The remote astroglial response (RAR) : a holistic approach for evaluating the effects of lesions of the central nervous system

The right dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus was stereotaxically destroyed in adult albino rats. After 3 to 150 days of survival the visual cortices from both hemispheres were processed for semithin histology, electron microscopy, GFAP immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting. In visual cortices with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neurochemical research 1995-05, Vol.20 (5), p.571-577
Main Authors: HAJOS, F, CSILLAG, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Astrocytes - metabolism
Astrocytes - ultrastructure
Biological and medical sciences
Development. Senescence. Regeneration. Transplantation
Evaluation Studies as Topic
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geniculate Bodies - physiology
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - analysis
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Immunoblotting
Immunohistochemistry
Male
Nerve Degeneration - physiology
Neuronal Plasticity - physiology
Rats
Synapses - physiology
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Visual Cortex - chemistry
Visual Cortex - ultrastructure
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Summary:The right dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus was stereotaxically destroyed in adult albino rats. After 3 to 150 days of survival the visual cortices from both hemispheres were processed for semithin histology, electron microscopy, GFAP immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting. In visual cortices with histologically disclosed degeneration of the geniculo-cortical tract, a hypertrophy of astrocytes without change in their total numbers was seen from postoperative day 3. From day 7, a rise in GFAP immunoreactivity was observed, reaching its peak between days 11-14, after which a decrease occurred. Observations were confirmed by computer-assisted image analysis of immunohistochemical preparations. Using the immunoblot technique, relative GFAP levels were found to change in a fashion similar to immunohistochemical findings. This showed that synaptic degeneration triggered an up-regulation of GFAP synthesis in the perisynaptic astrocyte processes as a second, cytoskeletal phase of the astrocyte reaction. The phenomenon is denoted as the remote astroglial response (RAR) and is thought to be a marker of synapse removal during plastic changes either related to function or induced by lesions. An extrapolation is made to the possible significance of whole-brain GFAP levels in assessing the effects of focal CNS lesions.
ISSN:0364-3190
1573-6903
DOI:10.1007/BF01694538