Phenotypic plasticity of avian embryonic sympathetic neurons grown in a chemically defined medium: direct evidence for noradrenergic and cholinergic properties in the same neurons

Neurotransmitter involvement in development and maintenance of the auditory space map in the guinea pig superior colliculus

Neurotransmitter involvement in development and maintenance of the auditory space map in the guinea pig superior colliculus. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 2941-2953, 1998. The mammalian superior colliculus (SC) is a complex area of the midbrain in terms of anatomy, physiology, and neurochemistry. The SC bears representations of the major sensory modalites integrated with a motor output system. It is implicated with saccade generation, in behavioral responses to novel sensory stimuli and receives innervation from diverse regions of the brain using many neurotransmitter classes. Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (Elvax-40W polymer) was used here to deliver chronically neurotransmitter receptor antagonists to the SC of the guinea pig to investigate the potential role played by the major neurotransmitter systems in the collicular representation of auditory space. Slices of polymer containing different drugs were implanted onto the SC of guinea pigs before the development of the SC azimuthal auditory space map, at approximately 20 days after birth (DAB). A further group of animals was exposed to aminophosphonopentanoic acid (AP5) at approximately 250 DAB. Azimuthal spatial tuning properties of deep layer multiunits of anesthetized guinea pigs were examined approximately 20 days after implantation of the Elvax polymer. Broadband noise bursts were presented to the animals under anechoic, free-field conditions. Neuronal responses were used to construct polar plots representative of the auditory spatial multiunit receptive fields (MURFs). Animals exposed to control polymer could develop a map of auditory space in the SC comparable with that seen in unimplanted normal animals. Exposure of the SC of young animals to AP5, 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione, or atropine, resulted in a reduction in the proportion of spatially tuned responses with an increase in the proportion of broadly tuned responses and a degradation in topographic order. Thus N-methyl--aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA glutamate receptors and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors appear to play vital roles in the development of the SC auditory space map. A group of animals exposed to AP5 beginning at approximately 250 DAB produced results very similar to those obtained in the young group exposed to AP5. Thus NMDA glutamate receptors also seem to be involved in the maintenance of the SC representation of auditory space in the adult guinea pig. Exposure of the SC of young guinea pigs to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor blocking agents produced some but not total disruption of the spatial tuning of auditory MURFs. Receptive fields were large compared with controls, but a significant degree of topographical organization was maintained. GABA receptors may play a role in the development of fine tuning and sharpening of auditory spatial responses in the SC but not necessarily in the generation of topographical order of the these responses.

The expression pattern of the transcription factor Phox2 delineates synaptic pathways of the autonomic nervous system

Many transcription factors, and most prominently among them, homeodomain proteins, are expressed in specific groups of cells in the developing nervous system in patterns that suggest their involvement in neural fate determination. How various aspects of neural identity are controlled by such transcription factors, or sets of them, is still mostly unknown. It has been shown previously that Phox2 is such a homeodomain protein, expressed exclusively in differentiated groups of neurons or their precursors, and that its expression correlated with that of the noradrenaline synthesis enzyme dopamine-beta-hydroxylase. Here we confirm this striking correlation at the single-cell level with the use of an anti-Phox2 antibody. Moreover, we uncover a second, nonmutually exclusive correlative clue to the Phox2 expression pattern: a high proportion of Phox2-expressing cells are involved in, or located in areas involved in, synaptic circuits, i.e., that of the medullary control reflexes of autonomic functions. This suggests that Phox2 could be involved in the establishment of these circuits.

BEN/SC1/DM-GRASP, a homophilic adhesion molecule, is required for in vitro myeloid colony formation by avian hemopoietic progenitors

BEN/SC1/DM-GRASP is a membrane glycoprotein of the immunoglobulin superfamily isolated in the chick by several groups, including ours. Its expression is strictly developmentally regulated in several cell types of the nervous and hemopoietic systems and in certain epithelia. Each of these cell types expresses isoforms of BEN which differ by their level of N-glycosylation and by the presence or absence of the HNK-1 carbohydrate epitope. In the present work, the influence of glycosylation on BEN homophilic binding properties was investigated by two in vitro assays. First, each BEN isoform was covalently coupled to microspheres carrying different fluorescent dyes and an aggregation test was performed. We found that homophilic aggregates form indifferently between the same or different BEN isoforms, showing that glycosylation does not affect BEN homophilic binding properties. This was confirmed in the second test, where the BEN-coated microspheres bound to the neurites of BEN- expressing neurons, irrespective of the isoform considered. The transient expression of the BEN antigen on hemopoietic progenitors prompted us to see whether it might play a role in their proliferation and differentiation. When added to hemopoietic progenitor cells in an in vitro colony formation assay anti-BEN immunoglobulin strongly inhibited myeloid, but not erythroid, colony formation although both types of precursors express the molecule.

