A. Piccini et R. Malinow, Transient oxygen-glucose deprivation induces rapid morphological changes in rat hippocampal dendrites, NEUROPHARM, 41(6), 2001, pp. 724-729
Previous studies have revealed that pyramidal neurons in the CA1 region of
the hippocampus are extremely susceptible to ischemia-induced cell damage a
nd undergo selective degeneration 2-4 days after the insult. Little is know
n about early morphological changes in neurons occurring immediately after
ischemic insult. Using two-photon laser scanning microscopy we monitored de
ndritic morphology of cells expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein i
n response to a transient hypoxic-ischemic episode in organotypic hippocamp
al slice preparations. This type of vital imaging provides direct evidence
of dendritic rearrangements in rat CA1 pyramidal neurons occurring as soon
as 20 min after oxygen-glucose deprivation. We propose that dendritic reorg
anization, resembling that occurring after tetanic stimulation, may be an e
arly stage response to compensate the loss of synapses caused by ischemia-i
nduced neuronal injury. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.