Long-term regulation in calretinin staining in the rat inferior colliculus after unilateral auditory cortical ablation

Expression and Localization of Kv1.1 and Kv3.1b Potassium Channels in the Cochlear Nucleus and Inferior Colliculus after Long-Term Auditory Deafferentation

Deafness affects the expression and distribution of voltage-dependent potassium channels (Kvs) of central auditory neurons in the short-term, i.e., hours to days, but the consequences in the expression of Kvs after long-term deafness remain unknown. We tested expression and distribution of Kv1.1 and Kv3.1b, key for auditory processing, in the rat cochlear nucleus (CN), and in the inferior colliculus (IC), at 1, 15 and 90 days after mechanical lesion of the cochlea, using a combination of qRT-PCR and Western blot in the whole CN, along with semi-quantitative immunocytochemistry in the AVCN, where the role of both Kvs in the control of excitability for accurate auditory timing signal processing is well established. Neither Kv1.1/Kv3.1b mRNA or protein expression changed significantly in the CN between 1 and 15 days after deafness. At 90 days post-lesion, however, mRNA and protein expression for both Kvs increased, suggesting that regulation of Kv1.1 and Kv3.1b expression is part of cellular mechanisms for long-term adaptation to auditory deprivation in the CN. Consistent with these findings, immunocytochemistry showed increased labeling intensity for both Kvs in the AVCN at day 90 after cochlear lesion. This increase argues that up-regulation of Kv1.1 and Kv3.1b in AVCN neurons may be required to adapt intrinsic excitability to altered input over the long term after auditory deprivation. Contrary to these findings in the CN, expression levels of Kv1.1 and Kv3.1b in the IC did not undergo major changes after cochlear lesion. In particular, there was no evidence of long-term up-regulation of either Kv1.1 or Kv3.1b, supporting that such post-lesion adaptive mechanism may not be needed in the IC. These results reveal that post-lesion adaptations do not necessarily involve stereotyped plastic mechanisms along the entire auditory pathway.

Stereotactically-guided Ablation of the Rat Auditory Cortex, and Localization of the Lesion in the Brain

The rat auditory cortex (AC) is becoming popular among auditory neuroscience investigators who are interested in experience-dependence plasticity, auditory perceptual processes, and cortical control of sound processing in the subcortical auditory nuclei. To address new challenges, a procedure to accurately locate and surgically expose the auditory cortex would expedite this research effort. Stereotactic neurosurgery is routinely used in pre-clinical research in animal models to engraft a needle or electrode at a pre-defined location within the auditory cortex. In the following protocol, we use stereotactic methods in a novel way. We identify four coordinate points over the surface of the temporal bone of the rat to define a window that, once opened, accurately exposes both the primary (A1) and secondary (Dorsal and Ventral) cortices of the AC. Using this method, we then perform a surgical ablation of the AC. After such a manipulation is performed, it is necessary to assess the localization, size, and extension of the lesions made in the cortex. Thus, we also describe a method to easily locate the AC ablation postmortem using a coordinate map constructed by transferring the cytoarchitectural limits of the AC to the surface of the brain.The combination of the stereotactically-guided location and ablation of the AC with the localization of the injured area in a coordinate map postmortem facilitates the validation of information obtained from the animal, and leads to a better analysis and comprehension of the data.

Calretinin inputs are confined to motoneurons for upward eye movements in monkey

Motoneurons of extraocular muscles are controlled by different premotor pathways, whose selective damage may cause directionally selective eye movement disorders. The fact that clinical disorders can affect only one direction, e.g., isolated up-/downgaze palsy or up-/downbeat nystagmus, indicates that up- and downgaze pathways are organized separately. Recent work in monkey revealed that a subpopulation of premotor neurons of the vertical eye movement system contains the calcium-binding protein calretinin (CR). With combined tract-tracing and immunofluorescence, the motoneurons of vertically pulling eye muscles in monkey were investigated for the presence of CR-positive afferent terminals. In the oculomotor nucleus, CR was specifically found in punctate profiles contacting superior rectus and inferior oblique motoneurons, as well as levator palpebrae motoneurons, all of which participate in upward eye movements. Double-immunofluorescence labeling revealed that CR-positive terminals lacked the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-synthesizing enzyme glutamate decarboxylase, which is present in inhibitory afferents to all motoneurons mediating vertical eye movements. Therefore, CR-containing afferents are considered to be excitatory. In conclusion, a strong CR input is confined to motoneurons mediating upgaze, which derive from premotor pathways mediating saccades and smooth pursuit, but not from secondary vestibulo-ocular neurons in the magnocellular part of the medial vestibular nucleus. The functional significance of CR in these connections is unclear, but it may serve as a useful marker to locate upgaze pathways in the human brain.

Long-term evolution of brainstem electrical evoked responses to sound after restricted ablation of the auditory cortex

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to assess the top-down control of sound processing in the auditory brainstem of rats. Short latency evoked responses were analyzed after unilateral or bilateral ablation of auditory cortex. This experimental paradigm was also used towards analyzing the long-term evolution of post-lesion plasticity in the auditory system and its ability to self-repair.

METHOD

Auditory cortex lesions were performed in rats by stereotactically guided fine-needle aspiration of the cerebrocortical surface. Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABR) were recorded at post-surgery day (PSD) 1, 7, 15 and 30. Recordings were performed under closed-field conditions, using click trains at different sound intensity levels, followed by statistical analysis of threshold values and ABR amplitude and latency variables. Subsequently, brains were sectioned and immunostained for GAD and parvalbumin to assess the location and extent of lesions accurately.

