Tonically active GABA - A receptors and electrical properties of
cerebellar granule cells in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down Syndrome
In agreement with predictions from these models, we show that minimal changes in the shape of the environment in which rats are exploring can substantially alter correlated activity patterns among place - modulated
granule cells in the dentate gyrus.
When a
new granule cell neuron is made in the dentate gyrus, it needs to get «wired in,» by forming synapses, or connections, in order to contribute to circuit function.
Engin E, Zarnowska ED, Benke D, Tsvetkov E, Sigal M, Keist R, Bolshakov VY, Pearce RA, Rudolph U. Tonic inhibitory control of dentate
gyrus granule cells by α5 - containing GABAA receptors reduces memory interference.
We confirmed that the excited small round cells were immunoreactive for L1 (right column of Fig. 3), which is known to be a cerebellar
granule cell marker [19].
In precocial species, including guinea pigs and degus,
most granule cells are generated prenatally.
Cerebellar
granule cells form part of a brain circuit with a strikingly regular, almost crystalline, structure.
When the researchers blocked the NuRD complex, cells in the cerebellum
called granule cells failed to form connections with other nerve cells, the Purkinje neurons.
Some FGF2 - treated cells also expressed markers for the rhombic lip — the structure from
which granule cells develop and migrate, and a marker specific to migrating granule precursors by week seven.
Moreover, cells were seen to migrate and extend fibers that bent to form the T - shape characteristic of
granule cell parallel fibers.
The majority of
DG granule cells were not active during engram labeling (blue, non-engram cells).
VEGF modulates NMDA receptors activity in cerebellar
granule cells through Src - family kinases before synapse formation.
Almost all of these small neurons were identified to be cerebellar
granule cells based on their morphology and that they were stained by anti-neural cell adhesion molecule L1 (Fig. 1A)[19].
For the detection of specific antigens, the following primary antibodies were used: mouse monoclonal anti-Tuj1 (Covance, Princeton, NJ, USA) as a neuronal marker, rabbit anti-L1 (kindly provided from Dr. Asou)[52] and rat monoclonal anti-L1 (Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA)
as granule cell markers, rabbit anti-calbindin D28K (Millipore) as a Purkinje cell marker, and rabbit anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, DAKO, Denmark) as an astrocyte marker.
Each tab in the spreadsheet represents human or chimpanzee expression data from anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; layers 3, 5), primary motor cortex (M1; layers 3, 5), primary sensory cortex (S1; layers 3, 4, 5), primary visual cortex (V1; layers 3, 4a, 4b, 4c, 5), caudate nucleus (CN; gray matter), or cerebellum (CB;
granule cell layer).
Simulating Spinal Border Cells and Cerebellar
Granule Cells under Locomotion — A Case Study of Spinocerebellar Information Processing..
They found that D - serine was necessary for the maintenance of long - term potentiation in the adult hippocampal dentate gyrus and for full NMDAR activity
on granule cells.
We have tested this hypothesis by generating and analyzing a mouse strain that lacks the gene encoding the essential subunit of the N - methyl - d - aspartate (NMDA) receptor NR1, specifically in dentate
gyrus granule cells.
Dentate granule cells are part of a circuit that receive electrical signals from the entorhinal cortex, a cortical brain region that processes sensory and spatial input from other areas of the brain.
Overstreet - Wadiche and UAB colleagues posed a basic question: Since the number of neurons in the dentate gyrus increases by neurogenesis while the number of neurons in the cortex remains the same, does the brain create additional synapses from the cortical neurons to the new
granule cells, or do some cortical neurons transfer their connections from mature granule cells to the new granule cells?
Their answer, garnered through a series of electrophysiology, dendritic spine density and immunohistochemistry experiments with mice that were genetically altered to produce either more new neurons or kill off newborn neurons, supports the second model — some of the cortical neurons transfer their connections from mature
granule cells to the new granule cells.
For decades neuroscientists have been building theories of brain function despite a near total lack of data on the most numerous neurons of all: cerebellar
granule cells.
By painstakingly recording the activity of individual
granule cells with microelectrodes in a living electric fish, neuroscientist Nate Sawtell of Columbia University's Kavli Institute for Brain Science, where I am currently a Ph.D. candidate, has uncovered some of the first direct evidence in support of the 1960s theory that granule cells may enhance the cerebellum's ability to learn skills such as fine movements.
The cells under investigation were
granule cells (GCs) in the rat's dentate gyrus (DG).
These cells also showed early markers that are specific to developing Purkinje cells,
granule cells, or deep cerebellar projection neurons — all types of neurons only found in the cerebellum.
These results provide evidence that NMDA receptors in
the granule cells of the dentate gyrus play a crucial role in the process of pattern separation.
Here we identify protein kinase N1 (PKN1) as a novel key player in fine - tuning the balance between axonal outgrowth and presynaptic differentiation in the parallel fiber — forming (PF - forming) cerebellar
granule cells (Cgcs).
(A) As can be seen in the upper panels, most of Tuj1 - positive small neurons were immunoreactive for L1, which indicates that they are
granule cells.
dendritic spine density on
granule cells is decreased on average by 17 % compared to in wild - type mice
in fascia dentate, spine density is significantly decreased on dendrites of
granule cells; dendritic spines are significantly enlarged; dendritic width is similar to controls