No description available.

Yukako Hattori, Tadao Usui, Daisuke Satoh, Sanefumi Moriyama, Kohei Shimono, Takehiko Itoh, Katsuhiko Shirahige, Tadashi Uemura, Sensory-Neuron Subtype-Specific Transcriptional Programs Controlling Dendrite Morphogenesis: Genome-wide Analysis of Abrupt and Knot/Collier, Developmental Cell, Volume 27, Issue 5, 9 December 2013, Pages 530-544, ISSN 1534-5807 / 京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(生命科学) / 甲第18418号 / 生博第298号 / 新制||生||39(附属図書館) / 31276 / 京都大学大学院生命科学研究科統合生命科学専攻 / (主査)教授 上村 匡, 教授 西田 栄介, 教授 荒木 崇 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy in Life Sciences / Kyoto University / DFAM

The formation of synapses in cell cultures of rat cerebellum was examined in the presence of the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. First, cell survival in the presence of 25 μg/ml cycloheximide was determined by phase contrast microscopy, trypan blue exclusion, total protein and uptake of [3H]gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Neurons with 24 h incubation in cycloheximide appeared normal with little cell death, but by 48 h incubation the first signs of cell death were found. Some viable neurons were still found in cultures incubated continuously in cycloheximide for 72 h. Normally, the number of synapses seen in cerebellar cultures with the electron microscope shows an increase during the first several weeks in culture. However, the number of synapses in cultures treated with cycloheximide decreased, indicating that inhibition of protein synthesis at least partially inhibited synaptogenesis. Cycloheximide also inhibited the maintenance of synapses already formed as seen by the decrease in the number of synapses from the time the cycloheximide was added. To determine the sensitivity of the forming presynaptic element to cycloheximide, the development of apparent presynaptic elements was investigated. In cultures treated with polylysine-coated sepharose beads, neurites grew and formed apparent presynaptic elements with the bead taking the position of the postsynaptic element. Cultures pretreated with cycloheximide for 1 h followed by 24 h incubation with both cycloheximide and coated beads showed a normal number of apparent presynaptic elements. The first decrease in numbers was seen after 12 h preincubation and 12 h incubation with both cycloheximide and coated beads. Even after 72 h continuous incubation some apparent presynaptic elements could be formed although at reduced levels. Results presented here suggest that continuous protein synthesis is not necessary for the formation of the presynaptic element, but that active protein synthesis is required for neurons to form and maintain postsynaptic elements.

In the current study, mechanoporation-related neuronal injury as a result of mechanical loading has been studied using a multiscale approach. Injurious mechanical loads to the head induce strains in the brain tissue at the macroscale. As each length scale has its own unique morphology and heterogeneities, the strains have been scaled down from the macroscale brain tissue to the nanoscale neuronal components that result in mechanoporation of the neuronal membrane, while relevant neuronal membrane mechanoporation-related damage criteria have been scaled up to the macroscale. To achieve this, first, damage evolution equations has been developed and calibrated to molecular dynamics simulations of a representative neuronal membrane at the nanoscale. These damage evolution equations are strain rate and strain state dependent. The resulting damage evolution model has been combined with Nernst-Planck diffusion equations to analytically compare to intracellular ion concentration disruption through mechanical loading of in vitro neuron cell culture and found to agree well. Then, these damage evolution equations have been scaled up to the microscale for dynamic simulations of 3-dimensional reconstructed neurons of similar mechanical loads. It was found that the neuronal orientation significantly affects average damage accumulation on the neuron, while the morphology of neurons, for a given neuron type, had little effect on the average damage accumulation. At the mesoscale, finite element simulations of geometrical complexities of sulci and gyri, and the structural complexities of the gray and white matter and CSF on stress localization were studied. It was found that the brain convolutions, sulci, and gyri, along with the effects of impedance mismatch between the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain tissue localized shear stresses, at the depths of the sulcus end (near field effects) and in-between sulci (far field effects), that correlated well with the regions of tau protein accumulation that is observed in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Further, sulcus length and orientation, with respect to impending stress waves, had a significant impact on the magnitude of stress localization in the brain tissue. Lastly, gray-white matter differentiation, pia matter, and brain-CSF interface interaction properties had minimal impact of the shear stress localization trends observed in these simulations.

