Neuroscience
Chapters
page 1 of 2 pages | next »Brain Stimulation as a Therapy for Epilepsy
Jeffrey H. Goodman
The failure of current antiepileptic therapies to adequately treat a significant number of epileptic patients highlights the need for the development of new treatments for the disorder. A new strategy that is currently being developed is to deliver electrical stimulation directly to the brain ...
Cortical Dysplasia and Epilepsy: Animal Models
Philip A. Schwartzkroin, Steven N. Roper and H. Jurgen Wenzel
Cortical dysplasia syndromes – those conditions of abnormal brain structure/organiza- tion that arise during aberrant brain development – frequently involve epileptic sei- zures. Neuropathological and neuroradiological analyses have provided descriptions and categorizations based on gross anatom...
Eph Receptors and Ephrin Ligands in Axon Guidance
Michael Reber, Robert Hindges and Greg Lemke
The Eph tyrosine kinase receptors (a receptor family named for the expression of Eph in an erythropoietin-producing human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line) make up the largest family of receptor tyrosine kinases. In vertebrates, 14 Eph receptor members have been identified, divided in two sub-grou...
Febrile Seizures and Mechanisms of Epileptogenesis: Insights from an Animal Model
Roland A. Bender, Celine Dubé and Tallie Z. Baram
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most prevalent type of human epilepsy, yet the causes for its development, and the processes involved, are not known. Most individuals with TLE do not have a family history, suggesting that this limbic epilepsy is a consequence of acquired rather than genetic caus...
From the Discovery of Neuropilin to the Determination of its Adhesion Sites
Hajime Fujisawa
Neuropilin (NRP) and plexin (Plex) that are now known to be semaphorin receptors were initially identified as antigens for monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that bound to particular neuropiles and plexiform layers of the Xenopus tadpole optic tectum, several years before the discovery ...
Functional Implications of Seizure-Induced Neurogenesis
Helen E. Scharfman
The neurobiological doctrine governing the concept of neurogenesis has undergone a revolution in the past few years. What was once considered dubious is now well accepted: new neurons are born in the adult brain. Science fiction is quickly becoming a reality as scientists discover ways to convert...
Functional Role of Proinflammatory and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines in Seizures
Annamaria Vezzani, Daniela Moneta, Cristina Richichi, Carlo Perego and Maria G. De Simoni
Recent evidence has shown that proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory molecules are synthesized during epileptic activity in glial cells in CNS regions where seizures initiate and spread. These molecules are released and interact with specific receptors on neurons. Since various cytokines have bee...
GABA and its Receptors in Epilepsy
Günther Sperk, Sabine Furtinger, Christoph Schwarzer and Susanne Pirker
g-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain. It acts through 2 classes of receptors, GABAA receptors that are ligand-operated ion channels and the G-protein-coupled metabotropic GABAB receptors. Impairment of GABAergic transmission by genetic mutati...
Gap Junctions, Fast Oscillations and the Initiation of Seizures
Roger D. Traub, Hillary Michelson-Law, Andrea E.J. Bibbig, Eberhard H. Buhl and Miles A. Whittington
In this chapter, we shall review evidence that gap junctions can contribute to epileptogenesis in the hippocampus and cortex—but not just any gap junctions. Rather, we shall argue for a role for a newly described sort of gap junction, located between the proximal axons of principal neurons. Such ...
Genetic Approaches to Studying Mouse Models of Human Seizure Disorders
Yan Yang and Wayne N. Frankel
Epilepsy, characterized by recurrent spontaneous seizures resulting from abnormal, synchronized discharges of neurons in the brain, is one of the most common neurological problems afflicting humans. Although epilepsy clearly has a large environmental component, genetics is thought to be important...
Integrins, Synaptic Plasticity and Epileptogenesis
Christine M. Gall and Gary Lynch
A number of processes are thought to contribute to the development of epilepsy inclu- ding enduring increases in excitatory synaptic transmission, changes in GABAergic inhi- bition, neuronal cell death and the development of aberrant innervation patterns in part arising from reactive axonal grow...
Malformations of Cortical Development: Molecular Pathogenesis and Experimental Strategies
Peter B. Crino
Malformations of cortical development (MCD) are developmental brain lesions characterized by abnormal formation of the cerebral cortex and a high clinical association with epilepsy in infants, children, and adults. Despite multiple anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), treatment of epilepsy associated wit...
