Chapter 2 Development of sympathetic neurons: neurotransmitter plasticity and differentiation factors

1994 ◽  
pp. 19-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Story C. Landis
Keyword(s):  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Differentiation Factors ◽  
Neurotransmitter Plasticity

The use of a tyrosine-hydroxylase cDNA probe to study the neurotransmitter plasticity of rat sympathetic neurons in culture

1987 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Raynaud ◽  
Nicole Faucon-Biguet ◽  
Simone Vidal ◽  
Jacques Mallet ◽  
Michel J. Weber
Keyword(s):  
Tyrosine Hydroxylase ◽  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Cdna Probe ◽  
Neurotransmitter Plasticity

scholarly journals Morphological and biochemical studies on the development of cholinergic properties in cultured sympathetic neurons. II. Dependence on postnatal age.

1980 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 692-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
M I Johnson ◽  
C D Ross ◽  
R P Bunge
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Vesicle ◽  
Neuronal Development ◽  
Specific Activity ◽  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
Old Rats ◽  
Cultured Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Neurotransmitter Plasticity

Superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons taken from perinatal rats and dissociated in culture develop cholinergic properties. This report examines this "plasticity" of neurotransmitter function with regard to its dependence on the stage of neuronal development. Explants of SCG from rats ranging in age from 2 d to adult were cultured, and the number of neurons surviving after 6 wk in culture was evaluated. The activities of choline acetyltransferase (ChAc) and DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) were assayed for each age group over time in culture, and the cytochemistry of the synaptic vesicle population was studied after norepinephrine loading and KMnO4 fixation. The specific activity of ChAc in all explants fell during the first 3--4 d in culture (secondary to degeneration of presynaptic terminals), with an increase during the next 30 d in explants from all age groups except in those from the 22-d-old and adult rats. The highest activity found after 1 mo in culture was in explants from 2-d-old rats (62.5 mmol per kg dry wt per h); the lowest was in explants from adults (1.3 nmol per kg dry wt per h). After 1 mo in vitro, there were no significant differences in DDC activity among explants from animals of any age (similar to approximately 220 mmol per kg dry wt per h). Co-culture of the SCG explants with heart muscle increased even further the ChAc activity in explants from 2-d-old rats but not in explants from 16-d-old and 6.5-wk-old animals. The cytochemistry of the synaptic vesicle population in 1-mo-old cultures correlated well with the ChAc activity; when the ChAc activity was high, the proportion of synaptic vesicles with clear centers was 71--88%. In explants from adult animals, only 12% of the vesicles contained clear centers. From these data we conclude that the maturity of the SCG neuron influences the degree to which it is able to adjust its neurotransmitter mechanisms. That the axons of this neuron are interacting with target tissues during the time that neurotransmitter plasticity is retained suggests that interaction with the target may play a role in the determination of transmitter type.

Cholinergic neuronal differentiation factors: evidence for the presence of both CNTF-like and non-CNTF-like factors in developing rat footpad

Development ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 689-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Rohrer
Keyword(s):  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Immunohistochemical Analysis ◽  
Sympathetic Neuron ◽  
Sweat Glands ◽  
Target Tissue ◽  
Differentiation Factors ◽  
Inducing Factors ◽  
Developing Rat ◽  
Transmitter Phenotype

Catecholaminergic sympathetic neurons are able to change their transmitter phenotype during development and to acquire cholinergic properties. Cholinergic sympathetic differentiation is only observed in fibers innervating specific targets like the sweat glands in the rat footpad. A function for ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in this process has been implied as it is able to induce cholinergic properties (ChAT, VIP) in cultured chick and rat neurons. We show here that a CNTF-like, VIP-inducing activity is present in rat footpads and that its increases 6-fold during the period of cholinergic sympathetic differentiation. Immunohistochemical analysis of P21 rat footpads demonstrated CNTF-like immunoreactivity in Schwann cells but not in sweat glands, the target tissue of cholinergic sympathetic neurons. The expression of this factor in footpads seems to be dependent on the presence of intact nerve axons, as nerve transection results in a loss of CNTF-like cholinergic activity and immunoreactivity. Immunoprecipitation experiments with rat footpad extracts provided evidence for the presence of ChAT-inducing factors other than CNTF, which may independently or together with CNTF be involved in the determination of sympathetic neuron phenotype.

Postnatal rat sympathetic neurons in culture. II. Synaptic transmission by postnatal neurons

1979 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1426-1436 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Wakshull ◽  
M. I. Johnson ◽  
H. Burton
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Synaptic Transmission ◽  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Preceding Paper ◽  
Blocking Agent ◽  
Culture Conditions ◽  
Cervical Ganglion ◽  
Dissociated Cell Culture ◽  
Ganglion Neurons ◽  
Neurotransmitter Plasticity

1. It was shown in the preceding paper that postnatally derived rat superior cervical ganglion neurons (SCGN) will grow in dissociated cell culture and form functional synaptic connections with each other. In this report, synaptic transmission by the postnatal SCGN is detailed. 2. Synaptic interactions between SCGN were blocked by the nicotinic cholinergic antagonist hexamathonium (C-6), indicating that acetylcholine was the transmitter substance used by these neurons. This was found to be the case even for neurons taken from 12.5-wk-old animals. 3. In a few cases, the beta-adrenergic blocking agent, propranolol, was found to block synaptic potentials, suggesting that a catecholamine might be involved in the transmission process. The possible mechanisms of this involvement are discussed. 4. SCGN taken from up to 10-wk-old rats were able to form functional synaptic contacts with cocultured skeletal muscle cells. These interactions were sensitive to low external Ca2+ and to 1--2 microM d-tubocurarine (d-TC). 5. It is concluded that even adult SCGN retain a certain amount of neurotransmitter "plasticity" when grown under appropriate culture conditions. From the data on the neuron-neuron and SCGN-skeletal muscle interactions, it is suggested that a matching of presynaptic transmitter with postsynaptic receptor is a sufficient condition for the formation of functional nerve-target interactions.

Unusual Intranuclear Structures in Chick Sympathetic Neurons

1967 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 188-189
Author(s):  
E. B. Masurovsky ◽  
H. H. Benitez ◽  
M. R. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Sympathetic Neurons ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
Sympathetic Ganglia ◽  
Lead Citrate ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Cns Neurons ◽  
Mammalian Cns

Recent light- and electron microscope studies concerned with the effects of D2O on the development of chick sympathetic ganglia in long-term, organized culture revealed the presence of rod-like fibrillar formations, and associated granulofibrillar bodies, in the nuclei of control and deuterated neurons. Similar fibrillar formations have been reported in the nuclei of certain mammalian CNS neurons; however, related granulofibrillar bodies have not been previously described. Both kinds of intranuclear structures are observed in cultures fixed either in veronal acetate-buffered 2%OsO4 (pH 7. 4), or in 3.5% glutaraldehyde followed by post-osmication. Thin sections from such Epon-embedded cultures were stained with ethanolic uranyl acetate and basic lead citrate for viewing in the electron microscope.

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