Chronic pharmacological blockade of the Na /Ca exchanger modulates the growth and development of the Purkinje cell dendritic arbor in mouse cerebellar slice cultures.

The Na /Ca exchanger (NCX) is a bidirectional plasma membrane antiporter involved in Ca homeostasis in eukaryotes. NCX has three isoforms, NCX1-3, and all of them are expressed in the cerebellum. Immunostaining on cerebellar slice cultures indicates that NCX is widely expressed in the cerebellum, including expression in Purkinje cells.

The plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase2 (PMCA2) is involved in the regulation of Purkinje cell dendritic growth in cerebellar organotypic slice cultures.

Purkinje cells are the principal neurons of the cerebellar cortex and have an extensive and elaborate dendritic tree. Chronic activation of type I metabotropic glutamate receptors inhibits Purkinje cell dendritic growth in organotypic cerebellar slice cultures. This effect is mediated by calcium influx through P/Q-type and T-type Ca(2+) channels.

Isogenic autosomes to be applied in optimal screening for novel mutants with viable phenotypes in Drosophila melanogaster.

Most insertional mutagenesis screens of Drosophila performed to date have not used target chromosomes that have been checked for their suitability for phenotypic screens for viable phenotypes. To address this, we have generated a selection of stocks carrying either isogenized second chromosomes or isogenized third chromosomes, in a genetic background derived from a Canton-S wild-type strain. We have tested these stocks for a range of behavioral and other viable phenotypes.