Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2016-07-21T17:25:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 AndreaLimaDeSa_TESE.pdf: 4573844 bytes, checksum: 9f1a31fbaa0a719d2f0fb7406f6aca31 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-07-22T12:47:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 AndreaLimaDeSa_TESE.pdf: 4573844 bytes, checksum: 9f1a31fbaa0a719d2f0fb7406f6aca31 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-22T12:47:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AndreaLimaDeSa_TESE.pdf: 4573844 bytes, checksum: 9f1a31fbaa0a719d2f0fb7406f6aca31 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-05 / O c?rtex somatosensorial prim?rio (S1), recebe informa??es dos receptores t?teis localizados na periferia sensorial e desempenha um papel crucial na explora??o ambiental. No entanto, essa regi?o do SNC adulto, como v?rias outras, apresenta uma redu??o expressiva no seu potencial pl?stico na fase adulta. Esse fato se deve ? presen?a de estruturas e subst?ncias que impedem a regenera??o dos neuritos ap?s a les?o, como por exemplo os componentes da matriz extracelular (MEC) presentes nas redes perineuronais. O amadurecimento das redes perineuronais (RPNs) coincide com o fechamento do per?odo cr?tico de plasticidade, pois os proteoglicanos da matriz extracelular atuam na estabiliza??o dos contatos sin?pticos. A remo??o dos componentes desta matriz ? uma manobra promissora para o restabelecimento da plasticidade e da recupera??o funcional de ?reas lesionadas do sistema nervoso central de animais adultos. Na presente tese, realizamos a remo??o das PGSCs do meio extracelular do c?rtex cerebral como terapia para restaurar a plasticidade e promover a regenera??o morfofuncional do c?rtex somest?sico prim?ria (SI) ap?s remo??o das vibrissas mistaciais durante o per?odo cr?tico. O tratamento com CABC mostrou-se eficaz para o estabelecimento de plasticidade cerebral com altera??es axonais, celulares e recupera??o funcional. / The primary somatosensory cortex (S1) receives inputs from peripheral tactile receptors and plays a crucial role on many important behaviors. However, the plastic potential of this region is greatly reduced during adulthood, limiting functional recovery after injuries. This fact is due to the presence, in the brain parenchima, of structures and substances that have an inhibitory effect on plasticity, such as chondroitin sulfate proteoglicans (CSP) present in the perineuronal.nets (PNNs) surrounding a subset of neurons. Maturation of PNNs coincide with the closure of critical periods of plasticity in cortical areas, since CSP act to stabilize synaptic contacts. Removal of CSP is proven to be an effective therapeutic approach to restore plasticity and increase the odds of functional recovery after cortical lesion. In the present work, we removed CSP from the sensorimotor cortex of rats to restore plasticity and promote the compensatory morphofunctional regeneration of cortical circuits modified by removal of mystacial vibrissae during the critical period. Treatment with the CSP-digesting enzyme chondroitinase ABC proved efficient to restore plasticity in S1 circuits, as evidenced by morphological rearrangements and functional recovery.