Early postnatal muscle contractile activity regulates the carbonic anhydrase phenotype of proprioceptive neurons in young and mature mice: evidence for a critical period in development.

Carbonic anhydrase activity, a marker of mouse proprioceptive neurons in adult dorsal root ganglia, is first detectable in the perinatal period, increases until postnatal day 60 and remains stable in adulthood. The onset of carbonic anhydrase staining begins after the neurons have made connections with their targets suggesting that neuron-target interactions regulate carbonic anhydrase phenotype development. To examine this possibility, we first analysed carbonic anhydrase expression in mdx mice which are characterized by a massive but reversible degeneration of skeletal muscle concomitant with the carbonic anhydrase ontogenesis. Neuronal carbonic anhydrase expression in mdx mice stopped developing when the period of muscular degeneration-regeneration began. Furthermore this alteration persisted during adulthood. We then analysed carbonic anhydrase expression in fifth lumbar dorsal root ganglion of developing control mice before and after surgical procedures that might interfere with central and peripheral target influences on dorsal root ganglion neurons. Central disconnection (dorsal rhizotomy) did not affect the development of carbonic anhydrase activity. Disrupting neuron-peripheral target interactions by sciatic nerve transection or blocking muscle contraction by tenotomy stopped the development of neuronal carbonic anhydrase content. Finally, recovery was monitored following sciatic nerve crush. In adults, recovery of carbonic anhydrase activity was obtained after functional recuperation; similar manipulations during the first month of life induced irreversible alteration of the carbonic anhydrase phenotype. These results show that the development of carbonic anhydrase activity in proprioceptive neurons is regulated by neuron-muscle interactions (i.e. muscle contraction). They also provide evidence for a critical period in the development of the carbonic anhydrase phenotype. We suggest that these two mechanisms are responsible for the altered carbonic anhydrase phenotype of the dorsal root ganglion neurons in mdx mice, a model of human muscular dystrophy.

Skeletal muscle contraction modulates carbonic anhydrase phenotype in adult mouse dorsal root ganglion neurons.

Recently carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity was demonstrated in adult mammalian proprioceptive neurons of the lumbar dorsal root ganglion (DRG). To assess if neuron-target interactions govern the neuronal CA phenotype, we examined how various experimental procedures which modify the interactions of these neurons with their central and peripheral targets, affect mouse L5 lumbar DRG CA activity. In normal mice and under central disconnection, carbonic anhydrase activity was detected in 30% of neurons. One day after sciatic nerve transaction the percentage of CA-positive neurons decreased to around 50% of that in controls, although both the total number of neurons per ganglion and glial CA content were unchanged. The pattern of CA activity then remained stable until at least 30 days post-operative. All experimental procedures used to block muscle contraction, including ventral rhizotomy, tenotomy, local application to the nerve of both tetrodotoxin and lidocaine or intramuscular injection of the botulinum toxin, produced a significant decrease in neuronal CA staining. Moreover, axonal transport block by vinblastine induced a decrease in CA-positive neurons. These results show that functional neuron-muscle interactions independent of DRG-spinal Cord influences contribute to the regulation of CA activity in lumbar DRG neurons. This modulation could be under the control of unidentified activity-dependent molecular mechanism involving stimuli through the skeletal muscle contraction, inducing in turn, the synthesis of a CA-regulating factor(s) retrogradely transported to the neuronal cell body and/or nuclei.

Developmental regulation of carbonic anhydrase expression in mouse dorsal root ganglia.

The development of proprioceptive neurons in mammalian dorsal root ganglia (DRG) remains poorly documented since few specific markers for these neurons are known. Recent studies suggest that carbonic anhydrase (CA) is a specific marker of this functionally defined neuronal population. The present study was designed to investigate the development of CA staining in sensory neurons. We investigated CA reactivity in mouse lumbar DRGs from embryonic day 13 (E13) to postnatal day 100 (P100) using a modified cytoenzymatic Hansson method. Neuronal CA reactivity was first detected during the perinatal stage (1-3% of DRG neurons) and increased progressively from P0 to P60 when it reached a plateau (about 30-33% of DRG neurons). Statistical morphometric analysis was used to define whether CA staining identifies the same population(s) during development. The results demonstrated that, whatever the stage of development, reactive neuronal cells are included in the well-defined large type A population. The possibility that neuronal CA expression is a reliable marker of the 'functional activity' of the proprioceptive neurons in mammals is discussed. The late development expression of the enzyme (after target innervation) raises the possibility of a regulation of the CA phenotype by neuron-target interactions.

The use of cognitive style mapping as a predictor for academic success of first-semester diploma nursing students.

This study determined the relationship between the components of the cognitive map and the diploma nursing student's successful academic completion of the first semester. This ex post facto study applied the Modified Hill Cognitive Style Model (MHCSM) instrument; the final grade, the dependent variable, was intercorrelated with the instrument's 28 mapping elements. Data analysis indicated three positively correlated predictors: a preference for finding meaning from written words, for independent problem-solving, and for a logical deductive approach in decision-making. Four negatively correlated predictors included a preference for finding meaning from the spoken word, for finding meaning from sight, for problem-solving with peers, and for categorical reasoning. Implications applicable to nursing education are included.