Silver diagnosis in neuropathology: principles, practice and revised interpretation

Silver-staining methods are helpful for histological identification of pathological deposits. In spite of some ambiguities regarding their mechanism and interpretation, they are widely used for histopathological diagnosis. In this review, four major silver-staining methods, modified Bielschowsky, Bodian, Gallyas (GAL) and Campbell–Switzer (CS) methods, are outlined with respect to their principles, basic protocols and interpretations, thereby providing neuropathologists, technicians and neuroscientists with a common basis for comparing findings and identifying the issues that still need to be clarified. Some consider “argyrophilia” to be a homogeneous phenomenon irrespective of the lesion and the method. Thus, they seek to explain the differences among the methods by pointing to their different sensitivities in detecting lesions (quantitative difference). Comparative studies, however, have demonstrated that argyrophilia is heterogeneous and dependent not only on the method but also on the lesion (qualitative difference). Each staining method has its own lesion-dependent specificity and, within this specificity, its own sensitivity. This “method- and lesion-dependent” nature of argyrophilia enables operational sorting of disease-specific lesions based on their silver-staining profiles, which may potentially represent some disease-specific aspects. Furthermore, comparisons between immunohistochemical and biochemical data have revealed an empirical correlation between GAL+/CS-deposits and 4-repeat (4R) tau (corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy and argyrophilic grains) and its complementary reversal between GAL-/CS+deposits and 3-repeat (3R) tau (Pick bodies). Deposits containing both 3R and 4R tau (neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer type) are GAL+/CS+. Although no molecular explanations, other than these empiric correlations, are currently available, these distinctive features, especially when combined with immunohistochemistry, are useful because silver-staining methods and immunoreactions are complementary to each other

Febrile seizures and mechanisms of epileptogenesis: insights from an animal model.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most prevalent type of human epilepsy, yet the causes for its development, and the processes involved, are not known. Most individuals with TLE do not have a family history, suggesting that this limbic epilepsy is a consequence of acquired rather than genetic causes. Among suspected etiologies, febrile seizures have frequently been cited. This is due to the fact that retrospective analyses of adults with TLE have demonstrated a high prevalence (20-->60%) of a history of prolonged febrile seizures during early childhood, suggesting an etiological role for these seizures in the development of TLE. Specifically, neuronal damage induced by febrile seizures has been suggested as a mechanism for the development of mesial temporal sclerosis, the pathological hallmark of TLE. However, the statistical correlation between febrile seizures and TLE does not necessarily indicate a causal relationship. For example, preexisting (genetic or acquired) 'causes' that result independently in febrile seizures and in TLE would also result in tight statistical correlation. For obvious reasons, complex febrile seizures cannot be induced in the human, and studies of their mechanisms and of their consequences on brain molecules and circuits are severely limited. Therefore, an animal model was designed to study these seizures. The model reproduces the fundamental key elements of the human condition: the age specificity, the physiological temperatures seen in fevers of children, the length of the seizures and their lack of immediate morbidity. Neuroanatomical, molecular and functional methods have been used in this model to determine the consequences of prolonged febrile seizures on the survival and integrity of neurons, and on hyperexcitability in the hippocampal-limbic network. Experimental prolonged febrile seizures did not lead to death of any of the seizure-vulnerable populations in hippocampus, and the rate of neurogenesis was also unchanged. Neuronal function was altered sufficiently to promote synaptic reorganization of granule cells, and transient and long-term alterations in the expression of specific genes were observed. The contribution of these consequences of febrile seizures to the epileptogenic process is discussed

Orthologous proteins of experimental de- and remyelination are differentially regulated in the CSF proteome of multiple sclerosis subtypes

OBJECTIVE: Here, we applied a multi-omics approach (i) to examine molecular pathways related to de- and remyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions; and (ii) to translate these findings to the CSF proteome in order to identify molecules that are differentially expressed among MS subtypes. METHODS: To relate differentially expressed genes in MS lesions to de- and remyelination, we compared transcriptome of MS lesions to transcriptome of cuprizone (CPZ)-induced de- and remyelination. Protein products of the overlapping orthologous genes were measured within the CSF by quantitative proteomics, parallel reaction monitoring (PRM). Differentially regulated proteins were correlated with molecular markers of inflammation by using MesoScale multiplex immunoassay. Expression kinetics of differentially regulated orthologous genes and proteins were examined in the CPZ model. RESULTS: In the demyelinated and remyelinated corpus callosum, we detected 1239 differentially expressed genes; 91 orthologues were also differentially expressed in MS lesions. Pathway analysis of these orthologues suggested that the TYROBP (DAP12)-TREM2 pathway, TNF-receptor 1, CYBA and the proteasome subunit PSMB9 were related to de- and remyelination. We designed 129 peptides representing 51 orthologous proteins, measured them by PRM in 97 individual CSF, and compared their levels between relapsing (n = 40) and progressive MS (n = 57). Four proteins were differentially regulated among relapsing and progressive MS: tyrosine protein kinase receptor UFO (UFO), TIMP-1, apolipoprotein C-II (APOC2), and beta-2-microglobulin (B2M). The orthologous genes/proteins in the mouse brain peaked during acute remyelination. UFO, TIMP-1 and B2M levels correlated inversely with inflammation in the CSF (IL-6, MCP-1/CCL2, TARC/CCL17). APOC2 showed positive correlation with IL-2, IL-16 and eotaxin-3/CCL26. CONCLUSIONS: Pathology-based multi-omics identified four CSF markers that were differentially expressed in MS subtypes. Upregulated TIMP-1, UFO and B2M orthologues in relapsing MS were associated with reduced inflammation and reflected reparatory processes, in contrast to the upregulated orthologue APOC2 in progressive MS that reflected changes in lipid metabolism associated with increased inflammation

