Our results support the potential of NSC grafts at multiple levels of spinal cord as future cellular therapy for motor neuron disease. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“In the present study, we demonstrate that the histopathologic features of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide 35-55-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in C57BL/6 mice closely mirror the hallmarks of MS pathology. On

the one hand, we depict a time-dependent transition from acute inflammation to chronic neurodegeneration in spinal cord histopathology and provide distinct criteria (i.e. parenchymal edema, cellular infiltration and perivascular inflammatory infiltrates) by which acute and chronic stages of the disease can be distinguished. On the other hand, we assessed the extent of spinal cord plaque formation in relation to the total white matter area and we demonstrate a strong correlation with the clinical disease severity. Additionally, ARS-1620 cost we report on the involvement of different spinal cord regions, focusing on the anterolateral, posterior and pyramidal tract. Our results help to further characterize CB-839 molecular weight histopathology of

MOG peptide 35-55-induced EAE and reinforce the importance of this model for structural and functional studies of MS features. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Epidemiologic studies show that the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is lower in smokers than in nonsmokers. Nicotine, a potent agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), excites midbrain dopaminergic neurons and this may contribute to the anti-parkinsonian effects. However, the alterations MTMR9 in gene expression of nAChR subunits using an acute 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse PD model remain unclear. In the present study, we profile the time course of nAChR alpha 7 alpha 4 and beta 2 subunit expression levels using a comparative RT-PCR approach after acute MPTP injection. The

results fall into four categories. (1) MPTP treatment transiently increased nAChR alpha 7 (after last injection of MPTP 3 and 24 h), alpha 4 and beta 2 (24 h) mRNA expression in the substantia nigra (SN) and striatum. (2) Compared to cortical and hippocampal tissues, this transient increase of nAChR subunit expression specifically occurred in the SN and striatum. (3) In the acute MPTP model, time-courses of altered expression for nAChR alpha 7, alpha 4 and in subunits closely mirrored the deficits observed in animal motor activity. (4) Stereological data showed that after administration of MPTP for 24 h, there was a robust astrogliosis in the SN associated with significant dopaminergic neurodegeneration. These changes followed or paralleled MPTP-induced elevation in the levels of alpha 7, alpha 4 and beta 2 mRNAs. Collectively, our results demonstrate that nAChRs are important targets in the MPTP neurotoxic process.