Glucocorticoids have been shown to influence trophic processes in the nervous system. In particular, they seem to be important for the development of cholinergic neurons in various brain regions. Here, we applied a genetic approach to investigate the role of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) on the maturation and maintenance of cholinergic medial septal neurons between P15 and one year of age by using a mouse model carrying a CNS-specific conditional inactivation of the GR gene (GRNesCre). The number of choline acetyltransferase and p75NTR immuno-positive neurons in the medial septum (MS) was analyzed by stereology in controls versus mutants. In addition, cholinergic fiber density, acetylcholine release and cholinergic key enzyme activity of these neurons were determined in the hippocampus. We found that in GRNesCre animals the number of medial septal cholinergic neurons was significantly reduced during development. In addition, cholinergic cell number further decreased with aging in these mutants. The functional GR gene is therefore required for the proper maturation and maintenance of medial septal cholinergic neurons. However, the loss of cholinergic neurons in the medial septum is not accompanied by a loss of functional cholinergic parameters of these neurons in their target region, the hippocampus. This pinpoints to plasticity of the septo-hippocampal system, that seems to compensate for the septal cell loss by sprouting of the remaining neurons.
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Sci Rep
January 2025
Key Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Institute of Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Histology and Embryology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Neuromuscular diseases usually manifest as abnormalities involving motor neurons, neuromuscular junctions, and skeletal muscle (SkM) in postnatal stage. Present in vitro models of neuromuscular interactions require a long time and lack neuroglia involvement. Our study aimed to construct rodent bioengineered spinal cord neural network-skeletal muscle (NN-SkM) assembloids to elucidate the interactions between spinal cord neural stem cells (SC-NSCs) and SkM cells and their biological effects on the development and maturation of postnatal spinal cord motor neural circuits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFbioRxiv
January 2025
Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Few of the many chemicals that regulatory agencies are charged with assessing for risk have been carefully tested for developmental neurotoxicity (DNT). To speed up testing efforts, as well as to reduce the use of vertebrate animals, great effort is being devoted to alternate laboratory models for testing DNT. A major mechanism of DNT is altered neuronal architecture resulting from chemical exposure during neurodevelopment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Neurobiol
January 2025
Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 50, Basel 4056, Switzerland. Electronic address:
The brain faces the challenging task of preserving a consistent portrayal of the external world in the face of disruptive sensory inputs. What alterations occur in sensory representation amidst noise, and how does brain activity adapt to it? Although it has previously been shown that background white noise (WN) decreases responses to salient sounds, a mechanistic understanding of the brain processes responsible for such changes is lacking. We investigated the effect of background WN on neuronal spiking activity, membrane potential, and network oscillations in the mouse central auditory system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlants (Basel)
January 2025
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition characterized by a gradual decline in cognitive function, for which few effective treatments exist. This study investigated the neuroprotective potential of root extract and its key constituents (baicalein, chrysin, oroxylin A) against AD hallmarks. The extract and its constituents exhibited antioxidant activity in the DPPH assay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Metab
January 2025
Energy & Memory, Brain Plasticity Unit, CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, Paris, France.
Astrocytes help protect neurons from potential damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). While ROS can also exert beneficial effects, it remains unknown how neuronal ROS signalling is activated during memory formation, and whether astrocytes play a role in this process. Here we discover an astrocyte-to-neuron HO signalling cascade in Drosophila that is essential for long-term memory formation.
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