Neuroscience
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GABA is thought to function as a paracrine factor in adrenal medullary (AM) cells. Thus, we electrophysiologically and immunologically examined the properties of GABAA receptors (GABAARs) in guinea-pig AM cells. Bath application of GABA produced an inward current at -60 mV in a dose-dependent manner with an EC50 of 32.3 μM. ⋯ The GABAAR α3, but not α1, and γ2 subunits were immunologically detected at the cell periphery. The expression of α3 subunits in PC12 cells was enhanced by glucocorticoid activity. The results indicated that GABAARs in guinea-pig AM cells mainly comprise α3, β, and γ2 subunits and are enhanced by allopreganalone and glucocorticoids may play a major role in the expression of α3 subunits.
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The olfacto-retinal centrifugal system, a constant component of the central nervous system that appears to exist in all vertebrate groups, is part of the terminal nerve (TN) complex. TN allows the integration of different sensory modalities, and its anatomic variability may have functional and evolutionary significance. We propose that the olfacto-retinal branch of TN is an important anatomical link that allows the functional interaction between olfactory and visual systems in Austrolebias. ⋯ In this last region, the most rostral group is constituted by monopolar pear-shaped neurons and may belong to the septo-preoptic TN complex. The second group, putatively located in the pretectal region, is formed by pseudounipolar neurons and coincides with a conserved vertebrate nucleus of the centrifugal retinal system not involved in the TN complex. The found that connections between the olfactory and visual systems via the olfacto-retinal TN branch suggest an early interaction between these sensory modalities, and contribute to the identification of their currently unknown circuital organization.
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Intake of a Western diet (WD), which is high in saturated fat and sugar, is associated with deficits in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory processes as well as with markers of hippocampal pathology. In the present study, rats were trained to asymptote on hippocampal-dependent serial feature negative (FN) and hippocampal-independent simple discrimination problems. Performance was then assessed following 7 days on ad libitum chow and after 10, 24, 40, 60, and 90 days of maintenance on WD, on ketogenic (KETO) diet, which is high in saturated fat and low in sugar and other carbohydrates, or continued maintenance on chow (CHOW). ⋯ For rats fed the KETO diet, FN performance and BBB integrity were more closely associated with level of circulating ketone bodies than with obesity phenotype (DR or DIO), with higher levels of ketones appearing to provide a protective effect. The evidence also indicated that FN deficits preceded and predicted increased body weight and adiposity. This research (a) further substantiates previous findings of WD-induced deficits in hippocampal-dependent FN discriminations, (b) suggests that ketones may be protective against diet-induced cognitive impairment, and (c) provides evidence that diet-induced cognitive impairment precedes weight gain and obesity.
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Three-dimensional changes in the angular orientation of the head were monitored during galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) delivered through electrodes implanted bilaterally in the tensor tympani muscle of the guinea-pig middle ear. Bilateral GVS was delivered by passing current between both ears with the anode situated in one ear and the cathode in the other ear. Unilateral GVS was also delivered between one ear and an indifferent electrode on the skull. ⋯ Significant asymmetries were observed in the responses of YHT and RHT for unilateral anodal and cathodal GVS; unilateral cathodal stimulation generated greater head deviation compared with the same intensity of unilateral anodal stimulation. These asymmetric responses are consistent with activation of irregularly discharging afferents, which have been shown previously to exhibit asymmetric responses for anodal and cathodal GVS (Kim and Curthoys, 2004). Together with the observations of previous guinea-pig studies, the results suggest that head movements induced by GVS may be mediated by irregularly discharging afferents innervating the otoliths, and possibly the horizontal semicircular canals.
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We have previously shown that chloride ion flux plays an important role in receptor tyrosine kinase A (TrkA)-mediated signaling pathway during nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced differentiation in pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. Here we found out that chloride channel 4 (CLC-4) is responsible for the NGF-induced neurite outgrowth in neuronal cells. ⋯ Moreover, CLC-4 knock down also suppressed the neurite outgrowth in response to long-term treatment of NGF in PC12 cells and in primary cortical neurons. In summary, our results suggest that CLC-4 is an important mediator of the TrkA-mediated signaling pathway and thus, the NGF-induced differentiation of neuronal cells.