Activation of phagocytic cells in the injury zone is a crucial step in the regeneration of peripheral axons. Many aspects of the mechanisms underlying the recruitment of active phagocytes remain, however, unclear. Notably, our understanding of the interactions between injury, extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and phagocyte activation is limited. Most animal cell types, phagocytes included,...

Similar to other invertebrate and vertebrate animals, cAMP-dependent signaling cascades are key components of long-term memory (LTM) formation in the snail Lymnaea stagnalis, an established experimental model for studying evolutionarily conserved molecular mechanisms of long-term associative memory. Although a great deal is already known about the signaling cascades activated by cAMP, the molec...

The main purpose of the studies presented in this paper is twofold: 1) to evaluate whether phyto-adaptogens (Acanthopanax senticosus and Rhodiola rosea) are able to exert a protective action against stress-induced death of embryos of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis; and 2) whether a possible protective action by phyto-adaptogens can be explained by the induction of heat shock proteins. Enhance...

The haemocyanins of gastropod molluscs are giant proteins of mol.wt. approx. 9000000 whose function is the transport of oxygen in the blood. It is well established that the functional unit, which binds one molecule of 02, is a pair of copper atoms surrounded by a folded polypeptide chain to form a compact domain of mol.wt. approx. 50000 (Van Breemen et al., 1977). However, treatment of the prot...

The electrical activity of neurons is known to play a role in neuronal development, as well as repair of adult nervous tissue. For example, the extension of neurites and motility of growth cones can be modulated by changes in the electrical firing of neurons. The vitamin A metabolite retinoic acid also plays a critical role during nervous system development and is also known to elicit regenerat...