320 research outputs found
Atti del 1° Simposio AISAL : La sperimentazione animale in Italia e in Europa : verso un futuro comune
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Cultures of skin fragments of Salamandra salamandra salamandra (L.) larvae
No full textAs part of a study on the pigmentary system of Salamandra salamandra salamandra (L.), we cultured skin fragments of 7-10-day-old larvae in order to examine the expression of molecules implicated in cellular adhesion and migration and in regulating cell-cell relationships. Keratinocytes, fibroblasts, Leydig cells, xanthophores, and melanophores migrated from the fragments and were observed in the outgrowth. Keratinocytes and fibroblasts organized into an epidermal layer and an underlying dermal portion. The chromatophores were always located below the epithelial cells, often with fibroblasts. We examined by immunocytochemistry the expression of fibronectin, beta(1)-integrin, L-CAM, and A-CAM in the cultures. Many keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and Leydig cells expressed all the signal molecules tested. Xanthophores and melanophores were only immunoreactive to the anti-adhesion molecules antisera. Since the molecules tested are known to play a role in cell adhesion, growth, and spreading, as well as in regulating tissue differentiation and in maintaining normal tissue morphology, we may hypothesize that in Salamandra salamandra salamandra fibronectin, beta 1-integrin, L-, and A-CAMs concertedly act to stabilize the architecture of the outgrowth and regulate the relationships between chromatophores and those between chromatophores and the other elements of the skin culture
Reorganization of Visual Callosal Connections Following Alterations of Retinal Input and Brain Damage
No full textVision is a very important sensory modality in humans. Visual disorders are numerous and arising from diverse and complex causes. Deficits in visual function are highly disabling from a social point of view and in addition cause a considerable economic burden. For all these reasons there is an intense effort by the scientific community to gather knowledge on visual deficit mechanisms and to find possible new strategies for recovery and treatment. In this review we focus on an important and sometimes neglected player of the visual function, the corpus callosum (CC). The CC is the major white matter structure in the brain and is involved in information processing between the two hemispheres. In particular, visual callosal connections interconnect homologous areas of visual cortices, binding together the two halves of the visual field. This interhemispheric communication plays a significant role in visual cortical output. Here, we will first review essential literature on the physiology of the callosal connections in normal vision. The available data support the view that the callosum contributes to both excitation and inhibition to the target hemisphere, with a dynamic adaptation to the strength of the incoming visual input. Next, we will focus on data showing how callosal connections may sense visual alterations and respond to the classical paradigm for the study of visual plasticity, i.e. monocular deprivation. This is a prototypical example of a model for the study of callosal plasticity in pathological conditions (e.g. strabismus and amblyopia) characterized by unbalanced input from the two eyes. We will also discuss findings of callosal alterations in blind subjects. Noteworthy, we will discuss data showing that inter-hemispheric transfer mediates recovery of visual responsiveness following cortical damage. Finally, we will provide an overview of how callosal projections dysfunction could contribute to pathologies such as neglect and occipital epilepsy. A particular focus will be on reviewing noninvasive brain stimulation techniques and optogenetic approaches that allow to selectively manipulate callosal function and to probe its involvement in cortical processing and plasticity. Overall, the data indicate that experience can potently impact on transcallosal connectivity, and that the callosum itself is crucial for plasticit
Use trend and attitude of young people towards food supplements: comparison between surveys performed in 2011 and 2021
No full textCallosal contribution to ocular dominance in rat primary visual cortex
No full textOcular dominance (OD) plasticity triggered by monocular eyelid suture is a classic paradigm for studying experience-dependent changes in neural connectivity. Recently, rodents have become the most popular model for studies of OD plasticity. It is therefore important to determine how OD is determined in the rodent primary visual cortex. In particular, cortical cells receive considerable inputs from the contralateral hemisphere via callosal axons, but the role of these connections in controlling eye preference remains controversial. Here we have examined the role of callosal connections in binocularity of the visual cortex in naïve young rats. We recorded cortical responses evoked by stimulation of each eye before and after acute silencing, via stereotaxic tetrodotoxin (TTX) injection, of the lateral geniculate nucleus ipsilateral to the recording site. This protocol allowed us to isolate visual responses transmitted via the corpus callosum. Cortical binocularity was assessed by visual evoked potential (VEP) and single-unit recordings. We found that acute silencing of afferent geniculocortical input produced a very significant reduction in the contralateral-to-ipsilateral (C/I) VEP ratio, and a marked shift towards the ipsilateral eye in the OD distribution of cortical cells. Analysis of absolute strength of each eye indicated a dramatic decrease in contralateral eye responses following TTX, while those of the ipsilateral eye were reduced but maintained a more evident input. We conclude that callosal connections contribute to normal OD mainly by carrying visual input from the ipsilateral eye. These data have important implications for the interpretation of OD plasticity following alterations of visual experience
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