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L S Jen

Publications and source records attributed to L S Jen.

54 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

The postnatal development of the optic nerve in hamsters: an electron microscopic study.

The postnatal development of the optic nerve in the golden hamster has been examined using the electron microscope. The number of the optic fibres present in the optic nerve showed an initial increase during the first day after birth but it declined afterwards and tapered off after Day 16. At its peak on postnatal Day 1, there was an average of 314,629 axons in the optic nerve but when the animal reached adulthood only 109,587 fibres remained amounting to about 65% loss of the total fibre population. The period of axon loss coincided with the appearance of large patches of degenerated profiles in the optic nerve. The occurrence of the optic fibre loss has been implied to correlate with the time when the retinal projections were undergoing a dynamic reorganization at the target sites during the process of establishing the adult patterns of retinofugal connections.

Animals↗

Biochemical effects of mild iron deficiency and cold acclimatization on rat skeletal muscle.

Most of the previous studies on the effects of iron deficiency on skeletal muscle respiratory capacity and work performance have been investigated in severe or moderate iron-deficiency anemia. We report here that even in mild iron deficiency where the hemoglobin concentration was 10 g/dl and the iron stores in livers and spleen were not completely depleted, a marked reduction in succinate dehydrogenase was observed in skeletal muscles but not in heart. Similarly, cytochrome oxidase activities were reduced. Although no significant change in glycerophosphate dehydrogenase was detected in the iron-deficient rats, exposure to cold in this group greatly reduced this enzyme activity. As cold acclimatization accelerates marrow erythropoiesis (20) which in turn, demands more iron, it seems that in the iron-insufficient state, this iron demand for marrow activity may persist at the expense of the tissue iron pool, resulting in a marked reduction in glycerophosphate dehydrogenase activities. Since succinate dehydrogenase plays a significant role in the impairment of mitochondrial function and early fatigue of iron-deficient muscle (11), the present study shows that even in mild iron deficiency, some loss of muscle functions could result as succinate dehydrogenase activities were greatly reduced.

Acclimatization↗

The postnatal development of retinocollicular projections in normal hamsters and in hamsters following neonatal monocular enucleation: a horseradish peroxidase tracing study.

The pattern of distribution of the retinal projections to the superior colliculus (SC) has been studied in developing normal hamsters and in hamsters following unilateral eye enucleation at birth, using the anterograde horseradish peroxidase (HRP) method. The results show that in normal hamsters the contralateral retinocollicular projection has already reached the caudal pole of the SC on the day of birth, and covered the entire SC by day 1. The ipsilateral retinocollicular projection is distributed only to the rostrolateral portion of the SC on day 0, but has covered the entire area of the SC on day 1. The innervation of the SC by the ipsilateral projection increases gradually until it reaches its maximum density on day 3 or day 4. Beginning on day 6, the density of the ipsilateral projection decreases markedly except in areas where there is a distinct clumping of retinal fibers. The normal adult pattern, which consists of dense clumps of ipsilateral retinal projections in the rostral half of the SC and a sparse ipsilateral retinal projection distributing in almost the entire extent of the SC, is established on day 10. In animals in which one eye was removed on the day of birth, the ipsilateral projection is observed in the rostral two-thirds of the SC on day 1, and innervates the entire extent of the colliculus on day 2. On day 3 or day 4, this projection is denser than that found in normal animals of the same age. The SC remains heavily innervated by ipsilateral fibers on and after day 6. The abnormal adult pattern, which consists of dense ipsilateral retinal projections in most parts of the SC, is observed on day 10. The anomalous ipsilateral retinocollicular projection which develops in eye-enucleated animals suggests that there is a competitive interaction between fibers from the two eyes during development which is critical in shaping the normal adult pattern of the ipsilateral retinocollicular projection. The early development of the contralateral projection is in advance of the ipsilateral projection, and removal of the contralateral fibers by eye enucleation at birth seems to result in a further delay in the development of the ipsilateral projection. This suggests that in the hamster the contralateral fibers may play a role in guiding the ipsilateral fibers to reach their target region.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

The connections between the parabigeminal nucleus and the superior colliculus in the golden hamster.

