Neurogenesis continues in various regions of the central nervous system (CNS) throughout life. As the mitogen basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) can proliferate neuronal precursors of CNS neurons in culture, and is also upregulated within adult dorsal root ganglia following axotomy, it is possible that the postnatal dorsal root ganglia contain bFGF-responsive neuronal precursors. We undertoo...

We have examined the regulation of transcription factor gene expression and phenotypic markers in developing chick sympathetic neurons. Sympathetic progenitor cells first express the bHLH transcriptional regulator Cash-1 (a chicken achaete-scute homologue), followed by coordinate expression of Phox2, a paired homeodomain protein, and GATA-2, a zinc finger protein. SCG10, a pan-neuronal membrane...

The brain consists of many distinct neuronal cell types, but which cell types are present in widely used primary cultures of embryonic rodent brain is often not known. We characterized how abundantly four cell type markers (Ctip2, Satb2, Prox1, GAD65) were represented in cultured rat neurons, how easily neurons expressing different markers can be transfected with commonly used plasmids, and whe...

OBJECTIVES Epilepsy establishment gives rise to biochemical and morphological changes in the hippocampus. Oxidative stress, morphological changes, and mossy fiber sprouting (MFS) in the hippocampus underpin the epilepsy establishment. Eugenol is the main component of the essential oil extracted from cloves with the potential to modulate neuronal excitability. Therefore, we investigated the effe...

Neurogenin1 (Ngn1), Neurogenin2 (Ngn2), and Mash1 encode bHLH transcription factors with neuronal determination functions. In the telencephalon, the Ngns and Mash1 are expressed at high levels in complementary dorsal and ventral domains, respectively. We found that Ngn function is required to maintain these two separate expression domains, as Mash1 expression is up-regulated in the dorsal telen...

The cytoarchitecture of the cerebral cortex in mammals has been traditionally investigated using Nissl, Golgi, or myelin stains and there are few comparative studies on the relationships between neuronal morphology and neurochemical specialization. Most available studies on neuronal subtypes identified by their molecular and morphologic characteristics have been performed in species commonly us...

Purpose To examine the neuronal structural integrity of cornea and retina as markers for neuronal degeneration in nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Methods Participants were recruited from the broader Brisbane community, Queensland, Australia. Two hundred forty-one participants (187 with diabetes and 54 nondiabetic controls) were examined. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) was graded acco...

AIM Dysmorphic neurons and balloon cells in focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) reportedly show immaturity and abnormal differentiation with neuronal and glial components. Although normal-looking neurons (NL-neurons) in FCD are major constituent elements, their biological characteristics have never been identified. The aim of this study was to investigate maturation of NL-neurons with the focus on n...

BACKGROUND Exposure of the brain to environmental agents during critical periods of neuronal development is considered a key factor underlying many neurologic disorders. OBJECTIVES In this study we examined the influence of genotoxicants on cerebellar function during early development by measuring global gene expression changes. METHODS We measured global gene expression in immature cerebel...