Journal
ANATOMICAL RECORD-ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
Volume 292, Issue 12, Pages 1968-1975Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ar.20999
Keywords
synaptogenesis; guanosine; visual cortex; in vivo
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Funding
- Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo) [PI052046]
- Universidad del Pais Vasco [GIU06/15]
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Astrocytes release factors like cholesterol, apoE, and pleiotropic molecules that influence synaptogenesis in the central nervous system. In vitro studies have shown that guanosine elicits the production and further release of these synaptogenic factors. To demonstrate that such astrocytic factors are synaptogenic in vivo, osmotic pumps were implanted in primary visual cortex (VC) of Sprague-Dawley rats to deliver guanosine. Simultaneous injection of dextran amine as an anterograde tracer at the same site where the osmotic pumps were implanted enabled the morphology of the fibers emerging from the VC to be visualized as well. The guanosine-treated efferent connections from these animals showed a significant increase in the number and size of synaptic boutons along the efferent fibers when compared with controls. A similar increase in the number and size of synaptic boutons was also detected when the cortico-cortical connection to the lateral secondary visual area was studied in more detail. The ensuing morphological changes to the synapses did not show a clear preference for any particular type or site of the axonal branches that integrates this cortical connection. Moreover, the distribution of boutons along the fibers was clearly stochastic according to their size. Thus, guanosine administration appears to open up the possibility of manipulating connections to compensate for total or partial denervation. Anat Rec, 292:1968-1975, 2009. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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