Spontaneous recovery of the injured higher olfactory center in the terrestrial slug limax

FxRIamide regulates the oscillatory activity in the olfactory center of the terrestrial slug Limax

The terrestrial slug Limax acquires odor-aversion memory. The procerebrum is the secondary olfactory center in the brain of Limax, and functions as the locus of the memory formation and storage. The change in the local field potential oscillation in the procerebrum reflects the information processing of the learned odor. However, it is not fully understood what factors, intrinsic or extrinsic in the procerebrum, alter the oscillatory activity and how it is regulated. In the present study, we found that FxRIamide (Phe-x-Arg-Ile-NH₂), which was previously identified as a myomodulatory peptide in the gastropod Fusinus ferrugineus, downregulates the oscillatory frequency of the local field potential oscillation in the procerebrum of Limax. FxRIamide peptides were encoded by two distinct transcripts, which exhibit partially overlapping expression patterns in the brain. Immunohistochemical staining revealed a scattered distribution of FxRIamide-expressing neurons in the cell mass layer of the procerebrum, in addition to the ramified innervation of FxRIamidergic neurons in the neuropile layers. Down-regulation of the oscillatory frequency of the local field potential was explained by the inhibitory effects of FxRIamide on the bursting neurons, which are the kernels of the local field potential oscillation in the procerebrum. Our study revealed the previously unidentified role of FxRIamide peptides in the network of interneurons of Limax, and these peptides may play a role in the mnemonic functions of the procerebrum.

Context-Dependent Passive Avoidance Learning in the Terrestrial Slug Limax

The terrestrial slug Limax has been used as a model animal for studying the neural mechanisms underlying associative olfactory learning. The slug also innately exhibits negative phototactic behavior using its eyes. In the present study, we developed an experimental paradigm for quantification of slug's negative phototaxis behavior, and investigated whether the nature of the negative phototaxis can be modified by learning experience. The experimental set-up consists of light and dark compartments, between which the slug can move freely. During conditioning, the slug was placed in the light compartment, and an aversive stimulus (quinidine sulfate solution) was applied when it reached the dark compartment. After a single conditioning session, the time to reach the dark compartment significantly increased when it was tested following 24 hr or one week. Protein synthesis inhibition immediately following the conditioning impaired the memory retention at one week but not at 24 hr. The retrieval of the memory was context-dependent, as the time to reach the dark compartment did not significantly increase if the slug was placed on a floor with a different texture in the memory retention test. If the aversive stimulus was applied when the slug was in the light compartment, the time to reach the dark compartment did not increase after 24 hr. This is the first report demonstrating the capability of the slug to form context-dependent passive avoidance memory that can be established in a single conditioning session.

Invertebrate Oncology: Diseases, Diagnostics, and Treatment

Neoplasia is a documented occurrence across invertebrate taxa, but challenges remain with regard to tumor diagnosis and treatment. Literature reports of neoplasia are frequent in mollusks and insects, infrequent in Cnidaria and crustaceans, and are yet to be documented in Porifera and echinoderms. A significant contribution could be made by veterinary practitioners documenting and treating neoplasms in invertebrates. Traditional methods of veterinary diagnosis are encouraged, but the anatomy and tissue biology of each invertebrate species need to be considered. Most neoplasms described in the invertebrate literature have been considered benign, making external lesions potentially amenable to surgical resection.

Excitatory effects of GABA on procerebrum neurons in a slug

Classical neurotransmitters, such as glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), often have different actions on invertebrate neurons from those reported for vertebrate neurons. In the terrestrial mollusk Limax, glutamate was found to function as an inhibitory transmitter in the procerebrum (PC), but it has not yet been clarified how GABA acts in the PC. We thus examined what effects GABA exerts on PC neurons in the present study. For this purpose, we first applied GABA to isolated PC preparations and recorded postsynaptic currents and potentials in PC neurons. The GABA application reduced the amplitude of inhibitory postsynaptic currents and depolarization-induced outward currents recorded in nonbursting neurons and increased the number of spontaneous spikes of nonbursting neurons. However, direct GABA-induced currents were not observed in either bursting or nonbursting neurons. These results suggest a potential direct effect of GABA on outward currents resulting in enhanced excitability of PC neurons. Next, we measured the change in [Ca2+]i in cultured PC neurons by application of GABA. The GABA application increased spontaneous Ca2+ events in cultured neurons. These Ca2+ events were ascribable to the influx of extracellular Ca2+. We then confirmed the presence of GABA and GABA receptors in the PC. The GABA-like immunoreactivity was observed in the neuropil layers of the PC, and the mRNAs for both GABAA and GABAB receptors were expressed in the PC. In particular, GABAB receptor mRNA, rather than GABAA, was found to be more abundantly expressed in the PC. These results suggest that GABA functions as an excitatory modulator for PC neurons via mainly GABAB receptors.

