Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
8
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-10-31
pubmed:abstractText
Within a recent study on the vibrissae motor performance after facial nerve repair in strains of blind (SD/RCS) and sighted (SD) rats we found that, despite persisting myotopic disorganization in the facial nucleus, the blind animals fully restored vibrissal whisking. Here we searched for morphological substrates of better recovery in the regenerating motoneurons and in the cerebral motor cortex. Expression analyses of the neurite growth-related proteins f-actin, neuronal class III beta-tubulin and plasticity-related gene-1, and stereological estimates of growth cone densities revealed a more vigorous regenerative response in the proximal nerve stump of blind SD/RCS rats compared with SD animals at 5-7 days after buccal nerve transection. Using c-Fos immunoreactivity as a marker for neuronal activation, we found that the volume of the cortex acutely responding to nerve transection (facial muscles reactive volume, FMRV) in both hemispheres of intact sighted rats was twofold smaller than that measured in blind animals. One month after transection and suture of the right facial nerve (FFA) we found a twofold increase in the FMRV in both rat strains compared with intact animals. The FMRV in SD/RCS animals, but not in SD rats, returned to the values in intact rats 2 months after FFA. Our findings suggest that enhanced plasticity in the CNS and an augmented regenerative response of the injured motoneurons contribute to better functional recovery in blind rats.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Oct
pubmed:issn
0953-816X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
24
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
2152-62
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Actins, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Axons, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Blindness, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Blotting, Western, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Data Interpretation, Statistical, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Facial Nerve, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Genes, fos, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Growth Cones, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Immunohistochemistry, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Microscopy, Fluorescence, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Motor Cortex, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Motor Neurons, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Neocortex, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Nerve Regeneration, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Nerve Tissue Proteins, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Neuronal Plasticity, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Rats, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Rats, Sprague-Dawley, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Tubulin, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Up-Regulation, pubmed-meshheading:17074041-Vibrissae
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Improved outcome of facial nerve repair in rats is associated with enhanced regenerative response of motoneurons and augmented neocortical plasticity.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Anatomy I, University of Cologne, Germany.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't