2012 Targeting Trends Review

Gulino R, Gulisano M (2012) Involvement of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and sonic hedgehog in the spinal cord plasticity after neurotoxic partial removal of lumbar motoneurons. Neurosci Res 73(3):238-247. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2012.04.010

Summary: In this work the authors created a motoneuron depletion with bilateral 6.0-μg injections of CTB-SAP (Cat. #IT-14) into the medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles of rats. The results indicate BDNF and sonic hedgehog may collaborate in modulating synaptic plasticity after loss of motoneurons.

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

Field RH, Gossen A, Cunningham C (2012) Prior pathology in the basal forebrain cholinergic system predisposes to inflammation-induced working memory deficits: Reconciling inflammatory and cholinergic hypotheses of delirium. J Neurosci 32(18):6288-6294. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4673-11.2012

Summary: The authors lesioned the basal forebrain of mice with 0.08 μg or 0.4 μg icv injections of mu p75-SAP (Cat. #IT-16) to establish an early dementia-associated cholinergic loss model. The mice were then challenged with systemic inflammation using low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The mu p75-SAP lesion left hippocampal-dependent reference and working memory relatively intact. LPS-induced inflammation created acute working memory deficits; an aceytlcholinesterase inhibitor protected against this deficit.

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

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Man SH, Geranton SM, Hunt SP (2012) Lamina I NK1 expressing projection neurones are functional in early postnatal rats and contribute to the setting up of adult mechanical sensory thresholds. Mol Pain 8(1):35. doi: 10.1186/1744-8069-8-35

Summary: Projections from lamina I neurons regulate mechanical and thermal sensitivity due to injury. Little is known about how these pathways develop immediately after birth. Rats at postnatal day 3 were treated with 2 μl of 5 μM SP-SAP (Cat. #IT-07) injected into the intrathecal space. Blank-SAP (Cat. #IT-21) was used as a control. The data show that neurokinin-1 positive neurons project to the parabrachial nucleus in the hindbrain, and that these neurons and lamina I neurons were responsive to noxious stimulation at postnatal day 3. Treated animals also displayed increased mechanical sensitivity from postnatal day 45 on.

Related Products: SP-SAP (Cat. #IT-07), Blank-SAP (Cat. #IT-21)

Taylor AM, Osikowicz M, Ribeiro-da-Silva A (2012) Consequences of the ablation of nonpeptidergic afferents in an animal model of trigeminal neuropathic pain. Pain 153(6):1311-1319. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2012.03.023

Summary: The authors used IB4-SAP (Cat. #IT-10; 3.2 μg injected into the mental nerve) to eliminate C-fibers in the lower lip of rats to see if this was enough to induce the sprouting of autonomic fibers. Saporin alone (Cat. #PR-01) was used as a control. Only parasympathetic fibers sprouted in these animals, but after nerve ligation surgery both sympathetic and parasympathetic fibers sprouted.

Related Products: IB4-SAP (Cat. #IT-10), Saporin (Cat. #PR-01)

Hu J, Huang T, Li T, Guo Z, Cheng L (2012) c-Maf is required for the development of dorsal horn laminae III/IV neurons and mechanoreceptive DRG axon projections. J Neurosci 32(16):5362-5373. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6239-11.2012 PMID: 22514301

Summary: The molecular mechanisms responsible for development of laminae III/IV neurons are not yet well understood. In this work the authors investigated the role of c-Maf, a basic leucine-zipper transcription factor from the AP-1 superfamily. Anti-TrkA (Cat. #AB-N03: 1:100) was used for immunohistochemistry.

Related Products: trkA Rabbit Polyclonal (Cat. #AB-N03)

Ovsepian SV, Dolly JO, Zaborszky L (2012) Intrinsic voltage dynamics govern the diversity of spontaneous firing profiles in basal forebrain noncholinergic neurons. J Neurophysiol 108(2):406-418. doi: 10.1152/jn.00642.2011 PMID: 22496531

Summary: The voltage modulation functions of the basal forebrain have commonly been associated with cholinergic cells. More recent work has suggested that noncholinergic cells have an influence on this type of neuronal activity. The authors labeled cholinergic neurons by injecting 0.8-1.6 μg of Cy3-192-IgG (Cat. #FL-01) into the lateral ventricles of rats. Patch-clamp recordings were taken from brain slices of these animals under various blockade conditions. The results demonstrate that neuropeptide Y receptors as well as ions such as Ca2+ and K+ are important for regenerative firing in basal forebrain cholinergic neurons.

Related Products: 192-IgG Mouse Monoclonal, Cy3-labeled (Cat. #AB-N43FL3)

Talman WT, Dragon DN, Jones SY, Moore SA, Lin LH (2012) Sudden death and myocardial lesions after damage to catecholamine neurons of the nucleus tractus solitarii in rat. Cell Mol Neurobiol 32(7):1119-1126. doi: 10.1007/s10571-012-9835-1

Summary: Previous work has shown that elimination of neurons expressing the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1r) from the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) causes various circulatory system dysfunctions, often leading to sudden death. The authors injected the brainstem of rats with 42 ng anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03). to eliminate catecholaminergic neurons in the NTS that express tyrosine hydroxylase. This elimination had similar cardiac and cardiovascular effects to the elimination of NK1r-expressing neurons.

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

Ye Y, Dang D, Viet CT, Dolan JC, Schmidt BL (2012) Analgesia targeting IB4-positive neurons in cancer-induced mechanical hypersensitivity. J Pain 13(6):524-531. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2012.01.006

Summary: DOR (δ opioid receptor) agonists produce minimal side effects and do not lead to tolerance, making them potential alternatives to the widely used μ opioid receptor agonists. Utilizing the fact that DOR’s are expressed by IB4-positive neurons, the authors injected the subarachnoid space between the L4 and L5 vertebrae of rats with 2.4 μg of IB4-SAP (Cat. #IT-10). 3 μg of saporin (Cat. #PR-01) was used as a control. The results indicate that pharmacological agents targeting IB4-positive neurons may have use in cancer pain treatment.

Related Products: IB4-SAP (Cat. #IT-10), Saporin (Cat. #PR-01)

Kruger HS, Hanganu-Opatz IL (2013) Neonatal cholinergic lesion alters the acoustic structure of infant rat vocalization but not the early cognitive development. Dev Psychobiol 55(3):294-308. doi: 10.1002/dev.21029

Summary: The architecture of the cerebral cortex is dependent on cholinergic innervations for proper maturation and network assembly. The authors administered 0.1 μg of 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01) to each lateral ventricle of rats on the day of birth. Although the resulting cholinergic depletion did not affect the general development of the rats during the first two weeks of life, infant ultrasonic vocalization was significantly affected. The altered vocalization did not affect maternal care of the pup, suggesting that previous results recording behavioral deficits in the pups after basal forebrain lesions were due to cholinergic depletion rather than altered mother-pup interaction.

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

Sanchez-Ortiz E, Yui D, Song D, Li Y, Rubenstein JL, Reichardt LF, Parada LF (2012) TrkA gene ablation in basal forebrain results in dysfunction of the cholinergic circuitry. J Neurosci 32(12):4065-4079. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6314-11.2012 PMID: 22442072

Summary: The authors created a conditional trkA knockout mouse line. Anti-trkA (Cat. #AB-N03) was used for immunohistochemistry (1:1000) and western blots (1:4000). The data demonstrate the importance of trkA in the establishment of basal forebrain cholinergic circuitry, and choline acetyltransferase expression.

Related Products: trkA Rabbit Polyclonal (Cat. #AB-N03)