Slow spontaneous signals from brain tissue culture

Resumen La exploratión con microelectrodos, de explantes telencefálicos de embrión de pollo, registra espontáneamente señales de dos tipos: lentas y rápidas, confirmando hallazgos similares previamente reportados con macroelectrodos. Observandose un patron en la distributión de las señales lentas, las cuales son originadas por la misma fuente en cada explante pudiendo ser esta, las células de glía o el producto de potensiales dendríticos.     

Pharmacogenetic factor in the convulsive responses of mice to flurothyl

Résumé La sensibilité convulsive a été determinée dans 6 groupes de souris par les réactions de l'ether hexafluorodiéthyle, convulsivant chimique. La lignée DBA/2 fut très sensible, tandis que les lignées C57BL/6 et BALB/c se montrèrent les moins sensibles. La sensibilité convulsive ne présenta pas de corrélation positive avec l'activité locomotrice.     

A stored-image method for calculating absorption corrections

Zusammenfassung Eine Methode wird entwickelt, welche die Berechnung der Absorptionskorrekturen bei Messungen von Röntgendiffraktionsintensitäten von Kristallen beliebiger Form möglich macht. Dabei wird der Strahlengang auf einer elektronischen Rechenanlage simuliert, in der das Kristallabbild als Binärmuster gespeichert ist.     

Chondroitinase ABC promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury

The inability of axons to regenerate after a spinal cord injury in the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) can lead to permanent paralysis. At sites of CNS injury, a glial scar develops, containing extracellular matrix molecules including chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs). CSPGs are inhibitory to axon growth in vitro, and regenerating axons stop at CSPG-rich regions in vivo. Removing CSPG glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains attenuates CSPG inhibitory activity. To test the functional effects of degrading chondroitin sulphate (CS)-GAG after spinal cord injury, we delivered chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) to the lesioned dorsal columns of adult rats. We show that intrathecal treatment with ChABC degraded CS-GAG at the injury site, upregulated a regeneration-associated protein in injured neurons, and promoted regeneration of both ascending sensory projections and descending corticospinal tract axons. ChABC treatment also restored post-synaptic activity below the lesion after electrical stimulation of corticospinal neurons, and promoted functional recovery of locomotor and proprioceptive behaviours. Our results demonstrate that CSPGs are important inhibitory molecules in vivo and suggest that their manipulation will be useful for treatment of human spinal injuries.