and the magnitude of the effects among the different components of neuronal activity examined. Tonic activation of the RTN resulted in a significant reduction of ON- and OFF-PIEs in 81% of cases (30/37) and of spontaneous activity in 67% (22/ 33). In contrast, the response to a cutaneous stimulus was decreased in only 29% of cases (17/59) and was significantly increased in 24% (14/59). Tonic activation of the RTN by glutamate resulted in little change in the firing pattern of VPL neurons, and both short and long spike intervals were affected in a similar proportion. We conclude that the components of VPL neuronal activity most affected by switching RTN neurons from the oscillatory to the tonic mode are those normally dependent upon RTN neuronal oscillation. The present results also suggest that lowering background activity, such as occurs during the transition from sleep to wakefulness, is a factor leading to increase in the responsiveness of dorsal thalamic neurons.
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  • 70
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Corticothalamic modulation ; Ventroposterolateral thalamus ; Primary and secondary somatosensory cortex (SI and SII) ; Somatosensory thalamus ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The influence of the corticothalamic projections from somatosensory areas I and II (SI and SII) on the transmission of tactile information through the ventroposterolateral (VPL) thalamus was investigated by examining the effects of cooling-induced, reversible inactivation of SI and/or SII on the responsiveness of 32 VPL neurons to controlled tactile stimulation of the distal forelimb in anaesthetized cats. Both the response levels and spontaneous activity were unaffected in 21 (66%) of the VPL neurons as a result of inactivation of SI or SII singly, or both SI and SII simultaneously. In the remaining 11 neurons, 10 displayed a reduction in response level, an effect observed over the whole of the stimulus-response relations for the neurons studied at different stimulus amplitudes, and one neuron displayed an increase in response level in association with cortical inactivation. When responses in VPL neurons were affected by inactivation of one cortical somatosensory area, they were not necessarily affected by inactivation of the other. Of 14 neurons studied for the effects of the separate inactivation of SI alone and of SII alone, 7 were affected, one from both areas, but the remaining 6 were affected by inactivation of only one of these areas. Phaselocking, and therefore the precision of impulse patterning in the responses of VPL neurons to skin vibration, was unchanged by the cortical inactivation irrespective of whether the response level was affected. The results suggest that SI and SII may exert a facilitatory influence on at least a third of VPL neurons and in this way may modulate the gain of transmission of tactile signalling through the thalamus.
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  • 71
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    Experimental brain research 101 (1994), S. 59-72 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Spinal cord ; Synaptic transmission ; GABAB receptors ; Baclofen agonists and antagonists ; Rat ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The actions of a series of derivatives of 3-aminopropyl-phosphinic acid as baclofen agonists and antagonists have been examined on the synaptic excitation of neurones by impulses in primary afferent fibres in the lumbar spinal cords of pentobarbitone-anaesthetised cats and rats. Both the pre-and postsynaptic inhibitory actions of microelectrophoretic (-)-baclofen were reduced by similarly administered CGP 35 348, 36 742, 46 381, 52 432, 54 626 and 55 845, the latter being the most potent antagonist. None of these antagonists either decreased or increased the excitability of spinal neurones, and the inhibitory action of GABA was reduced only by local concentrations of antagonists which also reduced the action of piperidine-4-sulphonic acid, a GABAA agonist. Although the weak inhibitory effect of 3-aminopropylphosphinic acid in both the rat and the cat was not reduced by these baclofen antagonists, the pre-and postsynaptic inhibitory effects of 3-aminopropyl-methyl-osphinic acid (CGP 35 024), which was more potent than (-)-baclofen, were reduced by the antagonists. Like (-)-baclofen, CGP 35 024 was relatively ineffective in reducing transmitter release in the cord from the terminals of excitatory spinal interneurones, the terminals of excitatory tracts in the dorsolateral funiculus and the cholinergic terminals of motor axon collaterals. In both rat and cat cords, receptors for (-)-baclofen could not be demonstrated to be activated by microelectrophoretic GABA, possibly because of the predominantly dendritic location of GABAB receptors. Spinal pre-and postsynaptic baclofen receptors appeared to be pharmacologically similar but differed from those in the higher central nervous system of the rat, where 3-aminopropylphosphinic acid has been reported to be an effective baclofen agonist. The compounds tested, particularly CGP 55 845 and 46 381, will be of use in further investigations of the physiological relevance of baclofen receptors at central synapses where GABA may be the transmitter.
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  • 72
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Muscles ; Muscle contraction ; Motor unit ; Contractile properties ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The active length-tension curves of identified single motor units (MUs) belonging to peroneus longus muscle (PL) of anaesthetized adult cats were obtained by eliciting isometric single twitches and tetani. The recorded responses were evaluated by measuring the peak tension amplitude and the tension-time area at muscle lengths extending throughout the physiological length range of the muscle (mean 5.5 mm, standard deviation ±0.8). The muscle lengths at which each tested MU developed its maximal twitch (L tw) and tetanic (L te) tensions were determined and compared with the muscle length (L o) at which the stimulation of all the α-axons, innervating PL and contained in L7 ventral root, developed their maximal twitch tension. The mean of single MU L tw values was at L o+1.08±1.1 mm. Slow MUs showed the longest values of L tw(L o+1.6±1.0 mm). Single MUs stimulated at tetanic frequencies presented their L te at values shorter than L o (L o−2.8±1.7 mm). Slow MUs had the shortest L te (L o−3.4±1.5 mm). For all the units L te was shorter than L tw. L tw and L te were, respectively, negatively and positively correlated with the developed tension. Optimal length values also appeared to be related to the MU types. The possibility is discussed that the muscle and tendon compliances and the high non-linearities to the applied forces are the main factors which can determine the differences among L o, L tw and L te values. The relationships between MU type and optimal length values are suggested to be, at least partly, an epiphenomenon due to the different contraction strengths of the various MU types. However, the heterogeneous distribution of the MU types is brought into account to explain the dependence of L tw and L te values on MU type.