Membrane Lipid Rafts and Their Role in Axon Guidance
Carmine Guirland and James Q. Zheng
The plasma membrane of cells contains a variety of lipid and protein molecules that are often segregated and heterogeneously distributed in microdomains. Lipid rafts represent a generalized concept of membrane microdomains that are enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids and, characteristically, r...
Molecular Mechanisms of Axonal Growth
Céline Bouquet and Fatiha Nothias
Outgrowth of axons during neuronal development, as well as their regeneration after injury, of the adult nervous system is controlled by specific extracellular cues, which are diffusible, or bound to cell membranes or extracellular matrix. The exact molecular mechanisms through which these extracell...
Netrins and Their Receptors
Simon W. Moore, Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Timothy E. Kennedy
Netrins are a family of proteins that direct cell and axon migration during development. Three secreted netrins (netrin-1, -3 and -4) have been identified in mammals, in addition to two GPI-anchored membrane proteins, netrin-G1 and G2. Orthologues of netrin-1 play a highly conserved role as guidance...
Neuropilin and Class 3 Semaphorins in Nervous System Regeneration
Fred De Winter, Anthony J.G.D. Holtmaat and Joost Verhaagen
Injury to the mature mammalian central nervous system (CNS) is often accompanied by permanent loss of function of the damaged neural circuits. The failure of injured CNS axons to regenerate is thought to be caused, in part, by neurite outgrowth inhibitory factors expressed in and arou...
Neuropilin and its Ligands in Normal Lung and Cancer
Joëlle Roche, Harry Drabkin and Elisabeth Brambilla
Neuropilins (NRPs) are receptors for class 3 Semaphorins and function as co-receptors for Vascular endothelial growth factor isoforms, VEGF165 and VEGF145 and related molecules. NRPs are expressed in a variety of neural and non-neural tissues and are required for no...
Neuropilin-1 in the Immune System
Paul-Henri Romeo, Valérie Lemarchandel and Rafaele Tordjman
The neuropilin-1 (NRP1) and neuropilin-2 (NRP2) receptors can bind the class-3 semaphorin subfamily and the heparin-binding forms of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and placenta growth factor (PlGF). The functions of NRP1 and NRP2 have been extensively studied in neurons where ...
Neuropilins as Semaphorin Receptors: In vivo Functions in Neuronal Cell
Anil Bagri and Marc Tessier-Lavigne
After the initial discovery of neuropilin-1 as an epitope on axons recognized by a monoclonal antibody, neuropilins were rediscovered in the search for receptors mediating the repulsive actions of class 3 Semaphorins, notably Sema3A. Neuropilins are the ligand binding moieties in the cla...
Neurotransmitters and the Development of Neuronal Circuits
Tina Reudiger and Juergen Bolz
In the mature brain, neurotransmitters are used for synaptic communication between neurons. But during nervous system development, neurons often express and release trans-mitters before their axons establish contacts with their target cells. While much is known about the synaptic effects of neurotra...
Neurotrophic Factors: Are They Axon Guidance Molecules?
Sarah Guthrie
Neurotrophic factors play a multiplicity of roles during development. They can promote axonal growth in vitro and are capable of orienting axons. Recently, molecular evidence suggests that neurotrophic factors and axon guidance molecules regulate the same signalling pathways in neurons. Yet only a f...
Plasticity Mechanisms Underlying mGluR-Induced Epileptogenesis
Robert K.S. Wong, Shih-Chieh Chuang and Riccardo Bianchi
Transient application of group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonists to hippocampal slices produces ictal-like discharges that persist for hours after the removal of the agonist. This effect of group I mGluR stimulation—converting a ‘normal’ hippocampal slice into an ‘epileptic-like’...
Role of Semaphorins during Axon Growth and Guidance
Eric Koncina, Lise Roth, Bertand Gonthier and Dominique Bagnard
During development, neuronal growth cones navigate over long distances to reach their target and establish appropriate connections. This process is usually described as a step by step mechanism of growth recruiting several guidance cues with attractive and repulsive properties. Among these signals, ...
Role of the Depolarizing GABA Response in Epilepsy
Kevin J. Staley
The term “seizure” underscores two fundamental characteristics of epileptic phenomena: they are sudden and unexpected deviations from the normal function of the nervous system. Thus 2 important criteria for a candidate convulsant mechanism are that the mechanism is compatible with normal neural f...
Role of the GABA Transporter in Epilepsy
George B. Richerson and Yuanming Wu
The GABA transporter plays a well-established role in reuptake of GABA after synaptic release. The anticonvulsant effect of tiagabine appears to result largely from blocking this reuptake. However, there is another side to the GABA transporter, contributing to GABA release by reversing in respons...
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