Norepinephrine regulates calcium signals and fate of oligodendrocyte precursor cells in the mouse cerebral cortex.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) generate oligodendrocytes, contributing to myelination and myelin repair. OPCs contact axons and respond to neuronal activity, but how the information relayed by the neuronal activity translates into OPC Ca signals, which in turn influence their fate, remains unknown. We generated transgenic mice for concomitant monitoring of OPCs Ca signals and cell fate using 2-photon microscopy in the somatosensory cortex of awake-behaving mice.

Ethanol abolishes vigilance-dependent astroglia network activation in mice by inhibiting norepinephrine release.

Norepinephrine adjusts sensory processing in cortical networks and gates plasticity enabling adaptive behavior. The actions of norepinephrine are profoundly altered by recreational drugs like ethanol, but the consequences of these changes on distinct targets such as astrocytes, which exhibit norepinephrine-dependent Ca elevations during vigilance, are not well understood. Using in vivo two-photon imaging, we show that locomotion-induced Ca elevations in mouse astroglia are profoundly inhibited by ethanol, an effect that can be reversed by enhancing norepinephrine release.

Mice With Partial Deletion of Y-Heterochromatin Exhibits Stress Vulnerability.

The role of Y chromosome in sex determination and male fertility is well established. It is also known that infertile men are prone to psychological disturbances. Earlier studies in the laboratory identified genes expressed in testes that are putatively regulated by Y chromosome in man and mouse.