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  • 73
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    Experimental brain research 101 (1994), S. 397-405 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Posture ; Quadrupedal stance ; Central set ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of prior experience concerning direction of a postural perturbation on the balance response of cats to translations of their support surface. Previous work has shown that, when cats are translated in many directions in the horizontal plane, they respond by exerting active forces with each paw in only two directions, termed the force constraint strategy. This study examined whether the force constraint strategy could be modified based on predictability of the direction of translation and whether this strategy is used by the naive animal with no prior experience of platform translation. Four cats were trained to stand quietly on the force platform using positive reinforcement, and then were implanted with chronically indwelling electrodes for recording electromyographic (EMG) activity. The first experiment concerned the response of the naive cats to their first exposure to platform translation and consisted of translations presented randomly in four different directions in the horizontal plane. The second experiment consisted of two complete sets of 16 directions of translation (15 trials per direction), with the direction of translation randomized in one set and serially ordered in the other, to make the direction of translation unpredictable or predictable, respectively. Forces exerted by the cat, EMG activity, and platform position were recorded during the 1-s trials. The use of the force constraint strategy was independent of prior experience with direction of translation, as was the amplitude of the response. Moreover, this strategy was observed in the naive cat. These findings suggest that the force constraint is a robust and consistent response to translational perturbations of stance in the cat and is part of its natural behavioral repertoire. The accuracy in specification of the direction of a postural response must be based on the sensory information that is obtained within a very short time after the onset of platform acceleration (loop time 40–70 ms). On the other hand, the amplitude of the postural response tended to decrease with experience and practice, suggesting a long-term change in central set that may manifest as a reduction in sensorimotor gain.
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  • 74
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    Experimental brain research 101 (1994), S. 375-384 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Lateral cervical nucleus ; Ascending projections ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Extracellular microelectrode recordings were made from single cells of the lateral cervical nucleus (LCN) in cats anaesthetized with chloralose and paralysed with gallamine triethiodide. The cells were tested for antidromic activation from the contralateral medial lemniscus and the contralateral tectum. Seventytwo LCN units were recorded which projected to one or both targets. Sixty (83%) projected through the medial lemniscus, and of these 36 (50% of the total) also projected to the tectum, whereas 24 (33%) projected through the medial lemniscus only; 12 (17%) projected only to the tectum. Twenty-nine units (40%) were excited by moving hairs of the coat but not by pinch of the skin, and 9 (31%) of these projected to the tectum, 11 (38%) through the medial lemniscus and 9 (31%) to both targets. Forty units (56%) were excited by hair movement and noxious pinch, and 3 (7%) of these projected to the tectum, 10 (25%) through the medial lemniscus and 27 (68%) to both targets. Three units (4%) had no discernible receptive fields and they all projected through the medial lemniscus, but not to the tectum. Of the 12 units projecting only to the tectum, 11 had receptive fields completely or partially on the trunk. Units projecting either through the medial lemniscus only, or through the medial lemniscus and also into the tectum, had receptive fields more widely distributed: these included small fields on the fore- and hind feet, on the limbs and also, a minority, on the trunk. Units with glove- or stocking-like receptive fields projected through the medial lemniscus. The results show that while most LCN cells project through the medial lemniscus, those excited by hair movement alone preferentially project either to the tectum or through the medial lemniscus, but not by both routes. The differences in receptive field properties of the differently projecting units are discussed in terms of the possible functions of the spinocervical system.
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  • 75
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    Archives of microbiology 162 (1994), S. 267-271 
    ISSN: 1432-072X
    Keywords: Key words     Extremely thermophilic eubacterium ; Calderobacterium hydrogenophilium ; Ultrastructure ; Electron microscopy
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract       Calderobacterium hydrogenophilum is an extreme thermophilic, obligately chemoautotrophic, hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium. The cells were shown to be non-motile straight rods of average size 0.4 × 2.5 μm. After negative-staining of the whole cells, no flagella were observed. The multilayered cell wall was of type 1 and possessed a crystalline proteinaceous surface layer exhibiting p4 symmetry. The square unit cells had a lattice constant of approximately 11 nm. Cell division occurred by a constriction mechanism. C. hydrogenophilum differred from a similar hydrogen-oxidizing eubacterium, Hydrogenobacter thermophilus, by the absence of intracytoplasmic membrane structures in chemically fixed cells. However, an electron-dense intracytoplasmic hemispherical structure adhering to the inner membrane was frequently observed.
