Neuronal regulation of muscle properties and the trophic substances

[My research life: from synaptic transmission to behavior]

I have studied signal transmission at synapses and the effects of drugs on it at the molecular and cellular levels. Specific areas of research interest are outlined here. 1) Electrophysiological experiments in cats and rabbits suggested that a new type of analgesic, the phenothiazine derivative levomepromazine, exerts analgesic effects by depressing emotional responses accompanying the sensation of pain. 2) It was hypothesized that motoneurons had long-term effects on muscle cell membrane properties, in addition to controlling moment-to-moment activities. The substance to recover the post-denervation changes in muscle properties in culture was partially purified from mouse nerve extract, which suggested that trophic influences were exerted by substances released from motoneurons. 3) Muscles innervated by adrenergic fibers had sites responsive to acetylcholine as well as to adrenaline in early life in chicks, but only the adrenaline-responsive sites remained during development. Acetylcholine receptor clusters on Xenopus muscles were concentrated at the cholinergic neuromuscular junctions by the movement of receptors from outside the junctions during development. The passive diffusion-trap mechanism explained the accumulation of synaptic receptors at synapses. 4) We found two endocytic pathways and pools of synaptic vesicles contributing to low- and high-frequency synaptic transmission at Drosophila nerve terminals. We then identified two Ca2+ channels designated for the low- and high-frequency endocytosis of synaptic vesicles, straightjacket Ca2+ channels in the active zone and La3+-sensitive Ca2+ channels in the inactive zone at the terminals, respectively. Recently, Drosophila melanogaster has been used as a model for studying the social brain, and the heat avoidance response of the flies was found to be socially enhanced. Future studies are expected to reveal mechanisms underlying social brain functions at the gene level.

Effects of neuron-conditioned medium and fetal calf serum content on glial growth in dissociated cultures

The influence of the microenvironment as assessed by medium conditioned by 6-day-old chick embryo neurons in culture and of the nutrients derived from fetal bovine serum was evaluated in cultures of primary chick embryo glial cells. Glia-enriched cultures from 15-day-old chick embryo were incubated from culture days 3-9 with various concentrations of neuron-conditioned medium, with or without 10% fetal bovine serum in the final culture medium. Also, glial growth was studied in cultures with 5%, 10% or 20% fetal bovine serum in the medium. Glutamine synthetase and 2',3',-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase were used as astrocytic and oligodendrocytic markers, respectively. Cultures were harvested at day 9. The presence of neuron-conditioned medium in the cultures was associated with persistence of immature glioblast-like cells. This persistence of glial immature cells was also reflected by the lower glutamine synthetase activity in the cultures with neuron-conditioned medium as compared to cultures with neuron-conditioned medium and fetal calf serum. In cultures with 5% neuron-conditioned medium without fetal bovine serum, cyclic nucleotide phosphohydrolase activity was increased. We are assuming that the input of neurons to the microenvironment is partially mediated through the neuron-conditioned medium. Thus, the present findings show that neurons influence the growth and differentiation of glial cells in culture.

Participation of protein synthesis in development of supersensitivity in cultured rat vas deferens

Organ culture of rat vas deferens produced supersensitivity to norepinephrine and acetylcholine in contractile response without change in alpha 1-adrenergic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. The development of supersensitivity was inhibited by low temperature and protein synthesis inhibitors. However, protein synthesis inhibitor had no significant effect on the receptors. These findings suggested that the supersensitivity may be induced by synthesis of protein(s) which have a stimulatory effect in a process(es) after activation of receptor to contraction.

Glial cell growth in culture: influence of living cell substrata

The role of the microenvironment in the growth of glial cells in culture has been the topic of ongoing research in this laboratory. Recently, we reported a study on the contribution of fibroblast cell substratum and extracellular matrix in glial cell growth. In the present study we report data concerning a) the influence of a neuronal-enriched living substratum from chick embryo on the growth of glial cells derived from chick embryonic brain and plated onto the substratum; b) the influence of dissociated cells derived from chick embryonic brain on the growth of established glial cells in culture, and c) the influence of dissociated cells derived from adult rat spinal cord on the growth of established glial cells from newborn rat in culture. The activities of glutamine synthetase (GS) and 2', 3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase (CNP) were the biochemical probes determined for astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, respectively. We found that glial growth as assessed by both enzyme activities, was enhanced when a nervous tissue derived cell population was plated onto a glial-enriched substratum, whereas glial growth was inhibited when the neuronal-enriched population was the cell substratum.