To investigate the roles of the receptor-dependent actions of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25-(OH)2D3] in the regulation of vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding proteins (calbindin-D), the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of calbindin-D9k and -28k were examined in vitamin D receptor (VDR)-ablated mice and control littermates. In VDR-ablated mice, calbindin-D9k mRNA was dramatically reduced in the inte...

Detailed neuropathological studies of the extent of hippocampal sclerosis (HS) in epilepsy along the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus are lacking. Neuroimaging studies of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy support that sclerosis is not always localised. The extent of HS is of relevance to surgical planning and poor outcomes may relate to residual HS in the posterior remnant. In 10 post mo...

Parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin (CB) immunoreactivities were assessed in nucleus robustus archistriatalis (RA) of male and female zebra finches, together with retrograde labelling of RA neurons. The results of double and triple labelling experiments suggested that, in males, moderately and faintly PV-positive neurons were projection neurons, but that all intensely PV-positive cells were not. The...

The type 3 serotonin receptor (5-HT3R) is a ligand-gated ion channel whose presence in the CNS has been established by radioligand binding, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemical analysis. To analyze further the role of the 5-HT3R in the CNS, we used in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry to determine that 5-HT3R-expressing neurons are mainly GABA-containing cells in the rat tele...

Members of the calbindin subfamily serve as markers of subpopulations of neurons within the vertebrate nervous system. Although markers of these proteins are widely available and used, their application to invertebrate nervous systems has been very limited. In this study we investigated the presence and distribution of members of the calbindin subfamily in the sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrima...

The dentate gyrus (DG) is a unique structure of the hippocampus that is distinguished by ongoing neurogenesis throughout the lifetime of an organism. The development of the DG, which begins during late gestation and continues during the postnatal period, comprises the structural formation of the DG as well as the establishment of the adult neurogenic niche in the subgranular zone (SGZ). We inve...

Calbindin is a calcium binding protein that controls intracellular calcium levels and has a neuroprotective function against apoptotic stimuli. We investigated the expression of calbindin in ischemic brain injury. Focal cerebral ischemia was induced in male rats by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and cerebral cortices were collected 24 h after MCAO. Cerebral ischemia significantly incre...

Since the discovery of calbindin D(9k), its role in intestinal calcium absorption has remained unsettled. Further, a wide distribution of calbindin D(9k) among tissues has argued for its biological importance. We discovered a frameshift deletion in the calbindin D(9k) gene in an ES cell line, E14.1, that originated from 129/OlaHsd mice. We produced mice with the mutant calbindin D(9k) gene by i...

To understand the structural basis of grid cell activity, we compare medial entorhinal cortex architecture in layer 2 across five mammalian species (Etruscan shrews, mice, rats, Egyptian fruit bats, and humans), bridging ∼100 million years of evolutionary diversity. Principal neurons in layer 2 are divided into two distinct cell types, pyramidal and stellate, based on morphology, immunoreactivi...

The Ca(2+)-binding proteins parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin D-28k (CB) are key players in the intracellular Ca(2+)-buffering in specific cells including neurons and have profound effects on spatiotemporal aspects of Ca(2+) transients. The previously observed increase in mitochondrial volume density in fast-twitch muscle of PV-/- mice is viewed as a specific compensation mechanism to maintain Ca(...