Long-lasting modulation of the induction of LTD and LTP in rat hippocampal CA1 by behavioural stress and environmental enrichment.

Behavioural experience (e.g. chronic stress, environmental enrichment) can have long-lasting effects on cognitive functions.

Calcium dynamics are altered in cortical neurons lacking the calmodulin-binding protein RC3.

RC3 is a neuronal calmodulin-binding protein and protein kinase C substrate that is thought to play an important regulatory role in synaptic transmission and neuronal plasticity. Two molecules known to regulate synaptic transmission and neuronal plasticity are Ca(2+) and calmodulin, and proposed mechanisms of RC3 action involve both molecules. However, physiological evidence for a role of RC3 in neuronal Ca(2+) dynamics is limited.

Expression in the placenta of neuronal markers for perinatal brain damage.

Determination of S-100 a and b and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in (cord) blood and amniotic fluid has been used to assess neonatal neuronal damage after compromising conditions. However, these proteins are not only found in nervous tissue, and their expression in placenta and umbilical cord has never been investigated. In this study, S-100 (a and b) and NSE expression in human cord and placental tissue was studied by immunohistochemical analysis.