Activation of EGFR/ERBB2 via Pathways Involving ERK1/2, P38 MAPK, AKT and FOXO Enhances Recovery of Diabetic Hearts from Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

This study characterized the effects of diabetes and/or ischemia on epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFR, and/or erbB2 signaling pathways on cardiac function. Isolated heart perfusion model of global ischemia was used to study the effect of chronic inhibition or acute activation of EGFR/erbB2 signaling on cardiac function in a rat model of type-1 diabetes. Induction of diabetes with streptozotocin impaired recovery of cardiac function (cardiac contractility and hemodynamics) following 40 minutes of global ischemia in isolated hearts. Chronic treatment with AG825 or AG1478, selective inhibitors of erbB2 and EGFR respectively, did not affect hyperglycemia but led to an exacerbation whereas acute administration of the EGFR ligand, epidermal growth factor (EGF), led to an improvement in cardiac recovery in diabetic hearts. Diabetes led to attenuated dimerization and phosphorylation of cardiac erbB2 and EGFR receptors that was associated with reduced signaling via extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), p38 mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase and AKT (protein kinase B). Ischemia was also associated with reduced cardiac signaling via these molecules whereas EGF-treatment opposed diabetes and/or ischemia induced changes in ERK1/2, p38 MAP kinase, and AKT-FOXO signaling. Losartan treatment improved cardiac function in diabetes but also impaired EGFR phosphorylation in diabetic heart. Co-administration of EGF rescued Losartan-mediated reduction in EGFR phosphorylation and significantly improved cardiac recovery more than with either agent alone. EGFR/erbB2 signaling is an important cardiac survival pathway whose activation, particularly in diabetes, ischemia or following treatment with drugs that inhibit this cascade, significantly improves cardiac function. These findings may have clinical relevance particularly in the treatment of diabetes-induced cardiac dysfunction

Pilocarpine-Induced Status Epilepticus in Rats Involves Ischemic and Excitotoxic Mechanisms

The neuron loss characteristic of hippocampal sclerosis in temporal lobe epilepsy patients is thought to be the result of excitotoxic, rather than ischemic, injury. In this study, we assessed changes in vascular structure, gene expression, and the time course of neuronal degeneration in the cerebral cortex during the acute period after onset of pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus (SE). Immediately after 2 hr SE, the subgranular layers of somatosensory cortex exhibited a reduced vascular perfusion indicative of ischemia, whereas the immediately adjacent supragranular layers exhibited increased perfusion. Subgranular layers exhibited necrotic pathology, whereas the supergranular layers were characterized by a delayed (24 h after SE) degeneration apparently via programmed cell death. These results indicate that both excitotoxic and ischemic injuries occur during pilocarpine-induced SE. Both of these degenerative pathways, as well as the widespread and severe brain damage observed, should be considered when animal model-based data are compared to human pathology

Cytoarchitectonic and chemoarchitectonic characterization of the prefrontal cortical areas in the mouse

This study describes cytoarchitectonic criteria to define the prefrontal cortical areas in the mouse brain (C57BL/6 strain). Currently, well-illustrated mouse brain stereotaxic atlases are available, which, however, do not provide a description of the distinctive cytoarchitectonic characteristics of individual prefrontal areas. Such a description is of importance for stereological, neuronal tracing, and physiological, molecular and neuroimaging studies in which a precise parcellation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is required. The present study describes and illustrates: the medial prefrontal areas, i.e., the infralimbic, prelimbic, dorsal and ventral anterior cingulate and Fr2 area; areas of the lateral PFC, i.e., the dorsal agranular insular cortical areas and areas of the ventral PFC, i.e., the lateral, ventrolateral, ventral and medial orbital areas. Each cytoarchitectonically defined boundary is corroborated by one or more chemoarchitectonic stainings, i.e., acetylcholine esterase, SMI32, SMI311, dopamine, parvalbumin, calbindin and myelin staining

Stereological Analysis of Neuron, Glial and Endothelial Cell Numbers in the Human Amygdaloid Complex

Cell number alterations in the amygdaloid complex (AC) might coincide with neurological and psychiatric pathologies with anxiety imbalances as well as with changes in brain functionality during aging. This stereological study focused on estimating, in samples from 7 control individuals aged 20 to 75 years old, the number and density of neurons, glia and endothelial cells in the entire AC and in its 5 nuclear groups (including the basolateral (BL), corticomedial and central groups), 5 nuclei and 13 nuclear subdivisions. The volume and total cell number in these territories were determined on Nissl-stained sections with the Cavalieri principle and the optical fractionator. The AC mean volume was 956 mm3 and mean cell numbers (x106) were: 15.3 neurons, 60 glial cells and 16.8 endothelial cells. The numbers of endothelial cells and neurons were similar in each AC region and were one fourth the number of glial cells. Analysis of the influence of the individuals’ age at death on volume, cell number and density in each of these 24 AC regions suggested that aging does not affect regional size or the amount of glial cells, but that neuron and endothelial cell numbers respectively tended to decrease and increase in territories such as AC or BL. These accurate stereological measures of volume and total cell numbers and densities in the AC of control individuals could serve as appropriate reference values to evaluate subtle alterations in this structure in pathological conditions