Immunocytochemical characterization of astrocytosis along the spinal cord of loop-tail/curly-tail mice with myelomeningocele
| Autor: | Jorge Correia-Pinto, Mariana P. Monteiro, Joaquim L. Reis, Alexandrina Ribeiro, Grover M. Hutchins, Madalena Costa |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Universidade do Minho |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2008 |
| Předmět: |
Male
congenital hereditary and neonatal diseases and abnormalities Meningomyelocele medicine.medical_treatment Primary neurulation 03 medical and health sciences Mice 0302 clinical medicine 030225 pediatrics Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein medicine Animals Gliosis Light microscopy Spina bifida Tethered cord Fetal surgery Science & Technology Glial fibrillary acidic protein biology business.industry Morphometry digestive oral and skin physiology General Medicine Anatomy medicine.disease Spinal cord Immunohistochemistry Mice Mutant Strains 3. Good health medicine.anatomical_structure Animals Newborn Spinal Cord Pediatrics Perinatology and Child Health biology.protein Surgery Female Neurology (clinical) Astrocytosis medicine.symptom business 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP) instacron:RCAAP |
| Popis: | Background: The neurological deficits of myelomeningocele (MMC) have been attributed both to a primary neurulation defect and to a secondary injury of the placode in the intrauterine environment. Since astrocytes are involved in glial scar formation after spinal cord injury, the characterization of astrocyte density along the spinal cord upstream of the MMC can be used as a surrogate marker of the extension of the injury beyond the MMC. Methods: The curly-tail/loop-tail murine model was applied to obtain newborn mice with MMC. The astrocyte density and topography both at the MMC placode level and at the upper segments of the spinal cord was characterized by immunolabeling using the anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein antibody. This was followed by a qualitative evaluation of immunolabeled cells and morphometric analysis of the samples. Results: The topography of astrocytes in the spinal cord of MMC newborn mice was compared with that of newborn control mice (without spina bifida aperta) (n = 8/group). The anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity was significantly increased in the MMC samples in comparison with the normal spinal cord, indicating the presence of an astrocytic response. Increased astrocytosis was also observed in the transitional area located above the MMC. The astrocytosis decreased progressively along the MMC spinal cord until matching the pattern of the control spinal cords. This transitional area involved a segment of the spinal cord with a length of 240 microm in the newborn mouse. Conclusions: MMC newborn mice show spinal cord injury that is located upstream of the exposed placode and is characterized by proliferation of astrocytes. This finding offers further support for the hypothesis of a tethering mechanism as part of the spinal cord injury observed in MMC newborns. This study was financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the Unit for Multidisciplinary Investigation in Biomedicine at the Abel Salazar Institute for Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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