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  • 76
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    Archives of microbiology 162 (1994), S. 267-271 
    ISSN: 1432-072X
    Keywords: Extremely thermophilic eubacterium ; Calderobacterium hydrogenophilium ; Ultrastructure ; Electron microscopy
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Calderobacterium hydrogenophilum is an extreme thermophilic, obligately chemoautotrophic, hydrogen-oxidizing bacterium. The cells were shown to be nonmotile straight rods of average size 0.4x2.5 μm. After negative-staining of the whole cells, no flagella were observed. The multilayered cell wall was of type 1 and possessed a crystalline proteinaceous surface layer exhibiting p4 symmetry. The square unit cells had a lattice constant of approximately 11 nm. Cell division occurred by a constriction mechanism. C. hydrogenophilum differred from a similar hydrogen-oxidizing eubacterium, Hydrogenobacter thermophilus, by the absence of intracytoplasmic membrane structures in chemically fixed cells. However, an electron-dense intracytoplasmic hemispherical structure adhering to the inner membrane was frequently observed.
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  • 77
    ISSN: 1432-2013
    Keywords: Sympathetic nerve stimulation ; Small pulmonary vessels ; Selective arterial vasoconstriction ; α-Adrenergic receptors ; β-Adrenergic receptors ; Flow velocity ; Volume flow ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Using an X-ray television system, we measured directly changes in the internal diameter (ID), flow velocity, and volume flow of the small pulmonary vessels (100–500 μm ID) in response to electrical sympathetic nerve stimulation (SNS) in anaesthetized cats before and after adrenergic receptor blockade. Flow velocity was obtained by measuring the distance that the leading edge of the contrast medium moved per 0.1 s in the small arteries. Volume flow was obtained from the product of flow velocity and cross-sectional area calculated from the ID of the small arteries. SNS was accolmplished with 10- to 15-V square-wave pulses of 2-ms duration at 20–30 Hz for 20-s periods. In response to SNS, arterial ID decreased significantly by 8–13% in the 200- to 500-μm vessels but not in the 100- to 200-μm vessels. In the veins, on the other hand, there was no significant ID decrease in any of the 100- to 500-μm vessels. After α-receptor blockade (phentolamine, 2 mg/kg i.V.), there were significant ID increases (4–9%) in the 100- to 500-μm arteries in response to SNS, the maximum increases being in the 100- to 200-μm arteries. After β-blockade (propranolol, 2 mg/kg i.V.), the ID decrease due to SNS in the 200- to 500-μm arteries was enhanced (24–27%) and, in addition, the 100- to 200-μm arteries exhibited a significant ID decrease (18%). Combined α and β-blockade completely abolished the ID decrease due to SNS. In the veins, on the other hand, no ID change occurred even after α- or β-blockade. The results indicate that SNS selectively constricts 200- to 500-μm arteries. The data suggests that SNS has α-mediated vasoconstrictor and β-mediated vasodilator effects on the 100- to 500-μm arteries and that the ID response pattern to SNS depends chiefly on the balance between α-mediated vasoconstriction and β-mediated vasodilation. Associated with the ID decrease due to SNS, flow velocity was increased by 21%. However, SNS did not affect volume flow, because the increase in velocity was compensated by the reduction in the cross-sectional area (due to the decreased ID).
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  • 78
    ISSN: 1432-2013
    Keywords: Blood-brain barrier ; Intravital fluorescence microscopy ; Computerised image analysis ; FITC-dextran ; Hypercapnia ; Adenosine ; Cerebral blood vessels ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The present paper describes a new method using computerised image analysis techniques for quantification of tracer extravasation over the blood-brain barrier as studied by intravital fluorescence microscopy. Cats were equipped with an open cranial window and continuously infused with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled dextran (FITC-dextran, mol. wt. 70 000) to maintain a steady plasma concentration. Several cortical fields were recorded in each experiment and the images stored on video tape for off-line analysis. This procedure, which largely eliminates the superficial pial vasculature and allows extraction of the extravasation areas, consists of the following steps: (1) averaging of images, (2) software shading correction based on the original images for compensation of optical non-uniformity, (3) correction of displacement artefacts, (4) intensity adjustment, (5) generation of subtraction images by subtracting the first image of a series from the subsequent ones, (6) median filtering and thresholding, (7) a length recognition algorithm, and (8) elimination of small areas. Compared to the previously described method, step (2) has been newly developed and steps (4) and (8) added to enhance sensitivity for detecting tracer extravasation. The degree of extravasation in a cortical field at a given time point [E(f) value] was calculated as the mean intensity of the remaining pixels. TheE(f) is a quantitative value computed by a fully automatised procedure which takes into account the number, as well as the size and intensity, of extravasation areas in a given cortical field. TheE(f) values obtained at different times in a series of experiments were averaged to give theE(I) value. TheE(I) value did not alter when hypercapnia was employed to induce pure vasodilatation. On the other hand it increased dramatically, indicating tracer extravasation, during topical application of high concentrations of adenosine (10−5–10−3 M). The new computerised image analysis procedure may therefore be suitable for measuring quantitatively tracer extravasation over the blood-brain barrier in vivo under different experimental conditions. It may also be applicable to study changes of vascular permeability in peripheral vascular beds.
