Motor neurons (MNs) are the principal neurons in the mammalian spinal cord whose activities cause muscles to contract. In addition to their peripheral axons, MNs have central collaterals that contact inhibitory Renshaw cells and other MNs. Since its original discovery >60 years ago, it has been a general notion that acetylcholine is the only transmitter released from MN synapses both peripheral...

These are the neurons that actually drive the muscle cells. There are five classes, designated as alpha ( -MNs), static beta ( s-MNs), dynamic beta ( d-MNs), static gamma ( s-MNs), and dynamic gamma ( d-MNs). The -MNs are the main drive neurons for the extrafusal muscle fibers, and hence are known as slow (S), fast-resistant to fatigue (FR), and fast-fatiguing (FF) skeleto-motoneurons. The -MNs...

In the nervous system, a perfect balance of excitation and inhibition is required, for example, to enable coordinated locomotion. In Caenorhabditis elegans, cholinergic and GABAergic motor neurons (MNs) effect waves of contralateral muscle contraction and relaxation. Cholinergic MNs innervate muscle as well as GABAergic MNs, projecting to the opposite side of the body, at dyadic synapses. Only ...

Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) were employed to formulate a lipophilic drug into hydrophilic polymeric microneedles (MNs). Hyaluronic acid (HA) was selected as a hydrophilic and bioerodible polymer to fabricate MNs, and nile red (NR) was used as a model lipophilic molecule. NR-loaded NLCs were consolidated into the HA-based MNs to prepare NLC-loaded MNs (NLC-MNs). A dispersion of NLCs was...

How do genetic programs create features common to a specific cell or tissue type while generating modifications necessary for functional diversification? We have addressed this question using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The dorsal D (DD) and ventral D (VD) motorneurons (mns), referred to collectively as the D mns, compose a cross-inhibitory network that contributes to the animal's sinu...

Astrocytes from familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients or transgenic mice are toxic specifically to motor neurons (MNs). It is not known if astrocytes from sporadic ALS (sALS) patients cause MN degeneration in vivo and whether the effect is specific to MNs. By transplanting spinal neural progenitors, derived from sALS and healthy induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), into the c...

this study investigates the effects of melatonin on the sperm quality and testis weight after the combination of swimming exercise and nandrolone decanoate (deca). two groups of male wistar rats were treated for eight weeks as follows; group a consist of co (control), sham, n (deca), s (swimming) and ns (deca plus swimming); and group b: sham m (sham melatonin), m (melatonin), mn (melatonin plu...

The size principle dictates the orderly recruitment of motoneurons (Mns). This principle assumes that Mns of different sizes have a similar voltage threshold, cell size being the crucial property in determining neuronal recruitment. Thus, smaller neurons have higher membrane resistance and require a lower depolarizing current to reach spike threshold. However, the cell size contribution to recr...

Gene delivery systems can be divided to two major types: vector-based (either viral vector or non-viral vector) and physical delivery technologies. Many physical carriers, such as electroporation, gene gun, ultrasound start to be proved to have the potential to enable gene therapy. A relatively new physical delivery technology for gene delivery consists of microneedles (MNs), which has been stu...

Milan normotensive (MNS) rats are more susceptible to the development of renal disease than Milan hypertensive (MHS) rats, but the genes and pathways involved are unknown. This study compared the myogenic response of isolated perfused afferent arterioles (Af-Art) and autoregulation of renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular capillary pressure (Pgc) in 6-9-week-old MNS and MHS rats. The diameter o...