2004 Targeting Trends Review

Helm KA, Ziegler DR, Gallagher M (2004) Habituation to stress and dexamethasone suppression in rats with selective basal forebrain cholinergic lesions. Hippocampus 14(5):628-635. doi: 10.1002/hipo.10203

Summary: Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons may be involved in hippocampal and medial prefrontal cortex inhibition of glucocorticoid stress responses. The authors investigated the effects of 0.05 to 0.075 µg injections of 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) into the medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band of rats by measuring corticosterone levels during a restraint stress test. Lesioned rats displayed less stress suppression on the administration of dexamethasone than controls, indicating that cholinergic neurons are involved in these stress responses.

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

Zhang Y, Berger SA (2004) Increased calcium influx and ribosomal content correlate with resistance to endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced cell death in mutant leukemia cell lines. J Biol Chem 279(8):6507-6516. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M306117200

Summary: Ca2+ plays a vital role in many cell processes. To investigate events associated with Ca2+ and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced cell death, the authors developed a mutant cell line with resistance to several ER stress-inducing agents. One of the assays used to define the characteristics of this cell line was treatment of the cells with 3 µg/ml of Saporin (Cat. #PR-01) and subsequent analysis of protein expression. The suppression of ribosome function partially reversed the resistance to ER stress-induced cell death.

Related Products: Saporin (Cat. #PR-01)

Janisiewicz AM, Jackson O, Firoz EF, Baxter MG (2004) Environment-spatial conditional learning in rats with selective lesions of medial septal cholinergic neurons. Hippocampus 14:265-273. doi: 10.1002/hipo.10175

Summary: 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) has produced varied results when used to determine the role of cholinergic neurons of the medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band (MS/VDB) in spatial working memory. The authors used a total of 0.5 µl of 0.12 µg/µl 192-Saporin injected into the MS/VDB to examine “environment-spatial” conditional learning. The findings suggest that cholinergic neurons of the MS/VDB are involved in some aspects of conditional associative learning.

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

Frick KM, Jeansok JK, Baxter MG (2004) Effects of complete immunotoxin lesions of the cholinergic basal forebrain on fear conditioning and spatial learning. Hippocampus 14:244-254. doi: 10.1002/hipo.10169

Summary: The authors examined the hypothesis that basal forebrain cholinergic neurons are critical for acquisition and consolidation of fear conditioning by lesioning the medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band, the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca, and the nucleus basalis magnocellularis of rats with 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01). The lesions did not impair contextual fear conditioning, implying that impairments induced by scopolamine may not be mediated by cholinergic input to the hippocampus and neocortex.

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

Winters BD, Robbins TW, Everitt BJ (2004) Selective cholinergic denervation of the cingulate cortex impairs the acquisition and performance of a conditional visual discrimination in rats. Eur J Neurosci 19(2):490-496. doi: 10.1111/j.0953-816x.2003.03157.x

Summary: Performance in conditional discrimination tasks is thought to be controlled at least in part by the cingulate cortex and its basal forebrain afferents. Using bilateral 0.5 µl injections of 0.02 µg/ml 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) into the cingulate cortex of rats, the authors investigated the role of cholinergic projections from the vertical limb nucleus of the diagonal band to the cingulate cortex in specific types of learning. The results reinforce the idea that cholinergic projections to the cortex are involved in processing sensory information as well as task-related stimuli.

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

Chang Q, Gold PE (2004) Impaired and spared cholinergic functions in the hippocampus after lesions of the medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band with 192 IgG-saporin. Hippocampus 14(2):170-179. doi: 10.1002/hipo.10160

Summary: 192-Saporin has been widely used to eliminate cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain. These lesions can produce near-total loss of choline acetyltranferase (ChAT)-positive neurons in the medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band of Broca (MS/VDB). There is evidence that this ChAT deficit produces an upregulation of cholinergic mechanisms providing input to the hippocampus. Using either 0.2 or 0.3 µl of 0.5 µg/µl 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) injected into the MS/VDB the authors examined the residual release of acetylcholine in the hippocampus after lesioning.

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Parent MB, Baxter MG (2004) Septohippocampal acetylcholine: involved in but not necessary for learning and memory?. Learn Mem 11:9-20. doi: 10.1101/lm.69104

Summary: In this review the authors describe some of the methods and rationale behind the investigation of hippocampal acetylcholine and its role in the support of learning and memory processes. Results produced by the use of 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) are discussed, as well as the differences that have been found between the effects of 192-Saporin and those of less specific lesioning agents.

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

Smith JE, Co C, Yin X, Sizemore GM, Liguori A, Johnson WE 3rd, Martin TJ (2004) Involvement of cholinergic neuronal systems in intravenous cocaine self-administration. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 27(8):841-850. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2003.11.002

Summary: Recent studies have demonstrated that cholinergic neurons take part in the process of cocaine self-administration. In this study the authors used 0.25 µg-injections of 192-Saporin (Cat. #IT-01) into the posterior nucleus accumbens (Nacc)-ventral pallidum (VP) region of rats to identify specific subsets of cholinergic neurons that are involved. The results indicate that cholinergic innervations of the VP, the medial septum/diagonal band of Broca, and the Nacc are inhibitory to the underlying processes of cocaine self-administration.

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

Read the featured article in Targeting Trends.

Chiken S, Hatanaka N, Tokuno H (2003) Cytochrome oxidase activity in the monkey globus pallidus and subthalamic nucleus after ablation of striatal interneurons expressing substance P receptors. Neurosci Lett 353(2):103-106. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2003.09.026

Summary: 1-6 µl of 15-20 ng/µl SP-SAP (Cat. #IT-07) was injected into the forelimb representation of the putamen. Animals were examined for the loss of interneurons as well as regional metabolic changes. The results indicate that substance P receptor-expressing neurons do not modulate inhibitory influences on the GP.

Related Products: SP-SAP (Cat. #IT-07)

Fargo KN, Sengelaub DR (2004) Testosterone manipulation protects motoneurons from dendritic atrophy after contralateral motoneuron depletion. J Comp Neurol 469(1):96-106. doi: 10.1002/cne.10991

Summary: The authors wished to investigate the therapeutic effects of testosterone on motoneuron dendrites in nerve injury models. 1 µl of a 0.1% solution of CTB-SAP (Cat. #IT-14) solution was unilaterally injected into the ispilateral bulbocavernosus and levator ani muscles of rats, and the contralateral motoneuron morphology was examined. In castrated rats receiving testosterone, dendrites in the spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus grew after CTB-SAP treatment. This is a demonstration of the neuroprotective/neurotherapeutic role of testosterone in the nervous system.

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