Endocannabinoids form a novel class of intercellular messengers, the functions of which include retrograde signaling in the brain and mediation or modulation of several types of synaptic plasticity. Yet, the signaling mechanisms and long-term effects of the stimulation of CB1 cannabinoid receptors (CB1-R) are poorly understood. We show that anandamide, 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol, and Delta9-tetrah...

Many studies have shown that transplanted or endogenous neural progenitor cells will migrate toward damaged areas of the brain. However, the mechanism underlying this effect is not clear. Here we report that, using hippocampal slice cultures, grafted neural progenitor cells (NPs) migrate toward areas of neuroinflammation and that chemokines are a major regulator of this process. Migration of NP...

NMDA receptor subunits change during development and their synaptic expression is modified rapidly after synaptic plasticity induction in hippocampal slices. However, there is scarce information on subunits expression after synaptic plasticity induction or memory acquisition, particularly in adults. GluN1, GluN2A and GluN2B NMDA receptor subunits were assessed by western blot in 1) adult rats t...

An agarose gel slip containing L-glutamate oxidase (GluOx), horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and a dye DA-64 is proposed as a tool for visualizing ischemia-induced L-glutamate release in hippocampal slices in a flow system. The agarose slip with a detection limit of 6.0 ± 0.8 μmol L(-1) for L-glutamate enabled us to visualize L-glutamate fluxes in a flow system. The leak of a dye from the agarose g...

The present paper describes a new planar multielectrode array (the MED probe) and its electronics (the MED system) which perform electrophysiological studies on acute hippocampal slices. The MED probe has 64 planar microelectrodes, is covered with a non-toxic, uniform insulation layer, and is further coated with polyethylenimine and serum. The MED probe is shown to be appropriate for both stimu...

Recurrent epileptiform activity occurs spontaneously in cultured CNS neurons and in brain slices in which GABA inhibition has been blocked. We demonstrate here that pharmacological treatments resulting in either the block of glutamine production by astrocytes or the inhibition of glutamine uptake by neurons suppress or markedly decrease the frequency of spontaneous epileptiform discharges both ...

Astrocytes respond to injury by modifying the expression profile of several proteins, including S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B), assumed be a marker as well mediator brain injury. AA is an inhibitor S100B synthesis and plays protective role in different models injury, decreases cause extracellular S100B. However, mRNA expression, content secretion do not always occur association; such, w...

Negatively charged sialic acid residues located close to pores of voltage-gated sodium channels substantially influence their gating properties. The in vitro low Mg²⁺ seizure model is used to emulate difficult-to-treat status epilepticus. Using this model on cultured hippocampal slices, we examined the effectiveness of desialylation in reducing persistent seizure-like activity. We show that des...