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  • 79
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    Cell & tissue research 277 (1994), S. 87-95 
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Key words: Blood-brain barrier ; Anionic sites ; Larvae ; Septate junctions ; CNS ; Glia ; Ultrastructure ; Drosophila melanogaster (Insecta)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract. The blood-brain barrier ensures brain function in vertebrates and in some invertebrates by maintaining ionic integrity of the extraneuronal bathing fluid. Recent studies have demonstrated that anionic sites on the luminal surface of vascular endothelial cells collaborate with tight junctions to effect this barrier in vertebrates. We characterize these two analogous barrier factors for the first time on Drosophila larva by an electron-dense tracer and cationic gold labeling. Ionic lanthanum entered into but not through the extracellular channels between perineurial cells. Tracer is ultimately excluded from neurons in the ventral ganglion mainly by an extensive series of (pleated sheet) septate junctions between perineurial cells. Continuous junctions, a variant of the septate junction, were not as efficient as the pleated sheet variety in blocking tracer. An anionic domain now is demonstrated in Drosophila central nervous system through the use of cationic colloidal gold in LR White embedment. Anionic domains are specifically stationed in the neural lamella and not noted in the other cell levels of the blood-brain interface. It is proposed that in the central nervous system of the Drosophila larva the array of septate junctions between perineurial cells is the physical barrier, while the anionic domains in neural lamella are a “charge-selective barrier” for cations. All of these results are discussed relative to analogous characteristics of the vertebrate blood-brain barrier.
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  • 80
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Key words: C-PON ; Neuropeptide Y ; Neostriatum ; Immunocytochemistry ; Ultrastructure ; Erinaceus europaeus (Insectivora)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract. The present study provides light- and electron-microscopic immunocytochemical data on the presence of neurons that are immunoreactive to the C-terminal flanking peptide of neuropeptide Y, C-PON, in the neostriatum of the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus). Positive neurons have mostly fusiform or round perikarya from which two to four poorly branched processes arise. Immunostained fibers and puncta are also evenly distributed throughout the neostriatum. Ultrastructurally, each neuron exhibits a deeply invaginated nucleus surrounded by abundant cytoplasm with a well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. Positive neurons receive symmetric and asymmetric synapses from unlabeled terminals. The results of this study can be correlated with previous findings, as the C-PON-positive neurons of the hedgehog resemble medium-sized neostriatal neurons that are known to be local circuit neurons exhibiting C-PON in the rat. Thus, a high degree of C-PON neuronal system phylogenetic conservation and function can be postulated for the neostriatum of mammals.
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  • 81
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    Cell & tissue research 277 (1994), S. 87-95 
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Blood-brain barrier ; Anionic sites ; Larvae ; Septate junctions ; CNS ; Glia ; Ultrastructure ; Drosophila melanogaster (Insecta)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The blood-brain barrier ensures brain function in vertebrates and in some invertebrates by maintaining ionic integrity of the extraneuronal bathing fluid. Recent studies have demonstrated that anionic sites on the luminal surface of vascular endothelial cells collaborate with tight junctions to effect this barrier in vertebrates. We characterize these two analogous barrier factors for the first time on Drosophila larva by an electron-dense tracer and cationic gold labeling. Ionic lanthanum entered into but not through the extracellular channels between perineurial cells. Tracer is ultimately excluded from neurons in the ventral ganglion mainly by an extensive series of (pleated sheet) septate junctions between perineurial cells. Continuous junctions, a variant of the septate junction, were not as efficient as the pleated sheet variety in blocking tracer. An anionic domain now is demonstrated in Drosophila central nervous system through the use of cationic colloidal gold in LR White embedment. Anionic domains are specifically stationed in the neural lamella and not noted in the other cell levels of the blood-brain interface. It is proposed that in the central nervous system of the Drosophila larva the array of septate junctions between perineurial cells is the physical barrier, while the anionic domains in neural lamella are a “charge-selective barrier” for cations. All of these results are discussed relative to analogous characteristics of the vertebrate blood-brain barrier.
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  • 82
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Odontoclasts ; Resorption ; Predentine ; Ultrastructure ; Histochemistry ; TR-ACPase (tartrateresistant acid phosphatase) ; Deciduous teeth ; Shedding ; Human
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Resorption by odontoclasts of a superficial nonmineralized layer of predentine that occurs in prior to the shedding of human deciduous teeth was studied by light and electron microscopy. As resorption of the tooth roots neared completion, multinucleate cells appeared on the predentine surface of the coronal dentine between the degenerated odontoblasts, excavated characteristic resorption lacunae in the nonmineralized predentine. These multinucleate cells had the same ultrastructural characteristics as odontoclasts and histochemical demonstration of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase activity in the multinucleate cells revealed intense staining in numerous small granules identified as lysosomes. Occasionally, the multinucleate cells simultaneously resorbed both nonmineralized and calcospherite-mineralized matrix in the predentine. The study demonstrates that multinucleate odontoclasts can resorb nonmineralized predentine matrix in vivo, probably in the same way as they resorb demineralized organic matrix in the resorption zone underlying their ruffled border.
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  • 83
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: C-PON ; Neuropeptide Y ; Neostriatum ; Immunocytochemistry ; Ultrastructure ; Erinaceus europaeus (Insectivora)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The present study provides light- and electronmicroscopic immunocytochemical data on the presence of neurons that are immunoreactive to the C-terminal flanking peptide of neuropeptide Y, C-PON, in the neostriatum of the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus). Positive neurons have mostly fusiform or round perikarya from which two to four poorly branched processes arise. Immunostained fibers and puncta are also evenly distributed throughout the neostriatum. Ultrastructurally, each neuron exhibits a deeply invaginated nucleus surrounded by abundant cytoplasm with a well-developed rought endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. Positive neurons receive symmetric and asymmetric synapses from unlabeled terminals. The results of this study can be correlated with previous findings, as the C-PON-positive neurons of the hedgehog resemble medium-sized neostriatal neurons that are known to be local circuit neurons exhibiting C-PON in the rat. Thus, a high degree of C-PON neuronal system phylogenetic conservation and function can be postulated for the neostriatum of mammals.
