Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience - Volume 5, issue 1

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5101

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. vii-viii, 1993

Authors: Prochiantz, A. | Joliot, A. | Volovitch, M.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: It is a more and more widespread observation that growth factors can, on occasion, be found within nuclei where they may serve as trans-activating factors. This dual action raises the possibility that, on their side, trans-activating factors might be secreted and act both at the membrane and at the nuclear level of target cells. At the same time it has now been clearly demonstrated that the classical growth factors bFGF and TGF-b are good in vitro mesodermal inducers and may have in vivo counterparts. Neural inducers, unfortunately, remain much more elusive even though the phenomenon of neural induction was described …almost 60 years ago. Here, we present a short review on the development of the nervous system in which we focus on the importance of homeobox proteins in inductive phenomena. We follow on to propose that some trans-activating factors belonging to the homeoprotein family may have paracrine and autocrine functions and might thus participate directly in neural induction. This highly hypothetical proposal is based on evidence from the literature and on experiments carried out in our laboratory showing that the antennapedia homeobox peptide (pAntp) added to neurons in culture is internalised by these cells, conveyed to their nuclei and provokes their morphological differentiation. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5102

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 3-7, 1993

Authors: Fitzgerald, Maria

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5103

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 8-9, 1993

Authors: Krumlauf, Robb | Hunt, Paul | Sham, Mai Har | Whiting, Jenny | Nonchev, Stefan | Marshall, Heather | Graham, Anthony | Papalopulu, Nancy | Cook, Martyn | Boncinelli, Edoardo | Wilkinson, David

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5104

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 10-12, 1993

Authors: Henderson, Christopher E. | Bloch-Gallego, Evelyne | Camu, William | Gouin, Annie | Mettling, Clément

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Factors affecting neuronal growth may be considered to fall into two major categories: those required for neuronal survival during development or following a lesion, and those which enhance growth or regeneration of axonal or dendritic processes. We briefly review here some recent studies on the former in spinal cord development and plasticity as an introduction to other papers in the session on Factors controlling Neural Growth, and then present in more detail work on factors affecting motoneuron development in vitro. The neurotrophins are a closely-related family of basic neurotrophic factors including nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) …and neurotrophins -3, -4 and -5 that enhance neuronal survival by binding to surface receptors whose major components are the trk tyrosine kinases and p75NGF-R . Only the latter has been studied in the context of spinal cord neuroplasticity: its levels on motoneurons are up-regulated following central or peripheral trauma, although its function there remains unknown. Much evidence exists for the existence of ‘motoneuron growth factors’ involved in regulation of survival and development of spinal motoneurons. Following a critical comparison of techniques for their purification, we review results obtained in vitro and in vivo using known growth factors such as ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and transforming growth factor (TGF/β1). Although none of them satisfies all the criteria for the embryonic ‘motoneuron growth factor’, CNTF is of potential interest for reducing motoneuron loss in pathological situations. Show more

Keywords: Motoneuron, Neuronal growth factor, Neurotrophin, Denervation, SCI antibody

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5105

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 15-28, 1993

Authors: Barde, Y.A.

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5106

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 29-29, 1993

Authors: Ibáñez, Carlos F. | Persson, Håkan

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5107

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 30-31, 1993

Authors: Schnell, Lisa | Schwab, Martin E.

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5108

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 32-33, 1993

Authors: Murray, Marion

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: There is considerable evidence supporting a naturally occuring increase in the density of projections by intact systems induced by partial denervation of targets within the spinal cord. The phenomenon of sprouting in the spinal cord appears to be quite similar to the denervation evoked sprouting shown elsewhere in the CNS. Sprouting appears to be regulated rather than random since not all systems projecting to a denervated region may show demonstrable sprouting. In adults, the extent of sprouting is usually limited to the normal target zone of the intact systems and thus reasonably rigorous quantitative methods may be required to provide …a clear demonstration of the increased projection. Greater plasticity, including regenerative like changes can be elicited in the undamaged processes of DRGs within the CNS by lesion to the peripheral process. Expansion of terminal fields into novel territories in adults has been demonstrated most convincingly in cases where additional manipulations are made, e.g. addition of peripheral nerve injury to the lesion paradigm. This suggests that the limitation on sprouting in adults can be overridden by increasing the metabolic drive of the sprouting neurons. In contrast there appear to be fewer limitations on sprouting in the neonate, since extensive sprouting into aberrant targets occurs if denervation occurs before development has ceased. Changing patterns of synaptic activity can also evoke quite dramatic modifications of the synthetic activity of neurons. Some of these changes appear to be long lasting and may lead to modifications in the activity of spinal neurons. Naturally occurring plasticity thus represents a major compensatory response to CNS lesions which needs to be taken into account in considering the consequences of CNS lesions, the extent of recovery of function and ways of improving the extent of recovery of function. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5109

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 37-45, 1993

Authors: Nothias, Fatiha | Tessler, Alan | Murray, Marion

Article Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.3233/RNN-1993-5110

Citation: Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 46-47, 1993