Regulation and restoration of motoneuronal synaptic transmission during neuromuscular regeneration in the pulmonate snail Helisoma trivolvis

Regeneration of motor systems involves reestablishment of central control networks, reinnervation of muscle targets by motoneurons, and reconnection of neuromodulatory circuits. Still, how these processes are integrated as motor function is restored during regeneration remains ill defined. Here, we examined the mechanisms underlying motoneuronal regeneration of neuromuscular synapses related to feeding movements in the pulmonate snail Helisoma trivolvis. Neurons B19 and B110, although activated during different phases of the feeding pattern, innervate similar sets of muscles. However, the percentage of muscle fibers innervated, the efficacy of excitatory junction potentials, and the strength of muscle contractions were different for each cell's specific connections. After peripheral nerve crush, a sequence of transient electrical and chemical connections formed centrally within the buccal ganglia. Neuromuscular synapse regeneration involved a three-phase process: the emergence of spontaneous synaptic transmission (P1), the acquisition of evoked potentials of weak efficacy (P2), and the establishment of functional reinnervation (P3). Differential synaptic efficacy at muscle contacts was recapitulated in cell culture. Differences in motoneuronal presynaptic properties (i.e., quantal content) were the basis of disparate neuromuscular synapse function, suggesting a role for retrograde target influences. We propose a homeostatic model of molluscan motor system regeneration. This model has three restoration events: (1) transient central synaptogenesis during axonal outgrowth, (2) intermotoneuronal inhibitory synaptogenesis during initial neuromuscular synapse formation, and (3) target-dependent regulation of neuromuscular junction formation.

Spontaneous regeneration of the central nervous system in gastropods

Of all organs in mammals including humans, the brain has the most limited regenerative capacity after injury or damage. In spite of extensive efforts to treat ischemic/stroke injury of the brain, thus far no reliable therapeutic method has been developed. However, some molluscan species show remarkable brain regenerative ability and can achieve full functional recovery following injury. The terrestrial pulmonates are equipped with a highly developed olfactory center, called the procerebrum, which is involved in olfactory discrimination and odor-aversion learning. Recent studies revealed that the procerebrum of the land slug can spontaneously recover structurally and functionally relatively soon after injury. Surprisingly, no exogenous interventions are required for this reconstitutive repair. The neurogenesis continues in the procerebrum in adult slugs as in the hippocampus and the olfactory bulb of mammals, and the reconstitutive regeneration seems to be mediated by enhanced neurogenesis. In this review, we discuss the relationship between neurogenesis and the regenerative ability of the brain, and also the evolutionary origin of the brain structures in which adult neurogenesis has been observed.

DNA endoreplication in the brain neurons during body growth of an adult slug

Endoreplication is DNA synthesis without cell division. Giant neurons observed in the brains of mollusks are thought to be generated as a result of DNA endoreplication. It has been hypothesized that neuronal size becomes larger in parallel with an increase in body size and that DNA endoreplication is involved in this process to meet the increasing demand for macromolecules in neurons. There is, however, no experimental evidence for this hypothesis to date. In the present study, we investigated the following quantitatively: (1) the size of the brain and each ganglion, (2) the size of identified neurons, (3) the total number of neurons undergoing DNA endoreplication, (4) the total number of the neurons containing a cardioexcitatory peptide, and (5) the gene expression level per neuron, using terrestrial slugs whose body growth was regulated through the amount of food supplied in the laboratory. The body growth was accompanied by increases in the sizes of both neurons and ganglia and triggered more frequent DNA endoreplication events in each ganglion of the growth-promoted slugs, without increasing the total number of neurons. Increase in the neuronal size also involved the increase in the amount of transcripts expressed in a single neuron. This is the first quantitative evidence showing that the DNA endoreplication, neuronal size, and gene expression are increased concomitantly with body growth in adult mollusks.

Two pairs of tentacles and a pair of procerebra: optimized functions and redundant structures in the sensory and central organs involved in olfactory learning of terrestrial pulmonates

Terrestrial pulmonates can learn olfactory-aversion tasks and retain them in their long-term memory. To elucidate the cellular mechanisms underlying learning and memory, researchers have focused on both the peripheral and central components of olfaction: two pairs of tentacles (the superior and inferior tentacles) and a pair of procerebra, respectively. Data from tentacle-amputation experiments showed that either pair of tentacles is sufficient for olfactory learning. Results of procerebrum lesion experiments showed that the procerebra are necessary for olfactory learning but that either one of the two procerebra, rather than both, is used for each olfactory learning event. Together, these data suggest that there is a redundancy in the structures of terrestrial pulmonates necessary for olfactory learning. In our commentary we exemplify and discuss functional optimization and structural redundancy in the sensory and central organs involved in olfactory learning and memory in terrestrial pulmonates.

Effects of tentacle amputation and regeneration on the morphology and activity of the olfactory center of the terrestrial slug Limax valentianus

The tentacles of pulmonates regenerate spontaneously following amputation. The regenerated tentacle is equipped with all the elements necessary for normal olfactory functioning, and the slugs can behave as well as they did before the tentacle amputation. However, it is not known what changes occur to the olfactory center procerebrum in the brain at the morphological and physiological levels. Here, we investigated the innervation of tentacular nerves into the procerebrum by examining the size of the terminal mass (input layer from tentacular nerves) of the procerebrum and also by staining afferent nerves immunohistochemically at 15, 58 and 75 days following unilateral amputation of the superior and inferior tentacles. The size of the terminal mass was significantly decreased, and the Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH2ergic (FMRFamidergic) afferent nerves disappeared by 15 days following the tentacle amputation. However, the size of the terminal mass had recovered substantially by 58 days, as the tentacle regenerated. The FMRFamidergic innervation into the cerebral ganglion was also restored by this time. An extended recovery (75 days), however, did not result in any further increase in the size of the terminal mass. We also recorded the local field potential (LFP) oscillation in the procerebrum. We found that the oscillatory frequency of the LFP had decreased at 15 days following the tentacle amputation but had recovered at 58 and 75 days. These results suggest that the amputation and regrowth of the tentacle are accompanied by the respective degeneration and re-innervation of olfactory nerves, and these changes in the innervation status affect the basal state of LFP oscillation.