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  • 84
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Sarcolemma ; Surface tubules ; Smooth muscle ; Endothelial cells ; Fibroblasts ; Ultrastructure ; Lamprey, Lampetra japonica (Cyclostomata)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract Numerous tubular structures were observed in the surface region of smooth muscle cells making up the vascular walls in the lamprey, Lampetra japonica; they were designated as surface tubules. The limiting membrane of the surface tubules was connected to the plasma membrane, allowing communication of the lumen of the tubule with the extracellular space. Tannic acid reacted with osmium, serving as an extracellular marker, penetrated into the tubules but not into the intracellular organelles, such as the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi complex. The surface tubules were grouped in longitudinal parallel rows, separated from each other by tubule-free areas where dense plaques were present. Each tubule was fairly cylindrical (approximately 60 nm in diameter) and often ramified into two or three branches with a blind end. Occasionally, these tubules were encircled by the sarcoplasmic reticulum which was located immediately beneath the plasma membrane. Similar tubules were also observed in the surface region of vascular endothelial cells and fibroblasts in the adventitial connective tissue. The possibility that the surface tubules in the present observations are analogous to the smooth muscle caveolae or the striated muscle T-tubule is discussed.
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  • 85
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Substance P ; Immunocytochemistry ; Ciliary ganglion ; Monkey, Macaca fascicularis (Primates) ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The present study describes substance P-like immunoreactivity in the ciliary ganglia of monkey (Macaca fascicularis) and cat. About 60% of neurons in the monkey ciliary ganglion and 40% in the cat ciliary ganglion were substance P-like immunoreactive, ranging from faint to moderate staining. Substance P-like immunoreactivity was located in cell bodies, dendritic profiles and axons. In the monkey, substance P-like immunoreactive pericellular arborisations were associated with about 0.5%–3% of the ganglion cells, which were either negatively, faintly or moderately stained. An electron-microscopic study demonstrated the presence of either substance P-like immunoreactive positive or negative axon terminals synapsing or closely associated with positive dendritic profiles in both the monkey and cat ciliary ganglia. The results suggest that substance P plays an important role in the ciliary ganglion, perhaps as a modulator or transmitter.
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  • 86
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Pineal gland ; Innervation ; Neuropeptide Y ; Ganglionectomy ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract An immunohistochemical study of the cat pineal gland was performed using a rabbit polyclonal antibody directed against neuropeptide Y (NPY) and an antibody directed against the C-terminal flanking peptide of neuropeptide Y (CPON). Numerous NPY- and CPON-immunoreactive (IR) nerve fibers were demonstrated throughout the gland and in the pineal capsule. The number of IR nerve fibers in the capsule was high and from this location fibers were observed to penetrate into the gland proper via the pineal connective tissue septa, often following the blood vessels. From the connective tissue septa IR fibers intruded into the parenchyma between the pinealocytes. Many IR nerve fibers were observed in the pineal stalk and in the habenular as well as the posterior commissural areas. The number of NPY/CPON-IR nerve fibers in pineal glands from animals bilaterally ganglionectomized two weeks before sacrifice was low. The source of most of the extrasympathetic NPY/CPONergic nerve fibers is probably the brain from where they enter the pineal via the pineal stalk. However, an origin of some of the fibers from parasympathetic ganglia cannot be excluded due to the presence of a few IR fibers in the pineal capsule of ganglionectomized animals. It is concluded that the cat pineal is richly innervated with NPYergic nerve fibers mostly of sympathetic origin. The posttranslational processing of the NPY promolecule results in the presence of both NPY and CPON in intrapineal nerve fibers.
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  • 87
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Glucagon-like peptide 1 ; Endocrine tumors ; Immunohistochemistry ; Ultrastructure ; Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 ; Co-localization ; Man
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The preproglucagon gene encodes, in addition to glucagon, two smaller peptides with structural similarity: glucagon-like peptides 1 and 2. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) 7–36 amide is the most powerful incretin candidate. In the present study, GLP-1 immunoreactivity was investigated in tissue specimens of various types of gastroenteropancreatic tumors, and the serum-levels of GLP-1 were assayed. Immunohistochemical staining of 88 tumors revealed GLP-1 immunoreactivity in 17 neoplasias (19.3 %), viz., in 7 out of 33 non-functioning tumors, 4 out of 20 gastrinomas, 4 out of 13 insulinomas, 1 out of 3 vasoactive-intestinal-polypeptide (VIP)omas and 1 adrenocorticotropic-hormone (ACTH)-producing tumor. In these tumors, GLP-1-immunoreactive cells were distributed either diffusely, arranged in clusters, or as single cells. All GLP-1-positive tumors were immunoreactive for glucagon or glicentin, 10 tumors were immunoreactive for pancreatic polypeptide, and 8 tumors for insulin. Ultrastructural analysis of 8 GLP-1-positive tumors, with the immunogold technique, demonstrated GLP-1 immunoreactivity mainly in cells resembling the A-cells of the pancreas or the L-cells of the gut. Of the 17 GLP-1-immunoreactive tumors, 15 were primarily located in the pancreas. Additionally, 2 non-functioning tumors of the rectum were GLP-1 immunoreactive. Five tumors were GLP-1 immunoreactive from 9 patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia I syndrome. Patients with GLP-1-immunoreactive tumors were characterized by a significantly lower rate of distant metastases (P〈0.01) and a higher rate of curative resections (P〈0.05). In 2 out of 22 patients, elevated serum-levels of GLP-1 were found: one patient with a vasoactive-intestinal-polypeptide (VIP)oma and 1 patient with a non-functioning tumor. This indicates that GLP-1 might be secreted at least by a few gastroenteropancreatic endocrine tumors.