The present study in hamsters shows that the horseradish peroxidase conjugated with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA-HRP) injected into the eye can be transported transneuronally in both anterograde and retrograde directions to the parabigeminal nuclei (PBN). Moreover, the patterns of labelling in the PBN are similar to those observed after introduction of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) into the superior colliculus. These results suggest that the WGA-HRP is a reliable pathway tracer for studying second-order connections at least in the visual system in mammals.

Animals↗

The normal and abnormal postnatal development of retinogeniculate projections in golden hamsters: an anterograde horseradish peroxidase tracing study.

In adult hamsters, the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGd), which lacks a noticeable pattern of cellular lamination, receives fibers predominantly from the contralateral eye except for a medial segment which receives fibers from the ipsilateral eye. Using the method of anterograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), it is shown in this study that the contralateral and ipsilateral retinogeniculate fibers innervate the LGd by day 0 with the development of the contralateral fibers slightly ahead of the ipsilateral ones. The entire contralateral LGd is filled with retinal fibers by day 1. The ipsilateral LGd is almost completely covered with retinal fibers on day 2 but with the fiber density much higher in the dorsal half of the nucleus. Thus, fibers from both eyes overlap with each other completely beginning on day 2 in the LGd. The segregation of these fibers becomes obvious on day 6 as indicated by a decrease in the density of ipsilateral fibers in the ventral portion of the LGd while the ipsilateral projection continues to concentrate in the dorsal half of the nucleus. A low density area in the dorsomedial part of the contralateral LGd is observed on day 7. By day 8, the segregation of the contralateral and ipsilateral projections has achieved an adult-like pattern. Thus, there seems to be two phases for the normal development of the retinogeniculate fibers. In the first phase, axons from both eyes grow in and occupy the entire LGd. In the second phase, those axons occupying inappropriate areas of the LGd are eliminated to form the adult pattern. The effect of unilateral eye removal at birth on the development of the retinogeniculate projection from the remaining eye was also studied with the anterograde HRP method. The ipsilateral fibers in the experimental animals are distributed in the lateral portion of the nucleus in the first two postnatal days. The entire LGd is not filled with ipsilateral fibers until day 4. From day 6 onwards, the ipsilateral fibers are more extensive than those of the normal animals. In addition to a dense projection to the dorsal two-thirds of the LGd, moderate amount of ipsilateral axons can be detected in the remaining ventral portion of the nucleus in day 6 and older experimental animals. The development of the contralateral retinal fibers in the experimental animals is similar to that of the normal from day 1 to day 6, i.e. the entire LGd is densely filled with crossed optic axons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Correlation between the visual callosal connections and the retinotopic organization in striate-peristriate border region in the hamster: an anatomical and physiological study.

The correlation between the retinotopic organization of receptive fields in the striate-peristriate border region and the distribution pattern of the visual callosal projections was investigated in hamsters with corpus callosum transected 2 days before recording. The results showed that in all the animals studied, the V1/V2 border defined by reversal of receptive fields at the vertical meridian was located in the dense central portion of the visual callosal projection which terminated in cortical regions bordering areas 17 and 18a. These results indicate that there is a close relationship between the striate-peristriate border determined by anatomical and physiological methods. In addition, these data strengthen the suggestion that the pattern of visual callosal projections is a useful and reliable reference system for delineating boundaries of different visual areas in the golden hamster.

Animals↗

An autoradiographic study of the retinofugal projections in the shark, Hemiscyllium plagiosum.

The retinofugal projections in the shark, Hemiscyllium plagiosum were studied after unilateral eye injection of tritiated proline. The results showed that each eye in this animal projects not only to the contralateral side of the brain but also to several ipsilateral visual centers including the nucleus suprachiasmaticus, ventrolateral nucleus of the optic tract and the optic tectum. These results suggest that some of the visual centers in this animal receive direct retinal inputs from both eyes as is the case in many other animals and most notably in mammals.

