Nervous system dendrites

Keywords Activezone Central nervous system Dendrites Dendritic spine Neuron Neurotransmitter Peripheral nervous system Postsynaptic density Synapse... 

The postsynaptic response to a chemical messenger appears to occur at postsynaptic active zones, which can be recognized morphologically at sites where nerve terminals make contact with other neurons or effector cells such as striated muscle. They consist of a pronounced density of intra-membranous particles as viewed under electron microscopy. These particles are at least 100-fold more enriched in active zones when compared to the remainder of the membrane. At the cholinergic nerve-muscle junction, evidence exists to suggest that these intramembranous particles are in fact ion channel—receptor complexes. Portions of the particles, thought to be the receptors, turn over with a time course of days, but the overall integrity of the active zones remains intact. In the cerebral cortex of the central nervous system, dendritic spines of neurons have been shown to be concentrated with active zones. These active zones appear to be intimately associated with portions of the neuronal cytoskeleton, since the cytoplasmic portion of the active zone displays a prominent band of fuzzy material, which, in turn, makes contact with microfilaments. 

In the nervous system, DAT, NET, and SERT are distributed along axons, soma and dendrites. On the subcellular level they are localized at the... 

By immunohistochemistry, a- and p-synucleins are concentrated in nerve terminals, with little staining of somata and dendrites. Ultrastructurally, they are found in close proximity to synaptic vesicles. In contrast,y-synuclein is present throughout nerve cells in many brain regions. In rat, a-synuclein is most abundant throughout telencephalon and diencephalon, with lower levels in more caudal regions. P-Synuclein is distributed fairly evenly throughout the central nervous system, whereas y-synuclein is most abundant in midbrain, pons and spinal cord, with much lower levels in forebrain areas. 

It may be noted that the retina represents an outlying portion of the brain itself. It arises as a protrusion from the prosencephalon (anterior portion of the cerebrum), and, being a constituent part of the brain, presents the same anatomical and physiological problems as does the central nervous system elsewhere. The more or less complete spatial separation of the synapses from the cell bodies makes the retina eminently suitable for finding out whether a known biochemical constituent is located in the cell bodies, axons, dendrites or at the synapses, and the information so obtained may perhaps be applicable to other parts of the nervous system, where the cell bodies and the synapses are all too intimately mingled for a proper analysis. 

Receptor autoradiography and immunohistochemistry are used to demonstrate the final location of receptor proteins. In the nervous system, these receptor proteins are synthesized within soma, but are generally transported to dendrites or axons, distant from cell bodies where they are originated. Thus, demonstration of a receptor population by receptor autoradiography or immunohistochemistry is not sufficient to directly discriminate which perikarya synthesize the receptors (Kuhar et al, 1986 Quirion et al., 1993 Chabot et al., 1999). Knowledge of the sequence of the mRNA coding receptor proteins has made the development of nucleic acid probes possible, which can be used in combination with the... 

The nervous system consists of two main units the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which includes the body s system of nerves that control the muscles (motor function), the senses (the sensory nerves), and which are involved in other critical control functions. The individual units of the nervous system are the nerve cells, called neurons. Nenrons are a nniqne type of cell becanse they have the capacity to transmit electrical messages aronnd the body. Messages pass from one nenron to the next in a strnctnre called a synapse. Electric impnlses moving along a branch of the nenron called the axon reach the synapse (a space between nenrons) and canse the release of certain chemicals called neurotransmitters, one of which, acetylcholine, we described earlier in the chapter. These chemicals migrate to a nnit of the next nenron called the dendrites, where their presence canses the bnild-np of an electrical impnlse in the second nenron. 

The neuron is the unit of function in the nervous system. It possesses a cell body, an axon, and dendrites. 

Figure 1.14 (a) Basic structure of a neurone. A motor neurone is shown, but the basic structure of all the neurones is the same. Dendrites transfer information from other nerves to the neurone, while the axon transfers information from the neurone to other neurones or tissues. The axon is particularly long in motor neurones (Chapter 14). (b) Structures of unipolar, bipolar and multipolar neurones. Unipolar neurones transfer information from tissues or organs to the brain. Multipolar neurones are the most abundant in the nervous system. 

During the perinatal period, there is an absolute requirement for thyroid hormone for the development and maturation of the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. In the perinatal nervous system, thyroid hormone plays a critical role in normal growth of the cerebral and cerebellar cortices, the proliferation of axons, the branching of dendrites, synaptogenesis, myeUnation, cell migration, and so on. 

Neurotrophic factors responsible for neuronal survival, dendritic proliferation, and the activation of the different neurotransmission systems are present in the central nervous system [CNS). The most well-known one is the NGF, a peptidergic complex of 140 kd and with a sedimentation coefficient of 7s. NGF has three subunits, a, p, and y. Subunit p is the active part of the molecule. Other neurotrophic factors [F. ffefti 1994) include 1) brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF), 2) neurotrophin 3, 3) neurotrophin 4/5, and 4) ciliary neurotrophic factor. 

FIGURE 1 —4. The anatomically addressed nervous system is the concept that the brain is a series of hard-wired connections between neurons, not unlike millions of telephone wires within thousands and thousands of cables. Shown in the figure is a cable of axons from many different neurons, all arriving to form synaptic connections with the dendritic tree of the postsynaptic neuron. 

Pathways in the central nervous system. A shows two relay neurons and two types of inhibitory pathways, recurrent and feed-forward. The inhibitory neurons are shown in black. B shows the pathway responsible for presynaptic inhibition in which the axon of an inhibitory neuron synapses on the axon terminal of an excitatory fiber. C Diagram illustrating that dendrites may be both pre-and postsynaptic to each other, forming reciprocal synapses, two of which are shown between the same dendrite pair. In triads, an axon synapses on two dendrites, and one of these dendrites synapses on the second. In serial synapses, a dendrite may be postsynaptic to one dendrite and presynaptic to another, thus connecting a series of dendrites. Dendrites also interact through low-resistance electrotonic ("gap") junctions (two of which are shown). Except for one axon, all... 

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