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  • 88
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Abdominal nerve neurohaemal area ; FMRFamide ; Immunogold-labelling ; Serotonin ; Ultrastructure ; Rhodnius prolixus (Insecta)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The ultrastructure of neurohaemal areas on abdominal nerves of the blood-sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus was investigated. Four types of axon terminals were found, distinguished by the morphology of their neurosecretory granules. By use of post-embedding immunogold labelling, granules in Type I axon terminals were shown to contain serotonin-like immunoreactive material, and granules in Type II axon terminals were shown to contain FMRFamide-like immunoreactive material. There was no colocalization of these materials. It is suggested that Type III terminals contain peptidergic diuretic hormone, which has previously been reported to be present in electron-dense neurosecretory granules in this neurohaemal area. The identity of material in Type IV terminals is unknown.
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  • 89
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Key words: Abdominal nerve neurohaemal area ; FMRFamide ; Immunogold-labelling ; Serotonin ; Ultrastructure ; Rhodnius prolixus (Insecta)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract. The ultrastructure of neurohaemal areas on abdominal nerves of the blood-sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus was investigated. Four types of axon terminals were found, distinguished by the morphology of their neurosecretory granules. By use of post-embedding immunogold labelling, granules in Type I axon terminals were shown to contain serotonin-like immunoreactive material, and granules in Type II axon terminals were shown to contain FMRFamide-like immunoreactive material. There was no colocalization of these materials. It is suggested that Type III terminals contain peptidergic diuretic hormone, which has previously been reported to be present in electron-dense neurosecretory granules in this neurohaemal area. The identity of material in Type IV terminals is unknown.
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  • 90
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Key words: Gene expression ; Hereditary retinal degeneration ; Interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) ; Rod-cone degeneration ; Opsin ; Cat ; Abyssinian
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract. Levels of interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) protein and message in retinas of Abyssinian cats homozygous for progressive rod-cone degeneration were determined at early ages, well before the onset of clinical retinal degeneration. IRBP gene expression was assessed by immunochemical quantitation of IRBP protein, and by Northern blotting and slot-blotting of total RNA using a human IRBP cDNA probe. Morphology was assessed by electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry. Levels of both IRBP protein and message in affected Abyssinian cat retinas were significantly reduced below normal as early as 4 weeks of age at the earliest stage of retinal disorientation. Opsin mRNA was more abundant in affected Abyssininian cat retinas than in control retinas. This was at least 1 year before the onset of clinical symptoms. The reduction in IRBP gene expression to levels significantly below normal well before the onset of retinal degeneration in affected Abyssinian cat retinas indicates that this represents a primary defect or at least an early problem that could itself cause adverse effects.
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  • 91
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Key words: Nitric oxide ; NADPH-diaphorase ; Lateral collateral pathway ; Sympathetic autonomic nucleus ; Neuronal nitric oxide synthase ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract. The distributions of neuronal nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity (NOS-IR) and NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-d) activity were compared in the cat spinal cord. NOS-IR in neurons around the central canal, in superficial laminae (I and II) of the dorsal horn, in the dorsal commissure, and in fibers in the superficial dorsal horn was observed at all levels of the spinal cord. In these regions, NOS-IR paralleled NADPH-d activity. The sympathetic autonomic nucleus in the rostral lumbar and thoracic segments exhibited prominent NOS-IR and NADPH-d activity, whereas the parasympathetic nucleus in the sacral segments did not exhibit NOS-IR or NADPH-d activity. Within the region of the sympathetic autonomic nucleus, fewer NOS-IR cells were identified compared with NADPH-d cells. The most prominent NADPH-d activity in the sacral segments occurred in fibers within and extending from Lissauer's tract in laminae I and V along the lateral edge of the dorsal horn to the region of the sacral parasympathetic nucleus. These afferent projections did not exhibit NOS-IR; however, NOS-IR and NADPH-d activity were demonstrated in dorsal root ganglion cells (L7-S2). The results of this study demonstrate that NADPH-d activity is not always a specific histochemical marker for NO-containing neural structures.
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  • 92
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Cell & tissue research 275 (1994), S. 339-344 
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Secretory granules ; Golgi apparatus ; Haloperidol ; Ultrastructure ; Pituitary gland, pars intermedia ; Rat (Sprague Dawley)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The formation of secretory granules in chronically hypersecretory melanotrophs in the rat pituitary was studied. Hypersecretion was induced by treatment with the dopamine antagonist haloperidol (1.5 mg/kg daily for 7 days), which releases the normal neural dopaminergic inhibition of secretion from the melanotroph. Morphometric analysis showed a 100% increase in the volume fraction of granular endoplasmic reticulum after haloperidol treatment, while the volume fractions of electron-dense granules, electron-lucent granules and the Golgi apparatus were unaltered. The mean diameter of the mature secretory granules was increased by 10%, indicating a 30% increase in mean granule volume. A similar increase in diameter was observed in condensing granules within the Golgi area. With earlier results on the effect of chronic inhibition the study shows that a main adaptive response of the melanotroph to altered secretory conditions is a change in the volume of the secretory granules, regulated by a mechanism that operates at an early stage of granule formation.