Animals↗

An anterograde HRP study of the retinotectal pathways in albino and pigmented guinea pigs.

An uncrossed retinotectal projection was observed in albino guinea pigs using the anterograde HRP method, suggesting that the retinal projection in these animals, similar to that in the pigmented strain, is not strictly crossed as reported previously. It was also noted that a small retinal projection terminated in a restricted region in the most medial portion of the contralateral inferior colliculus, implying that it might be influenced directly by fibers arising from the contralateral eye.

Animals↗

Visual callosal, corticotectal and corticogeniculate projections in golden hamsters.

Visual callosal projections were identified in the hamster by terminal degeneration after total transection of the corpus callosum. A dense trilaminar callosal terminal field was observed to form a belt around area 17. The subcortical projections from area 17 were studied using the autoradiographic method. Evidence for a topographic organization is presented for projections from area 17 to the superior colluculus, the dorsal and ventral nuclei of the lateral geniculate body. The totography of the projections are in accord with known patterns of distribution of the retina upon these structures in the hamster.

Animals↗

Experimentally induced enlargement of the uncrossed retinotectal pathway in rats.

The present experiments investigate the effects of neonatal lesions upon projection patterns of the uncrossed retinotectal pathway in albino rats. The results indicate that enlargement of the terminal field from one eye can be induced either by a contralateral optic tract lesion or by removal of the opposite eye at birth. The extent of the enlargement is more prominent in the latter case. If an optic tract lesion is accompanied by eye enucleation on the side ipsilateral to the tract lesion, the uncrossed retinotectal projection from the remaining eye will undergo further enlargement. However, optic fiber counts show that such an enlargement of the terminal field is not due to a significant increase in the number of uncrossed optic axons which contribute to the enlarged projection, but rather to an increased terminal arbor of individual axons (as shown by results from fiber counts). While a severe ganglion cell loss was observed in the retina contralateral to a tract lesion, a substantial population of cells persists in the ganglion cell layer and the number of cells appear much higher than the number of uncrossed optic axons arising from the same eye. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to results reported in previous studies.

Animals↗

Intertectal crossing of optic axons after tectal fusion in neonatal rats.

Surgically-induced fusion of the superior colliculi along the midline was performed in newborn rats to provide a bridge for optic axons from one eye to cross the tectal midline. The results indicate that although tectal fusion is a necessary condition of optic axons to cross from one side of the midbrain to the other, it is not sufficient by itself to induce crossing unless the optic input from the opposite side is also removed. This finding is discussed in relation to tectal lesion studies and is compared with our previous observations of the corticotectal pathway.

Animals↗

Further studies on the aberrant cross visual corticotectal pathway in rats.

An aberrant crossed corticotectal pathway can be generated by removal of one visual cortex and the contralateral superior colliculus from newborn rats. This aberrant crossed corticotectal projection arises from the pyramidal neurons located in layer V of the visual cortex and terminates in a spatially orderly manner in the appropriate laminae of the cortically deafferented contralateral colliculus. Comparable results cannot be reproduced by unilateral collicular lesions alone. The significance of these findings and the possible mechanisms involved in the formation of the aberrant pathway are discussed and compared with the retinotectal system.

Animals↗

Methylazoxymethanol acetate: effect of postnatal injection on brain amines and behavior.

The antimitotic drug, methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAMA), was injected into newborn rats during the first four days of life. At 48 days of age, these rats weighed one-third less than controls, as did the cerebella of their brains, but the rest of their brains weighed only 7% less than those of controls. The cerebella structures of the drug-injected rats was highly disorganized. Purkinje cells were scattered haphazardly in the granular layer instead of forming a monolayer. More foldings and short folia were found in the cerebella of drugged animals. In spite of these large morphological differences, the total amounts of norepinephrine and serotonin in the cerebella of the drugged rats were not different from those of the control rats. Behavioral effects of postnatal injection of MAMA include retarded development of the righting reflex,i.e., the drugged pups took longer time to right themselves when placed on their backs during the first nine days after birth; and scondly, MAMA reduced locomotor activity measured 45 days after birth.

