Jan Evangelista Purkinje, a brilliant, multifaceted Czech biologist: nerve tissue / Jan Evangelista Purkinje, um brilhante multifacetado biólogo checo: tecido nervoso

Jan Evangelista Purkinje was a Czech physician with an exceptional capacity for innovative thinking, and he was one of the fathers of experimental physiology, experimental pharmacology, experimental psychology, histology, embryology, and physical anthropology. Several achievements are named after him, from his prodigious productivity. Of special interest of this paper was his pioneering role in the rise of experimental physiology, microscopical anatomy, and histological methods by the 1830´s that allowed him define more accurate data concerning the structure of nerve tissue of animals and humans such as the now known "Purkinje's cells" and others cells of the brain. He investigated the structure of neuronal processes, including the dendrites. Purkinje recognized possible functional differences between a variety of types of neurons and speculated about their interrelations. He was one of the great geniuses of science.

Jan Evangelista Purkinje foi um médico checo com excepcional capacidade de pensamento inovador e um dos pais da fisiologia experimental, farmacologia experimental, psicologia experimental, histologia, embriologia e antropologia física. Várias conquistas receberam o nome dele, de sua produtividade prodigiosa. De interesse especial deste trabalho enaltece-se o seu papel pioneiro no surgimento da fisiologia experimental, anatomia microscópica e métodos histológicos na década de 1830. Isso permitiu que ele definisse dados mais precisos sobre a estrutura do tecido nervoso de animais e humanos, como as agora conhecidas "células de Purkinje" e outras células do cérebro. Ele investigou a estrutura dos processos neuronais, incluindo os dendritos. Purkinje reconheceu possíveis diferenças funcionais entre uma variedade de tipos de neurônios e especulou sobre suas inter-relações. Ele foi um dos grandes gênios da ciência.

Immunohistochemistry of GluR1 subunits of AMPA receptors of rat cerebellar nerve cells

The localization of GluR1 subunits of ionotropic glutamate receptors in the glial cells and inhibitory neurons of cerebellar cortex and their association with the climbing and parallel fibers, and basket cell axons were studied. Samples of P14 and P21 rat cerebellar cortex were exposed to a specific antibody against GluR1 subunit(s) ofAMPA receptors and were examined with confocal laser scanning microscopy. GluR1 strong immunoreactivity was confined to Purkinje cell and the molecular layer. Weak GluR1 immunoreactivity was observed surrounding some Golgi cells in the granule cell layer. Intense GluR1 immunoreactivity was localized around Purkinje, basket, and stellate cells. Purkinje cells expressed strong GluR1 immunoreactivity surrounding the cell body, primary dendritic trunk and secondary and tertiary spiny den dritic branches. Marked immunofluorescent staining was also detected in the Bergmann glial fibers at the level of middle and outer third molecular layer. Positive immunofluorescence staining was also observed surrounding basket and stellate cells, and in the capillary wall. These findings suggest the specific localization of GluR1 subunits ofAMPA receptors in Bergmann glial cells, inhibitory cerebellar neurons, and the associated excitatory glutamatergic circuits formed by climbing and parallel fibers, and by the inhibitory basket cell axons.

Immunoelectronic localization of myosin-Va in rat cerebellum

Myosin V is an unconventional type of actin-binding myosin that participates in cytoplasmic organelle transport. Although this unconventional myosin has been extensively studied, its subcellular localization in the mammalian cerebellum has not been determined. In this work, we used an antibody against the tail domain of the myosin-Va heavy chain and a secondary antibody labeled with protein A-gold (15 nm) to study the subcellular distribution of this protein. Myosin-Va was found in the cytoplasm, where it was associated with a filament (probably actin). This protein was also detected in the plasma membrane of axons and dendrites in the molecular layer in rat cerebellum.