Identification of a biphasic signaling pathway involved in ischemic resistance of the hippocampal dentate gyrus.

Dentate gyrus is usually assumed to be resistant to ischemia. However, the mechanisms underlying this functional plasticity are not fully understood. Herein, we aimed at identifying a neuroprotective mechanism in the dentate gyrus of the adult rat after global ischemia. Cyclic AMP response element (CRE)-binding protein (CREB), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMKIV) are known to be mediators of neuronal survival and plasticity. Involvement of CaMKIV, BDNF and CREB in ischemic resistance was therefore examined using intracerebroventricular injections of pharmacological agents such as inhibitors, antibodies and consensus oligonucleotides followed by immunohistochemical and Western blot analysis. We provide evidence that ischemia triggers activation of a biphasic pathway during the resistance period of dentate neurons: (1) CaMKIV mediates the early phosphorylation of CREB which drives a prominent synthesis of BDNF; (2) this BDNF synthesis, in turn, induces a second peak of CREB phosphorylation which is required for the maintenance of BDNF synthesis. In addition, we show that: (1) impairment of these transduction signals by the pharmacological agents causes tissular damages and apoptotic deaths in the post-ischemic dentate gyrus; (2) some similar disturbances also occur beyond the resistance period in the dentate gyrus of untreated ischemic rats; (3) these disturbing effects are mainly observed in the suprapyramidal dentate subfield. Collectively, the present results suggest that activation of the CaMKIV/CREB/BDNF pathway plays principally an early protective role in the suprapyramidal subfield of the dentate gyrus.

Developmental modifications of olivocerebellar topography: the granuloprival cerebellum reveals multiple routes from the inferior olive.

Correct function of neural circuits depends on highly organized neuronal connections, refined from less precise projections through synaptic elimination, collateral regression, or neuronal death. We examined regressive phenomena that define olivocerebellar topography during maturation from Purkinje cell polyinnervation to monoinnervation. We used bilateral retrograde tracing to determine the source of olivocerebellar afferents to posterior vermis lobules VII-VIII in a model of retained immature Purkinje cell polyinnervation, the granuloprival cerebellum. In controls, labelled neurons were found only in the contralateral inferior olive (ION) clustered in a small ventromedial locus that is congruent with known olivocerebellar topography. In granuloprival animals, olivary labelling appeared more dispersed and was present in homologous ipsilateral regions. Double-labelled neurons were never seen. Retrograde tracing following unilateral olivocerebellar transection in adult granuloprival rats revealed: 1) the origin of the normal (remaining) path projecting through the contralateral inferior peduncle was more localized than in irradiated nonpedunculotomized rats, 2) a small double-crossed path, and 3) a projection that ascends the peduncle ipsilateral to the ION of origin, part of which crosses the midline within the cerebellum. Electrophysiological and immunohistochemical assessment in the neonatal cerebellum revealed that transcommissural paths are not present during development but sprout within the irradiated cerebellum. Therefore, the olivocerebellar projection in the granuloprival rat, as a model of the immature path, shows parasagittal organization similar to that of controls in its normally crossed path but possesses additional abnormal projections. Thus, maturation of olivocerebellar topography involves removal of whole developmental paths to define laterality plus synapse elimination within largely predefined parasagittal zones.

HRP injection in lobule VI-VII of the cerebellar cortex reveals a bilateral inferior olive projection in granuloprival rats.

In immature rats, Purkinje cells receive synapses from multiple climbing fibers. During development, this multi-innervation regresses and only one climbing fiber innervates each Purkinje cell in the adult. The multi-innervation of immature rats is maintained in the adult if the precursors of the cerebellar granule cells are destroyed by early postnatal X-irradiation. The present study was undertaken to determine the origin of climbing fibers projecting to lobule VI-VII of the cerebellum in X-irradiated granuloprival rats. Olivary neurons were labelled by retrograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase, which was injected by iontophoresis in the right vermis of lobule VI-VII. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the inferior olive were made for granuloprival and control rats. No significant variation in the shape and dimension of the olive was observed between the two groups. Labeled cells were found in the middle part of the median accessory olive (MAO). In control rats, stained cells were found only in the contralateral MAO, whereas in the granuloprival rats they were located in both the contralateral and the ipsilateral MAO. Homologous zones were marked in control and granuloprival rats in the middle part of MAO. In granuloprival rats, there was a symmetry in the distribution of the stained cells in the ipsi- and contralateral MAO along the three axes. Therefore, polyinnervation involves homologous regions of both inferior olivary nuclei.