Phenotype plasticity and immunocytochemical evidence for ChAT and D beta H co-localization in fetal pig superior cervical ganglion cells

The early expression of the cholinergic phenotype in sympathetic neurons was already studied in superior cervical ganglion cells derived from rat, quail and chicken embryo. In the present work, we set up a neuron culture derived from the superior cervical ganglia of fetal pigs. The yield is 1000 times of that of a neonatal rat [17], 100 times of a 10- to 13-day-old chick embryo [26] and 20 times of a 10-day-old quail embryo [3]. This high yield will greatly facilitate further biochemical studies concerning neuronal differentiation. Using these cells as a model, the phenotype plasticity was studied by both biochemical and immunocytochemical methods in normal physiological medium, in a high KCl (30 mM) medium and in a splenocyte co-culture. The phenotype shift occurs in the normal physiological medium and in the splenocyte co-culture, but not in the high KCl medium. Taking into account the species difference, the fetal pig superior cervical ganglion neurons behave in a comparable manner as reported in earlier studies for other animal models. Moreover, for the first time, using immunocytochemical methods, direct evidence for a co-localization of choline-acetyl-transferase and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase in mammalian fetal sympathetic neurons, at least during a certain period, is given.

Differential regulation of phenotypic expression in a pluripotential neuroblastoma cell line

Our laboratory has recently been involved in investigating factors which influence plasticity of neurotransmitter phenotypic expression both in vivo and in culture. Our previous studies have shown that precursor neuroblasts are pluripotential with respect to neurotransmitter phenotype and respond differentially to microenvironmental signals. In the present study, we examined phenotypic expression in neuroblastoma cells, P2 clone, using the activities of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) as neuronal markers for the cholinergic and catecholaminergic phenotypes, respectively. Cells were plated and grown for 4 days in culture, harvested and frozen for assay of ChAT and TH. Basal activity of ChAT was 2.47 +/- 0.22 nmoles Ach formed /h/mg protein and that of TH was 5.23 +/- 0.41 pmoles CO2 formed /h/mg protein in control cultures. When intracellular cAMP levels were increased by addition to the growth medium of 10 micrograms/ml prostaglandin E1 (PGE1; a receptor-mediated enhancer of adenylate cyclase activity) or 200 micrograms/ml RO20-1724 (an inhibitor of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase) the activity of TH was increased 340- and 423-fold, respectively. In marked contrast, the activity of ChAT was not affected by either agent. Double staining immunocytochemical examination demonstrated that both ChAT and TH were colocalized in the same cell. The molecular mechanism whereby catecholaminergic expression exclusively is affected in this cell model is currently under investigation. We conclude that (1) P2 neuroblastoma is a pluripotential cell line, (2) phenotypic expression in a homogenous cell population, such as P2 neuroblastoma, is differentially regulated. Moreover, this cell line is a unique model for studying the molecular mechanisms of phenotypic expression and neuronal plasticity.

Selective modulation of cholinergic properties in cultures of avian embryonic sympathetic ganglia

We have studied the expression of catecholaminergic and cholinergic phenotypes in sympathetic ganglia removed from 7- to 10-day-old quail embryos and grown in vitro under different conditions. Quantitative data were obtained by measuring the conversion of (3H) tyrosine and (3H) choline to catecholamines (CA) and acetylcholine (ACh), respectively. In explant cultures, large amounts of both neurotransmitters were synthesized from the onset, but CA generally predominated, the molar ratios of CA:ACh being, on average, of the order of 2:1. If the ganglia were dissociated before plating, there was a selective increase in ACh synthesis (three- to fivefold) such that the CA:ACh ratio fell strikingly. The early expression of the cholinergic phenotype appears to be species-specific in that, under identical conditions, dissociated cell cultures of newborn mouse superior cervical ganglia were overwhelmingly catecholaminergic (CA:ACh ratio of approximately 40:1) and ACh synthesis was only just detectable. Addition of veratridine (1.5 microM) either to explant or to dissociated cell cultures of embryonic quail sympathetic ganglia barely altered CA-synthesizing ability; in contrast, ACh synthesis and accumulation were stimulated about threefold. This effect, which we found to correspond to a quantitatively similar increase in the activity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), was completely blocked by tetrodotoxin, indicating that it was due to Na(+)-dependent depolarization. A preferential stimulation of ACh production was also observed when the concentration of K+ was raised to 20 mM. Veratridine treatment of cultures of presumptive sympathoblasts, in the form of sclerotome-associated neural crest cells, had identical effects. Our results reveal the quantitative importance of ACh-related properties in avian sympathetic ganglia from the earliest stages of their development and suggest that depolarization may be one of the factors selectively enhancing expression of the cholinergic phenotype during ontogeny. In these respects, the neurochemical differentiation of sympathetic neurons unfolds according to dissimilar scenarios in birds and mammals.