Anatomical projections between substantia nigra and retrotrapezoid nucleus

• Grant number: 13/00103-4
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Ana Carolina Thomaz Takakura
• Grantee: Marina Taranto Botelho
• Home Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the clinical tetrad tremor, rigidity, akinesia (or bradykinesia) and postural instability. The tremor typically starts asymmetrically and is present at rest, usually involving hands, legs, jaw, lips, but sparing the head. Pathologically, PD is classified as a synucleinopathy associated predominantly with the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, but other brain stem neurons have been found to degenerate in PD, possibly contributing to not only motor but also non-motor alterations observed in this pathology. In patients with PD also noted respiratory impairments whose mechanisms are not yet well understood. Recent studies from our laboratory showed that in animals with PD induced by the injection of 6-hydroxy-dopamine (6-OHDA) in the caudate-putamen (CPU) there is a massive reduction in resting respiratory frequency and ventilation due to a reduction in the number of neurons located in the ventral respiratory column, including the chemoreceptors neurons located in the retrotrapezoid nucleus. Therefore, it is important to investigate a possible existence of anatomical projections between the substantia nigra and retrotrapezoid nucleus, by placing injections of anterograde and retrograde tracers in these regions. These rats will be allowed to survive 7 days, then they will be sacrified and perfused. The brain will be removed for immunohistochemical procedures to detect the phenotype of these neurons. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LIMA, JULIANA C.; OLIVEIRA, LUIZ M.; BOTELHO, MARINA T.; MOREIRA, THIAGO S.; TAKAKURA, ANA C. The involvement of the pathway connecting the substantia nigra, the periaqueductal gray matter and the retrotrapezoid nucleus in breathing control in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. Experimental Neurology, v. 302, p. 46-56, APR 2018. Web of Science Citations: 6.