No description available.

No description available.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第23757号 / 医博第4803号 / 新制||医||1056(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 井上 治久, 教授 岩田 想, 教授 上杉 志成 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Graph theoretical approaches have become a powerful tool for investigating the architecture and dynamics of complex networks. The topology of network graphs revealed small-world properties for very different real systems among these neuronal networks. In this study, we observed the early development of mouse retinal ganglion cell (RGC) networks in vitro using timelapse video microscopy. By means of a time-resolved graph theoretical analysis of the connectivity, shortest path length and the edge length, we were able to discover the different stages during the network formation. Starting from single cells, at the first stage neurons connected to each other ending up in a network with maximum complexity. In the further course, we observed a simplification of the network which manifested in a change of relevant network parameters such as the minimization of the path length. Moreover, we found that RGC networks self-organized as small-world networks at both stages; however, the optimization occurred only in the second stage.

No / The chemical and biological nonproliferation regime stands at a watershed moment, when failure seems a real possibility. After the unsuccessful outcome of the 2016 Eighth Review Conference, the future of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention is uncertain. As the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) approaches its Fourth Review Conference in 2018, it has almost completed removing the huge stocks of chemical weapons, but it now faces the difficult organizational task of moving its focus to preventing the reemergence of chemical weapons at a time when the international security situation appears to be increasingly more difficult and dangerous. In this article, we assess the current and near-term state (5–10 years) and impact of three related areas of science and technology that could be of dual-use concern: targeted delivery of agents to the central nervous system (CNS), particularly by means of nanotechnology; direct impact of nanomaterials on synaptic functions in the CNS; and neuronal circuits in the brain that might be targeted by those with hostile intent. We attempt to assess the implications of our findings, particularly for the consideration of the problem of state-level interest in so-called nonlethal incapacitating chemical agents for law enforcement at the CWC Review Conference in 2018, but also more generally for the longer-term future of the chemical and biological nonproliferation regime.

Due to the increasing resistance demonstrated by insects to conventional insecticides, the need for compounds with novel modes of action is becoming more urgent. Also, the discovery and production of new insecticides is vital as regulations and restrictions on conventional insecticides become increasingly stringent (Casida and Quistad 1998). Research in this area requires screening of many candidate compounds which is costly and time-consuming. The goal of this research was to produce in vitro insect neurons from Sf21 insect ovarian cell lines, which could lead to new high throughput screening methods and a way to mass produce insect material for basic research. This study used a culture of Sf21 cells and a mixture of differentiation agents to produce viable neuron-like cells. In the presence of the molting hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE), or insulin, in the growth medium, Sf21 cells began to express neuronal morphology, or the production of elongated, axon-like processes within 2-3 days. Maximal differentiation occurred when in the presence of 42 μM 20-HE or 10 μM insulin. Effects were maximal on day 2 for 20-E and day 3 for insulin. Insulin was more potent at day 2 for inducing differentiation (EC₅₀ = 247 nM) than 20-HE (EC₅₀ = 13 μM). In combination, 20-HE and insulin produced apparent synergistic effects on differentiation. Caffeine, a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, inhibited induction of elongated processes by 20-HE and/or insulin. Caffeine was a potent inhibitor of 42 μM 20-HE, with an IC50 of 9 nM, and the inhibition was incomplete, resulting in about one quarter of the differentiated cells remaining, even at high concentrations (up to 1 mM). The ability to induce a neural phenotype simplifies studies with of insect cells, compared to either the use of primary nervous tissue or genetic engineering techniques. The presence of ion channels or receptors in the differentiated cells remains to be determined. If they are present, high throughput screening for new insecticides will be accelerated and made more economical by the utility of this method. / Master of Science