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  • 93
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Cell & tissue research 275 (1994), S. 481-492 
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Skin ; Ultrastructure ; Endogenous peroxidase ; Water acidification ; Cyprinus carpio (Teleostei)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The skin of carp was examined after exposure to acidified water. Degenerative cells were common in the upper epidermal layers. During the first days most of these cells exhibited signs of necrosis. Later on the incidence of necrosis decreased and that of apoptosis increased. In the acid-exposed fish, the upper filament cells and pavement cells produced secretory vesicles of high electron density, some of which showed peroxidase activity. This enzyme activity was also present in the glycocalyx covering these cells, and in the cytoplasm of apoptotic cells. Mitotic figures and newly differentiating mucous cells were common in the outer epidermal layers. Mucous cells became elongated and produced mucosomes of high electron density. Mucosomes with peroxidase activity were also found. Club cells increased in number. Chloride cells and solitary chemo-sensory cells, not seen in the controls, appeared in the upper epithelial layer. The skin was invaded by many leucocytes and by pigment-containing cytoplasmic extensions of melanocytes. Some leucocytes apparently penetrated into the club cells. These structural observations reflect the complexity of the physiological response of the skin to acid water.
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  • 94
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Mitochondria ; Free nerve ending ; Nociceptors ; Knee joint ; Aδ-fibre ; C-fibre ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The distribution of mitochondria, their content and concentration (expressed as the ratio of the mean volume of mitochondria and the surface of the sensory axon) were determined in group-III and-IV nerve fibres innervating the knee joint capsule in the cat. Mitochondria mainly accumulated in axonal swellings (“beads”) and end bulbs of the terminal branches. Between single nerve fibres, marked differences in the content and the concentration of mitochondria were obtained in proximal portions (inside of the perineurium) and in distal portions (unmyelinated sensory endings). In group-III nerve fibres, the mitochondrial concentration ranged from 0.005 to 0.030 μm3/μm2 (proximal portion) and from 0.016 to 0.080 μm3/μm2 (distal portion). In unmyelinated group-IV nerve fibres, the values also showed a broad variation ranging from 0.001 to 0.011 μm3/μm2 (proximal portion) and from 0.003 to 0.019 μm3/μm2 (distal portion). The wide range of mitochondrial concentrations may reflect different energy consumption during receptive processes: nerve fibres with a low mechanical threshold and a high probability of excitatory events may be rich in mitochondria, whereas fibres with a high mechanical threshold and a low probability of excitatory events may be poor in mitochondria.
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  • 95
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Comb cell ; Growth cone ; Motility ; Substrate ; Basement membrane ; Ultrastructure ; Hirudo medicinalis (Annelida)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The oblique muscle organizer (Comb- or C-cell) in the embryonic medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, provides an amenable situation to examine growth cone navigation in vivo. Each of the segmentally iterated C-cells extends an array of growth cones through the body wall along oblique trajectories. C-cell growth cones undergo an early, relatively slow period of extension followed by later, protracted and rapid directed outgrowth. During such transitions in extension, guidance might be mediated by a number of factors, including intrinsic constraints on polarity, spatially and temporally regulated cell and matrix interactions, physical constraints imposed by the environment, or guidance along particular cells in advance of the growth cones. Growth cones and their environment were examined by transmission electron microscopy to define those factors that might play a significant role in migration and guidance in this system. The ultrastructural examination has made the possibility very unlikely that simple, physical constraints play a prominent role in guiding C-cell growth cones. No anatomically defined paths or obliquely aligned channels were found in advance of these growth cones, and there were no identifiable physical boundaries, which might constrain young growth cones to a particular location in the body wall before rapid extension. There were diverse associations with many matrices and basement membranes located above, below, and within the layer in which growth cones appear to extend at the light level. Additionally, a preliminary examination of myocyte assembly upon processes proximal to the growth cones further implicates a role for matrix-associated interactions in muscle histogenesis as well as process outgrowth during embryonic development.
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  • 96
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Endocrine pancreas ; Ontogeny ; Ultrastructure ; Dicentrarchus labrax (Teleostei)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The primordial cord and the primitive, single and primordial islets present in the 3 earliest stages of the developing endocrine pancreas of sea bass were studied ultrastructurally. The primordial cord consisted of type I and II cells and was included in the gut. Besides these cell types, X cells were seen in the primitive islet. The single islet was made up of type I, II, III and IV cells. A correlation between these endocrine cell-types and cells previously identified immunocytochemically, was established. Type I, II, III and IV cells, correlated respectively with SST-25-, insulin-, SST-14- and glucagon-immunoreactive cells, and could be related to the D1, B, D2 and A cells, respectively, of older larvae and adult sea bass. Each cell type shows characteristic secretory granules from its first appearance. A progressive development of the organelles and an increase in the number and size of the secretory granules, whose ultrastructure also varied, was observed in the endocrine cells of the primordial cord and the succeeding islets. In 25-day-old larvae at the beginning of the fourth developmental stage, the primordial islet, the first ventral islet found, was close to a pancreatic duct and blood vessel, and consisted of type I and II cells whose ultrastructure was similar to that of the type I and II cells in the primordial cord. These data suggest a ductular origin for the pancreatic endocrine cells in the ventral pancreas. It is suggested that although endocrine cells undergo mitosis, their increase in number during the earliest development stages is principally due to the differentiation of surrounding cells.
