background: primary cultures of embryonic neurons have been used to introduce a model of neurons in physiological and pathological conditions. however, age-related cellular events limit this method as an optimal model in adult neurodegenerative diseases studies. besides, short-interval changing media in previous cultures decreases the effectiveness of this model. as an example of this matter, w...

Objective(s): Among several cell sources, adult human neural stem/progenitor cells (hNS/PCs) have been considered outstanding cells for performing mechanistic studies in in vitro and in vivo models of neurological disorders as well as for potential utility in cell-based therapeutic approaches. Previous studies addressed the isolation and culture of hNS/PCs from human neocortical and hippocampal...

Objective(s): Cell therapy has provided clinical applications to the treatment of motor neuron diseases. The current obstacle in stem cell therapy is to direct differentiation of stem cells into neurons in the neurodegenerative disorders. Biomaterial scaffolds can improve cell differentiation and are widely used in translational medicine and tissue engineering. The aim...

Introduction: The induction of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HUC-MSCs) toward dopaminergic neurons is a major challenge in tissue engineering and experimental and clinical treatments of various neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson disease. This study aims to differentiate HUC-MSCs into dopaminergic neuron-like cells. Methods: Following the isolation and charac...

Astrocytes are promising source cells to replace neurons lost disease owing a shared lineage and capacities for dedifferentiation proliferation under pathological conditions. Reprogramming of astrocytes has been achieved by transcription factor modulation, but reprogramming in vitro or vivo using small‐molecule drugs may have several advantages clinical application. For instance, small molecule...

objective: the apoptosis of motor neurons is a critical phenomenon in spinal cord injuries. adult spinal cord slices were used to investigate whether voltage sensitive calcium channels and na+/ca2+ exchangers play a role in the apoptosis of motor neurons. materials and methods: in this experimental research, the thoracic region of the adult mouse spinal cord was sliced using a tissue chopper an...

We study the electrical activity patterns and the expression of conductances in adult stomatogastric ganglion (STG) neurons as a function of time in primary cell culture. When first plated in culture, these neurons had few active properties. After 1 d in culture they produced small action potentials that rapidly inactivated during maintained depolarization. After 2 d in culture they fired large...

Sympathetic principal neurons, dissociated from superior cervical ganglia of newborn rats, were plated into cultures containing rat skeletal myotubes formed from previously plated primary myoblasts. Electrophysiological evidence is presented that the neurons developed cholinergic synapses with the myotubes. In addition, the neurons developed cholinergic synapses with each other as previously re...

objective: sensory neurons in dorsal root ganglia (drg) undergo apoptosis after peripheral nerve injury. the aim of this study was to investigate sensory neuron death and the mechanism involved in the death of these neurons in cultured drg. materials and methods: in this experimental study, l5 drg from adult mouse were dissected and incubated in culture medium for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. fresh...

Our previous experiments have suggested the hypothesis that conjoint active neuronal outgrowth may be necessary for formation of new electrical synapses between identified neurons of adult Helisoma buccal ganglia. This growth dependence hypothesis now has been tested by examining the responses of individual pairs of neurons in isolation from the influences of the ganglionic environment. Isolate...