targeted-toxins

Hudson B, Ritter S (2004) Hindbrain catecholamine neurons mediate consummatory responses to glucoprivation. Physiol Behav 82(2-3):241-250. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2004.03.032

Summary: Norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E) neurons appear to potently stimulate feeding behavior when administered to the hypothalamus. Previous work has indicated that these neurons play important roles in feeding responses due to glucoprivation. Bilateral 42 ng-injections of anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) were administered to rats to investigate the roles of NE and E neurons in the consummatory phase of the glucoprivic response. The results indicate that catecholaminergic neurons are involved in both appetitive and consummatory responses to glucoprivation.

Related Products: Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03)

Ricceri L, Minghetti L, Moles A, Popoli P, Confaloni A, De Simone R, Piscopo P, Scattoni ML, di Luca M, Calamandrei G (2004) Cognitive and neurological deficits induced by early and prolonged basal forebrain cholinergic hypofunction in rats. Exp Neurol 189(1):162-172. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2004.05.025

Summary: A distinctive feature of Alzheimer’s disease is the loss of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain (BF). The authors investigated long-term effects of BF cholinergic lesions on several parameters. Administration of 0.21 µg of 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) to the third ventricle of 7 day-old rats was followed by an evaluation of protein levels and cortical EEG patterns at 6 months of age. The findings indicate that permanent neonatal BF cholinergic damage may provide a model for abnormal adult cholinergic function.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01)

Kudoh M, Seki K, Shibuki K (2004) Sound sequence discrimination learning is dependent on cholinergic inputs to the rat auditory cortex. Neurosci Res 50(1):113-123. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2004.06.007

Summary: The auditory cortex (AC) is thought to play a role in the discrimination of sound sequences. The authors investigated the role of cholinergic inputs to the AC in processing these sequences by injecting 5 µg of 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) into either the lateral ventricle or bilateral AC of rats. Treated animals displayed suppressed sound discrimination learning, but discrimination between two sound components was unaffected. The results suggest that cholinergic neurons in the AC are highly involved in sound sequence learning.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01)

Dalley JW, Theobald DE, Bouger P, Chudasama Y, Cardinal RN, Robbins TW (2004) Cortical cholinergic function and deficits in visual attentional performance in rats following 192 IgG-Saporin-induced lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex. Cereb Cortex 14(8):922-932. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhh052

Summary: Prior work has demonstrated that lesions of the cortical cholinergic system of the basal forebrain impair performance in attentional tasks. The authors examined the effects of selective depletion of acetylcholine from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) on these same attentional tasks. 50 or 100 ng of 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) was infused into the PFC of rats. Treated animals displayed deficits in specific aspects of the attentional tasks, indicating a modulatory role in PFC function by basal forebrain cholinergic neurons.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01)

Works SJ, Wilson RE, Wellman CL (2004) Age-dependent effect of cholinergic lesion on dendritic morphology in rat frontal cortex. Neurobiol Aging 25(7):963-974. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2003.08.003

Summary: Aged rats display more dramatic and longer lasting effects due to brain injury than young animals. The authors examined the role cholinergic neurons may play in brain plasticity after injury in rats of varying ages. 0.15 µg of 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) was injected into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis of young, middle-aged, and aged rats. Some types of injury were only seen in middle-aged and aged rats, and changes in dendritic morphology were least marked in the young animals.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01)

Gil-Bea FJ, Dominguez J, Garcia-Alloza M, Marcos B, Lasheras B, Ramirez MJ (2004) Facilitation of cholinergic transmission by combined treatment of ondansetron with flumazenil after cortical cholinergic deafferentation. Neuropharmacology 47(2):225-232. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2004.03.014

Summary: Previous studies from this group demonstrated that 5-HT(3) receptor antagonists potentiated by GABA(A) antagonists increased acetylcholine (ACh) release in the rat cerebral cortex. This series of experiments investigated the effects of these antagonists on rats with 0.067 µg-bilateral infusions of 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis. Even after lesioning with 192-Saporin, rats treated with the 5-HT(3) and GABA(A) receptor antagonists displayed increased ACh release, indicating that these antagonists may have use as treatments for cognitive disorders.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01)

Q: What dosage of 192-Saporin (192-IgG-SAP, Cat. #IT-01) should be used in the lateral ventricle to eliminate cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain, including substantia innominata (SI)? I read that Calza et al [1] used 2 or 3 micrograms/4.5 µl and found this was highly effective.

