scholarly journals Intracellular Properties of Deep-Layer Pyramidal Neurons in Frontal Eye Field of Macaque Monkeys

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Piette ◽  
Marie Vandecasteele ◽  
Clémentine Bosch-Bouju ◽  
Valérie Goubard ◽  
Vincent Paillé ◽  
...  

Although many details remain unknown, several positive statements can be made about the laminar distribution of primate frontal eye field (FEF) neurons with different physiological properties. Most certainly, pyramidal neurons in the deep layer of FEF that project to the brainstem carry movement and fixation signals but clear evidence also support that at least some deep-layer pyramidal neurons projecting to the superior colliculus carry visual responses. Thus, deep-layer neurons in FEF are functionally heterogeneous. Despite the useful functional distinctions between neuronal responses in vivo, the underlying existence of distinct cell types remain uncertain, mostly due to methodological limitations of extracellular recordings in awake behaving primates. To substantiate the functionally defined cell types encountered in the deep layer of FEF, we measured the biophysical properties of pyramidal neurons recorded intracellularly in brain slices issued from macaque monkey biopsies. Here, we found that biophysical properties recorded in vitro permit us to distinguish two main subtypes of regular-spiking neurons, with, respectively, low-resistance and low excitability vs. high-resistance and strong excitability. These results provide useful constraints for cognitive models of visual attention and saccade production by indicating that at least two distinct populations of deep-layer neurons exist.

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 1450-1460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Paré ◽  
Eric Shink ◽  
Hélène Gaudreau ◽  
Alain Destexhe ◽  
Eric J. Lang

Paré, Denis, Eric Shink, Hélène Gaudreau, Alain Destexhe, and Eric J. Lang. Impact of spontaneous synaptic activity on the resting properties of cat neocortical pyramidal neurons in vivo. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 1450–1460, 1998. The frequency of spontaneous synaptic events in vitro is probably lower than in vivo because of the reduced synaptic connectivity present in cortical slices and the lower temperature used during in vitro experiments. Because this reduction in background synaptic activity could modify the integrative properties of cortical neurons, we compared the impact of spontaneous synaptic events on the resting properties of intracellularly recorded pyramidal neurons in vivo and in vitro by blocking synaptic transmission with tetrodotoxin (TTX). The amount of synaptic activity was much lower in brain slices (at 34°C), as the standard deviation of the intracellular signal was 10–17 times lower in vitro than in vivo. Input resistances ( R ins) measured in vivo during relatively quiescent epochs (“control R ins”) could be reduced by up to 70% during periods of intense spontaneous activity. Further, the control R ins were increased by ∼30–70% after TTX application in vivo, approaching in vitro values. In contrast, TTX produced negligible R in changes in vitro (∼4%). These results indicate that, compared with the in vitro situation, the background synaptic activity present in intact networks dramatically reduces the electrical compactness of cortical neurons and modifies their integrative properties. The impact of the spontaneous synaptic bombardment should be taken into account when extrapolating in vitro findings to the intact brain.


eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie C Gantz ◽  
Maria M Ortiz ◽  
Andrew J Belilos ◽  
Khaled Moussawi

Ultrapotent chemogenetics, including the chloride-permeable inhibitory PSAM4-GlyR receptor, were recently proposed as a powerful strategy to selectively control neuronal activity in awake, behaving animals. We aimed to validate the inhibitory function of PSAM4-GlyR in dopamine D1 receptor-expressing medium spiny neurons (D1-MSNs) in the ventral striatum. Activation of PSAM4-GlyR with the uPSEM792 ligand enhanced rather than suppressed the activity of D1-MSNs in vivo as indicated by increased c-fos expression in D1-MSNs and in vitro as indicated by cell-attached recordings from D1-MSNs in mouse brain slices. Whole-cell recordings showed that activation of PSAM4-GlyR depolarized D1-MSNs, attenuated GABAergic inhibition, and shifted the reversal potential of PSAM4-GlyR current to more depolarized potentials, perpetuating the depolarizing effect of receptor activation. These data show that ‘inhibitory’ PSAM4-GlyR chemogenetics may activate certain cell types and highlight the pitfalls of utilizing chloride conductances to inhibit neurons.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (12) ◽  
pp. e1600889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung Woo Lee ◽  
Florian Fallegger ◽  
Bernard D. F. Casse ◽  
Shelley I. Fried

