To determine the possible influence of satellite glial cells on restricting the spread of herpes simplex virus in the peripheral nervous system, HSV replication was studied in clonally derived cultures of satellite glial cells from adult animals. Satellite cells were purified by exploiting their close anatomical association with primary sensory neurons. Dissociated neurons from dorsal root gang...

Background: Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as stroke, seizures, dementia, and cognitive impairment. Berberine, a natural isoquinolne alkaloid, is reported to exhibit beneficial effect in various neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Moreover astrocytes are proving critical for normal CNS function, and alterations in their activity...

Background: Diabetes mellitus increases the risk of central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as stroke, seizures, dementia, and cognitive impairment. Berberine, a natural isoquinolne alkaloid, is reported to exhibit beneficial effect in various neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Moreover astrocytes are proving critical for normal CNS function, and alterations in their activity...

Thyroid hormones (THs) are necessary for normal development particularly cytoskeletal system. Cytoskeletal system which consists of microtubules (Tubulin), microfilaments (Actin), and intermediate filaments, specific for neurons (Neurofilaments), glia (Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein), or maturing cells (Vimentin, Nestin) can play important roles in neural cell shape and neuronal migration and ...

We report that prospectively isolated, human CNS stem cells grown as neurospheres (hCNS-SCns) survive, migrate, and express differentiation markers for neurons and oligodendrocytes after long-term engraftment in spinal cord-injured NOD-scid mice. hCNS-SCns engraftment was associated with locomotor recovery, an observation that was abolished by selective ablation of engrafted cells by diphtheria...

Immunoreactivities of 35 different monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that detect intermediate filaments were studied systematically on serial cryostat sections of 14 well-defined human gliomas (five astrocytomas, three oligodendrogliomas, six glioblastomas) and on normal brain. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), vimentin, desmin, neurofilaments, and broad-specificity keratin MAbs, as well as MA...

CONTEXT Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), a main component of the brain extracellular matrix, regulate developmental and adult neural functions that are highly relevant to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Such functions, together with marked expression of CSPGs in astrocytes within the normal human amygdala and evidence of a disruption of astrocytic functions in this disease, point t...

Astroglial-neuronal interactions are important in brain functions. However, roles of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in this interaction remain unclear in acute physiological processes. We explored this issue using the supraoptic nucleus (SON) in lactating rats. At first, we identified the essential role of astrocytes in the milk-ejection reflex (MER) by disabling astrocytic functions vi...

To understand components shaping the neuronal environment we studied the astroglial cells in the zebrafish brain using immunocytochemistry for structural and junctional markers, electron microscopy including freeze fracturing, and probed for the water channel protein aquaporin-4. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and glutamine synthetase (GS) showed largely overlapping immunoreactivity: GF...

PURPOSE Lamotrigine, a novel anticonvulsant, is a sodium channel blocker that is efficacious in certain forms of neuropathic pain. Recently, microglial and astrocytic activation has been implicated in the development of nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain. We have assessed the effects of continuous intrathecal administration of lamotrigine on the development of neuropathic pain and glial acti...