Animals↗

NADPH-diaphorase-positive neurons in primate cerebral cortex colocalize with GABA and calcium-binding proteins.

Neurons in the monkey cerebral cortex containing nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) can be divided into two distinct types, both nonpyramidal. Type I neurons have a large soma (diameter 20-50 microm), a dense NADPH-d histochemical reaction, and are distributed throughout the cortex, but mainly in the subcortical white matter, and are mostly aspiny. Type II cells have a small soma ( Together with previous observations that almost all cortical NADPH-d cells in various subprimates are like type I cells, we suggest that type II cells may form a group of NADPH-d-rich neurons differentiated in higher mammalian cortex from a subpopulation of calbindin-containing GABAergic interneurons, and these nitric oxide-synthesizing cells may play a role in control of intracortical neuronal activity characteristic of higher cerebral functions in advanced mammals.

Animals↗

Prenatal development of NADPH-diaphorase-reactive neurons in human frontal cortex.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemistry was used to study the morphology and development of neurons that metabolize nitric oxide (NO) in the frontal cortex of human fetuses aged from 13 weeks of gestation (13W) to term, to investigate whether the two distinct types of NO neuron described in the adult develop differently. Large, heavily stained, sparsely spiny, non-pyramidal neurons (Type I) develop by 15W mainly in the subplate (SP) of the cortical Anlage. They achieve an adult-like pattern by 32W, distributed thoughout the cortex and subcortical white matter, but with the highest concentration in the white matter. Small, lightly stained cells (Type II) develop later (32W) thoughout the cortex, but especially in layers II-IV, and increase in number to term. NADPH-d-positive dendrites and axons appear in the cortex and white matter by 15W. They include thick, radially oriented, dendritic processes from Type I neurons in SP and CP. Their arbors expand and mature between 17 and 28W. Fine horizontal axons are visible in layer I by 17W. Others develop in layers II-IV from 28W, and have reached a high degree of development by term. NADPH-d-positive axons in the cortex seem to have both intrinsic and extrinsic origins. Thus the two types of NADPH-d neurons found in adult primate, including human, cortex are reflected by different developmental forms prenatally. It is concluded that NO-metabolizing neurons in the human cortex may be involved in various aspects of development, including morphological and functional maturation, and that the late-developing Type II neurons may represent a cell line specific to primates, perhaps related to the development of their higher cortical activity and of potential importance in the pathophysiology of diseases of cognitive function.

Embryonic and Fetal Development↗

Tyrosine-hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons in retinal transplants in the rat.

Embryonic rat retinae were transplanted to the brains of newborn rats, and the distribution of catecholaminergic neurons in the retinal tissue was studied 1-2 months after transplantation, using the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemical method. The results showed that distinct TH-positive cells were identified in all retinal transplants examined. The somata of the majority of these TH-immunoreactive cells were located along the inner margin of the inner nuclear layer in the retinal transplants; the processes of these cells were distributed mainly in the outer portion of the inner plexiform layer. This pattern is comparable to that observed in retinae of normal and host rats, suggesting that the organization of the catecholaminergic neurons in the transplant is largely similar to that in the normal retina. However, a reduction of the immunoreactivity in the plexiform layers and subpopulations of TH-positive cells with somatic diameter smaller than 8 microns or larger than 18 microns was observed in most of the retinal transplants studied. This implies that the organization of the catecholaminergic system in the transplant may not be as intact as in the normal retina.

Animals↗

Ultrastructural study on the invasion of the basal lamina of retinal inner limiting membrane by esophageal carcinoma cells.

Esophageal carcinoma cells EC/CUHK1 were allowed to interact with the basal lamina of the inner limiting membrane of the retina in vitro. Both scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed that tumour cells first attached to the basal lamina with filopodia and subsequently invaded into the ganglion cell layer of the retina. In addition, transmission electron microscopic studies demonstrated that tumour cells induced mechanical distortion as well as dissolution of the basal lamina.

Animals↗