Neural prostheses that stimulate the neocortex have the potential to treat a wide range of neurological disorders. However, the efficacy of electrode-based implants remains limited, with persistent challenges that include an inability to create precise patterns of neural activity as well as difficulties in maintaining response consistency over time. These problems arise from fundamental limitations of electrodes as well as their susceptibility to implantation and have proven difficult to overcome. Magnetic stimulation can address many of these limitations, but coils small enough to be implanted into the cortex were not thought strong enough to activate neurons. We describe a new microcoil design and demonstrate its effectiveness for both activating cortical neurons and driving behavioral responses. The stimulation of cortical pyramidal neurons in brain slices in vitro was reliable and could be confined to spatially narrow regions (<60 μm). The spatially asymmetric fields arising from the coil helped to avoid the simultaneous activation of passing axons. In vivo implantation was safe and resulted in consistent and predictable behavioral responses. The high permeability of magnetic fields to biological substances may yield another important advantage because it suggests that encapsulation and other adverse effects of implantation will not diminish coil performance over time, as happens to electrodes. These findings suggest that a coil-based implant might be a useful alternative to existing electrode-based devices. The enhanced selectivity of microcoil-based magnetic stimulation will be especially useful for visual prostheses as well as for many brain-computer interface applications that require precise activation of the cortex.


Author(s):  
D.J.P. Ferguson ◽  
A.R. Berendt ◽  
J. Tansey ◽  
K. Marsh ◽  
C.I. Newbold

In human malaria, the most serious clinical manifestation is cerebral malaria (CM) due to infection with Plasmodium falciparum. The pathology of CM is thought to relate to the fact that red blood cells containing mature forms of the parasite (PRBC) cytoadhere or sequester to post capillary venules of various tissues including the brain. This in vivo phenomenon has been studied in vitro by examining the cytoadherence of PRBCs to various cell types and purified proteins. To date, three Ijiost receptor molecules have been identified; CD36, ICAM-1 and thrombospondin. The specific changes in the PRBC membrane which mediate cytoadherence are less well understood, but they include the sub-membranous deposition of electron-dense material resulting in surface deformations called knobs. Knobs were thought to be essential for cytoadherence, lput recent work has shown that certain knob-negative (K-) lines can cytoadhere. In the present study, we have used electron microscopy to re-examine the interactions between K+ PRBCs and both C32 amelanotic melanoma cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC).We confirm previous data demonstrating that C32 cells possess numerous microvilli which adhere to the PRBC, mainly via the knobs (Fig. 1). In contrast, the HUVEC were relatively smooth and the PRBCs appeared partially flattened onto the cell surface (Fig. 2). Furthermore, many of the PRBCs exhibited an invagination of the limiting membrane in the attachment zone, often containing a cytoplasmic process from the endothelial cell (Fig. 2).


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 246-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Termini ◽  
Enrique Boccardo

In vitro culture of primary or established cell lines is one of the leading techniques in many areas of basic biological research. The use of pure or highly enriched cultures of specific cell types obtained from different tissues and genetics backgrounds has greatly contributed to our current understanding of normal and pathological cellular processes. Cells in culture are easily propagated generating an almost endless source of material for experimentation. Besides, they can be manipulated to achieve gene silencing, gene overexpression and genome editing turning possible the dissection of specific gene functions and signaling pathways. However, monolayer and suspension cultures of cells do not reproduce the cell type diversity, cell-cell contacts, cell-matrix interactions and differentiation pathways typical of the three-dimensional environment of tissues and organs from where they were originated. Therefore, different experimental animal models have been developed and applied to address these and other complex issues in vivo. However, these systems are costly and time consuming. Most importantly the use of animals in scientific research poses moral and ethical concerns facing a steadily increasing opposition from different sectors of the society. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of alternative in vitro experimental models that accurately reproduce the events observed in vivo to reduce the use of animals. Organotypic cultures combine the flexibility of traditional culture systems with the possibility of culturing different cell types in a 3D environment that reproduces both the structure and the physiology of the parental organ. Here we present a summarized description of the use of epithelial organotypic for the study of skin physiology, human papillomavirus biology and associated tumorigenesis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akihiro Yachie

Since Yachie et al. reported the first description of human heme oxygenase (HO)-1 deficiency more than 20 years ago, few additional human cases have been reported in the literature. A detailed analysis of the first human case of HO-1 deficiency revealed that HO-1 is involved in the protection of multiple tissues and organs from oxidative stress and excessive inflammatory reactions, through the release of multiple molecules with anti-oxidative stress and anti-inflammatory functions. HO-1 production is induced in vivo within selected cell types, including renal tubular epithelium, hepatic Kupffer cells, vascular endothelium, and monocytes/macrophages, suggesting that HO-1 plays critical roles in these cells. In vivo and in vitro studies have indicated that impaired HO-1 production results in progressive monocyte dysfunction, unregulated macrophage activation and endothelial cell dysfunction, leading to catastrophic systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Data from reported human cases of HO-1 deficiency and numerous studies using animal models suggest that HO-1 plays critical roles in various clinical settings involving excessive oxidative stress and inflammation. In this regard, therapy to induce HO-1 production by pharmacological intervention represents a promising novel strategy to control inflammatory diseases.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Dasilva ◽  
Christian Brandt ◽  
Marc Alwin Gieselmann ◽  
Claudia Distler ◽  
Alexander Thiele