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  • 97
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Endocrine pancreas ; Ontogeny ; Ultrastructure ; Dicentrarchus labrax (Teleostei)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The big and secondary islets of sea bass larvae were characterized ultrastructurally from, 25 to 60 days after hatching. From the 25th day, big islets consisted of inner type II and III, external type I and peripheral type IV cells. From the 55th day, type V cells appeared in limited peripheral areas. Secondary islets, first found in 32-day-old larvae, were made up of inner type II and III, external type I, and peripheral either type IV and V cells (type I islets), or only type V cells (type II islets). Type I cells contained secretory granules with a fine granular, low-medium electron-dense material, whereas the secretory granules of type II cells were smaller and had a high electron-dense core with diffused limits; needle and rod-like crystalloid contents were occasionally found. Type III secretory granules posessed a homogeneous, high or medium electron-dense material with or without a clear halo. Type IV cells had secretory granules with a polygonal dense core embedded in a granular matrix and granules containing a high or medium electron-dense material. Type V cells had secretory granules with a fine granular, high or medium electron-dense content. These cell-types correlated with cells previously identified immuno-cytochemically, as regards to their distribution in the islets, and related to those characterized ultrastructurally in adult specimens. Thus, types I, II, III, IV and V correspond to D1, B, D2, A and PP cells, respectively. From the 32nd day onwards, endocrine cells of all the different types were found grouped, type V cells also being observed in isolation close to pancreatic ducts and/or blood vessels. Small groups consisting of type I and II cells were found in 40-day-old larvae. A mitotic centroacinar ductular cell containing some secretory granules similar to those of type I cells, was seen adjacent to a type I cell. As the larvae grew older, the endoplasmic reticulum developed, the number of free ribosomes decreased, and the number and size of the secretory granules increased. Dark type I, II, III, IV and V cells were found in the islets and cell clusters from the 55th day onwards.
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  • 98
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Platelets ; Storage ; Ultrastructure ; Freeze fracture ; Transmission electron microscopy ; Human
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract We report the ultrastructural changes occurring in human platelets during eight days of storage. Extension of pseudopodia is frequently observed, but a concentration of organelles in the centre of the platelets is found only in a minor fraction (∼5%). Striking changes can be observed in both the granules and the open canalicular system. In fresh platelets, the latter often has the form of stacked membranes that have no lumen, but these membranes separate and spread with increasing storage time. However, the openings of this system on the outer surface of the platelet remain unchanged. Some of these features differ from the morphological description of platelets activated by thrombin or ADP, and suggest that the storage lesion is the result of a prolonged weak activation that leads to an incomplete release reaction within the first five days.
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  • 99
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Nitric oxide ; NADPH-diaphorase ; Lateral collateral pathway ; Sympathetic autonomic nucleus ; Neuronal nitric oxide synthase ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The distributions of neuronal nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity (NOS-IR) and NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-d) activity were compared in the cat spinal cord. NOS-IR in neurons around the central canal, in superficial laminae (I and II) of the dorsal horn, in the dorsal commissure, and in fibers in the superficial dorsal horn was observed at all levels of the spinal cord. In these regions, NOS-IR paralleled NADPH-d activity. The sympathetic autonomic nucleus in the rostral lumbar and thoracic segments exhibited prominent NOS-IR and NADPH-d activity, whereas the parasympathetic nucleus in the sacral segments did not exhibit NOS-IR or NADPH-d activity. Within the region of the sympathetic autonomic nucleus, fewer NOS-IR cells were identified compared with NADPH-d cells. The most prominent NADPH-d activity in the sacral segments occurred in fibers within and extending from Lissauer's tract in laminae I and V along the lateral edge of the dorsal horn to the region of the sacral parasympathetic nucleus. These afferent projections did not exhibit NOS-IR; however, NOS-IR and NADPH-d activity were demonstrated in dorsal root ganglion cells (L7-S2). The results of this study demonstrate that NADPH-d activity is not always a specific histochemical marker for NO-containing neural structures.
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  • 100
    ISSN: 1432-0878
    Keywords: Yolk sac ; Tubular endosomes ; Smooth endoplasmic reticulum ; Ultrastructure ; Endocytosis ; Rat (Wistar)
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology , Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The three-dimensional architecture of the tubular endocytic apparatus and the endoplasmic reticulum in the rat yolk-sac endoderm was investigated after loading with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated concanavalin A by intrauterine administration. After 30 min, small vesicles (50–150 nm in diameter), small tubules (80–100 nm in diameter) and large vacuoles (0.2–1.0 μm in diameter) in the apical cytoplasm were labeled with the tracer, but lysosomes (1.0–3.5 μm in diameter) in the supranuclear cytoplasm were not labeled until 60 min after loading. Stereo-viewing of the labeled small tubules in thick sections revealed that they were not isolated structures but formed three-dimensional anastomosing networks, which were also confirmed by scanning electron microscopy after maceration with diluted osmium tetroxide. Their earlier labeling with the endocytic tracer, localization in the apical cytoplasm and three-dimensional network formation indicated that the labeled small tubules represented tubular endosomes (tubular endocytic apparatus). These well-developed membranous networks provided by the tubular endosomes are suggested to facilitate the receptor-mediated endocytosis and transcytosis of the maternal immunoglobulin in the rat yolk-sac endoderm. Scanning electron microscopy further revealed lace-like networks of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum near the lateral plasma membrane. Their possible involvement in transport of small molecules or electrolytes is discussed.
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