A: It has been our experience that two- or three-micrograms into the lateral ventricle is necessary to obtain a maximum cholinergic basal forebrain (CBF) lesion. However, these doses typically kill some cerebellar Purkinje cells. Another issue is that some cholinergic neurons in the NBM region are never killed by 192-Saporin.

Q: Should we expect to be able to kill all or almost all ChAT SI neurons?

A: Mesulam’s lab has some data [2,3] to suggest that these neurons innervate the amygdala and adjacent cortex. Generally lesions of the septum and diagonal band are complete, but when you get more caudal, i.e. SI region, there will be some cholinergic neurons left. When you do ChAT or AChE stains, the amygdala and adjacent cortex are not denervated whereas the hippocampus, olfactory system and all the rest of the cortex are devoid of cholinergic terminals.

Q: Is there another toxin that will eliminate the remaining ChAT SI neurons?

A: There may be other targeted conjugates that could clean out the residual cells in the SI region if we knew what markers they co-express. For example, our SSP-saporin (Cat. #IT-11) conjugate is very good at removing cells that express the NK-1 receptor such as striatal cholinergic interneurons.

See: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01), SSP-SAP (Cat. #IT-11), Targeted Toxins

References

1. Calza L et al. Neural stem cells and cholinergic neurons: Regulation by immunolesion and treatment with mitogens, retinoic acid, and nerve growth factor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100(12):7325-7330, 2003.
2. Heckers S et al. Two types of cholinergic projections to the rat amygdala. Neuroscience 60:383-397, 1994.
3. Heckers S et al. Complete and selective cholinergic denervation of rat neocortex and hippocampus but not amygdala by an immunotoxin against the p75 NGF receptor. J Neurosci 14:1271-1289, 1994.

Nishiguchi J, Sasaki K, Seki S, Chancellor MB, Erickson KA, de Groat WC, Kumon H, Yoshimura N (2004) Effects of isolectin B4-conjugated saporin, a targeting cytotoxin, on bladder overactivity induced by bladder irritation. Eur J Neurosci 20(2):474-482. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2004.03508.x

Summary: It has been demonstrated that IB4-binding non-peptidergic C-fiber neuronal populations are present in afferent pathways to the bladder. The authors used intrathecal administration of 8 µl of 2.5 µM IB4-SAP (Cat. #IT-10) to investigate what roles these neurons play in bladder function. Treated animals displayed a reduction of IB4 afferent nerve terminal staining, as well as a suppression of bladder overactivity due to bladder irritation, without a change in normal bladder function.

Related Products: IB4-SAP (Cat. #IT-10)

Read the featured article in Targeting Trends.

Hunter CL, Quintero EM, Gilstrap L, Bhat NR, Granholm AC (2004) Minocycline protects basal forebrain cholinergic neurons from mu p75-saporin immunotoxic lesioning. Eur J Neurosci 19(12):3305-3316. doi: 10.1111/j.0953-816X.2004.03439.x

Summary: In Alzheimer’s disease basal cholinergic degeneration is accompanied by glial activation and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. To investigate whether neural events other than degeneration can cause effects of Alzheimer’s disease, the authors treated mice with minocycline after lesioning the basal forebrain with 3.6 µg of mu p75-SAP (Cat. #IT-16). Administration of minocycline reduced the loss of cholinergic neurons, reduced glial response to the lesion, and lessened the cognitive impairment due to mu p75-SAP lesions.

Related Products: mu p75-SAP (Cat. #IT-16)

Fargo KN, Sengelaub DR (2004) Exogenous testosterone prevents motoneuron atrophy induced by contralateral motoneuron depletion. J Neurobiol 60(3):348-359. doi: 10.1002/neu.20027

Summary: Gonadal steroids have been shown to supply a variety of neuroprotective and neurotherapeutic effects. Using 1-µl injections of 0.1% CTB-SAP (Cat. #IT-14) into the ipsalateral bulbocavernosus and the levator ani of rats, the authors examined the protective effects of testosterone on motoneuron morphology. After the lesion was induced some rats were castrated, and all animals were treated with exogenous testosterone. The results suggest that high-normal levels of testosterone can prevent motoneuron atrophy induced by contralateral motoneuron depletion.

Related Products: CTB-SAP (Cat. #IT-14)