RESULTS

Alterations in ABR variables depended on the type of lesion and post-surgery time of ABR recordings. Accordingly, bilateral ablations caused a statistically significant increase in thresholds at PSD1 and 7 and a decrease in waves amplitudes at PSD1 that recover at PSD7. No effects on latency were noted at PSD1 and 7, whilst recordings at PSD15 and 30 showed statistically significant decreases in latency. Conversely, unilateral ablations had no effect on auditory thresholds or latencies, while wave amplitudes only decreased at PSD1 strictly in the ipsilateral ear.

CONCLUSION

Post-lesion plasticity in the auditory system acts in two time periods: short-term period of decreased sound sensitivity (until PSD7), most likely resulting from axonal degeneration; and a long-term period (up to PSD7), with changes in latency responses and recovery of thresholds and amplitudes values. The cerebral cortex may have a net positive gain on the auditory pathway response to sound.

Cortical Auditory Deafferentation Induces Long-Term Plasticity in the Inferior Colliculus of Adult Rats: Microarray and qPCR Analysis

The cortico-collicular pathway is a bilateral excitatory projection from the cortex to the inferior colliculus (IC). It is asymmetric and predominantly ipsilateral. Using microarrays and RT-qPCR we analyzed changes in gene expression in the IC after unilateral lesions of the auditory cortex, comparing the ICs ipsi- and contralateral to the lesioned side. At 15 days after surgery there were mainly changes in gene expression in the IC ipsilateral to the lesion. Regulation primarily involved inflammatory cascade genes, suggesting a direct effect of degeneration rather than a neuronal plastic reorganization. Ninety days after the cortical lesion the ipsilateral IC showed a significant up-regulation of genes involved in apoptosis and axonal regeneration combined with a down-regulation of genes involved in neurotransmission, synaptic growth, and gap junction assembly. In contrast, the contralateral IC at 90 days post-lesion showed an up-regulation in genes primarily related to neurotransmission, cell proliferation, and synaptic growth. There was also a down-regulation in autophagy and neuroprotection genes. These findings suggest that the reorganization in the IC after descending pathway deafferentation is a long-term process involving extensive changes in gene expression regulation. Regulated genes are involved in many different neuronal functions, and the number and gene rearrangement profile seems to depend on the density of loss of the auditory cortical inputs.

Immunocytochemical profiles of inferior colliculus neurons in the rat and their changes with aging

The inferior colliculus (IC) plays a strategic role in the central auditory system in relaying and processing acoustical information, and therefore its age-related changes may significantly influence the quality of the auditory function. A very complex processing of acoustical stimuli occurs in the IC, as supported also by the fact that the rat IC contains more neurons than all other subcortical auditory structures combined. GABAergic neurons, which predominantly co-express parvalbumin (PV), are present in the central nucleus of the IC in large numbers and to a lesser extent in the dorsal and external/lateral cortices of the IC. On the other hand, calbindin (CB) and calretinin (CR) are prevalent in the dorsal and external cortices of the IC, with only a few positive neurons in the central nucleus. The relationship between CB and CR expression in the IC and any neurotransmitter system has not yet been well established, but the distribution and morphology of the immunoreactive neurons suggest that they are at least partially non-GABAergic cells. The expression of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) (a key enzyme for GABA synthesis) and calcium binding proteins (CBPs) in the IC of rats undergoes pronounced changes with aging that involve mostly a decline in protein expression and a decline in the number of immunoreactive neurons. Similar age-related changes in GAD, CB, and CR expression are present in the IC of two rat strains with differently preserved inner ear function up to late senescence (Long-Evans and Fischer 344), which suggests that these changes do not depend exclusively on peripheral deafferentation but are, at least partially, of central origin. These changes may be associated with the age-related deterioration in the processing of the temporal parameters of acoustical stimuli, which is not correlated with hearing threshold shifts, and therefore may contribute to central presbycusis.

Transient Down-Regulation of Sound-Induced c-Fos Protein Expression in the Inferior Colliculus after Ablation of the Auditory Cortex

We tested whether lesions of the excitatory glutamatergic projection from the auditory cortex (AC) to the inferior colliculus (IC) induce plastic changes in neurons of this nucleus. Changes in neuronal activation in the IC deprived unilaterally of the cortico-collicular projection were assessed by quantitative c-Fos immunocytochemistry. Densitometry and stereology measures of sound-induced c-Fos immunoreactivity in the IC showed diminished labeling at 1, 15, 90, and 180 days after lesions to the AC suggesting protein down-regulation, at least up to 15 days post-lesion. Between 15 and 90 days after the lesion, c-Fos labeling recovers, approaching control values at 180 days. Thus, glutamatergic excitation from the cortex maintains sound-induced activity in neurons of the IC. Subdivisions of this nucleus receiving a higher density of cortical innervation such as the dorsal cortex showed greater changes in c-Fos immunoreactivity, suggesting that the anatomical strength of the projection correlates with effect strength. Therefore, after damage of the corticofugal projection, neurons of the IC down-regulate and further recover sound-induced c-Fos protein expression. This may be part of cellular mechanisms aimed at balancing or adapting neuronal responses to altered synaptic inputs.