Abstract Top-down attention, controlled by frontal cortical areas, is a key component of cognitive operations. How different neurotransmitters and neuromodulators flexibly change the cellular and network interactions with attention demands remains poorly understood. While acetylcholine and dopamine are critically involved, glutamatergic receptors have been proposed to play important roles. To understand their contribution to attentional signals, we investigated how ionotropic glutamatergic receptors in the frontal eye field (FEF) of male macaques contribute to neuronal excitability and attentional control signals in different cell types. Broad-spiking and narrow-spiking cells both required N-methyl-D-aspartic acid and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor activation for normal excitability, thereby affecting ongoing or stimulus-driven activity. However, attentional control signals were not dependent on either glutamatergic receptor type in broad- or narrow-spiking cells. A further subdivision of cell types into different functional types using cluster-analysis based on spike waveforms and spiking characteristics did not change the conclusions. This can be explained by a model where local blockade of specific ionotropic receptors is compensated by cell embedding in large-scale networks. It sets the glutamatergic system apart from the cholinergic system in FEF and demonstrates that a reduction in excitability is not sufficient to induce a reduction in attentional control signals.


Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 630
Author(s):  
Huili Lyu ◽  
Cody M. Elkins ◽  
Jessica L. Pierce ◽  
C. Henrique Serezani ◽  
Daniel S. Perrien

Excess inflammation and canonical BMP receptor (BMPR) signaling are coinciding hallmarks of the early stages of injury-induced endochondral heterotopic ossification (EHO), especially in the rare genetic disease fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP). Multiple inflammatory signaling pathways can synergistically enhance BMP-induced Smad1/5/8 activity in multiple cell types, suggesting the importance of pathway crosstalk in EHO and FOP. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and IL-1 receptors mediate many of the earliest injury-induced inflammatory signals largely via MyD88-dependent pathways. Thus, the hypothesis that MyD88-dependent signaling is required for EHO was tested in vitro and in vivo using global or Pdgfrα-conditional deletion of MyD88 in FOP mice. As expected, IL-1β or LPS synergistically increased Activin A (ActA)-induced phosphorylation of Smad 1/5 in fibroadipoprogenitors (FAPs) expressing Alk2R206H. However, conditional deletion of MyD88 in Pdgfrα-positive cells of FOP mice did not significantly alter the amount of muscle injury-induced EHO. Even more surprisingly, injury-induced EHO was not significantly affected by global deletion of MyD88. These studies demonstrate that MyD88-dependent signaling is dispensable for injury-induced EHO in FOP mice.


Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Palaniselvam Kuppusamy ◽  
Dahye Kim ◽  
Ilavenil Soundharrajan ◽  
Inho Hwang ◽  
Ki Choon Choi

A co-culture system allows researchers to investigate the complex interactions between two cell types under various environments, such as those that promote differentiation and growth as well as those that mimic healthy and diseased states, in vitro. In this paper, we review the most common co-culture systems for myocytes and adipocytes. The in vitro techniques mimic the in vivo environment and are used to investigate the causal relationships between different cell lines. Here, we briefly discuss mono-culture and co-culture cell systems and their applicability to the study of communication between two or more cell types, including adipocytes and myocytes. Also, we provide details about the different types of co-culture systems and their applicability to the study of metabolic disease, drug development, and the role of secretory factors in cell signaling cascades. Therefore, this review provides details about the co-culture systems used to study the complex interactions between adipose and muscle cells in various environments, such as those that promote cell differentiation and growth and those used for drug development.


Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 884
Author(s):  
Marta Cherubini ◽  
Scott Erickson ◽  
Kristina Haase

Acting as the primary link between mother and fetus, the placenta is involved in regulating nutrient, oxygen, and waste exchange; thus, healthy placental development is crucial for a successful pregnancy. In line with the increasing demands of the fetus, the placenta evolves throughout pregnancy, making it a particularly difficult organ to study. Research into placental development and dysfunction poses a unique scientific challenge due to ethical constraints and the differences in morphology and function that exist between species. Recently, there have been increased efforts towards generating in vitro models of the human placenta. Advancements in the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), microfluidics, and bioprinting have each contributed to the development of new models, which can be designed to closely match physiological in vivo conditions. By including relevant placental cell types and control over the microenvironment, these new in vitro models promise to reveal clues to the pathogenesis of placental dysfunction and facilitate drug testing across the maternal–fetal interface. In this minireview, we aim to highlight current in vitro placental models and their applications in the study of disease and discuss future avenues for these in vitro models.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document