Light and Electron Microscopic Study of Decidual Cells in the Human Ovary during Pregnancy

Decidual tissue in the human ovary obtained from 53 women by gynecological operation or cesarean section at 8-42 weeks of normal pregnancy was studied by light and electron microscopy. Histologically, ovarian decidual cells had round nuclei with prominent nucleoli and abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm. Immunoreactive prolactin was detected in the cytoplasm of some decidual cells. Electron microscopically, nuclei were oval or ellipsoidal in shape with distinct nucleoli and enchromatin. The cytoplasm contained well developed rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, abundant rod-shaped mitochondria, intermediate filaments, glycogen particles and lysosomes. Peduncular protrusions containing secretory bodies bounded by a limiting membrane were characteristically observed. Some protrusions showed exocytosis of secretory bodies composed of numerous granular contents. Acid phosphatase (AcPase) activity was demonstrated in the secretory bodies by a cerium-based method in combination with a microslicer. Periodic acid-silver methenamine (PA-silver . methenamine) technique also revealed deposits of silver in the secretory bodies. These findings strongly suggest that ovarian decidual cells secrete granular contents positive for AcPase and PA-silver methenamine reactions from the peduncular protrusions with the mode of exocytosis and some decidual cells contain prolactin in the cytoplasm. These are quite similar to uterine decidual cells

Ultracytochemical Demonstration of Several Phosphatases in the Human Corpus Luteum of Early Pregnancy by a Cerium-Based Method in Combination with a Microslicer

Acid phospatase (AcPase), alkaline phosphatase (AlPase), 5'-nucleotidase (AMPase), Mg-activated adenosine triphospatase (ATPase), thiamine pyrophospatase (TPPase) and glucose-6-phospatase (G6Pase) were investigated in the human corpus luteum of early pregnancy using a cerium-based method in combination with a microslicer. Ultrastructurally, cerium phosphate reaction product appears as a very fine electron dense precipitate. The AcPase reaction products were exclusively localized in the lysosomes and in two cisternae of the Golgi lamellae on the trans-side. The AlPase and AMPase reaction products were observed in the plasma membrane. The Mg-activated ATPase reaction products were found in the matrix of the mitochondria as well as in the plasma membrane. The TPPase reaction products were present in two cisternae of the Golgi lamellae on the trans-side. The G6Pase reaction products were found in the rough endoplasmic reticulum. This technique can be applied routinely for the demonstration of phosphatase activity because of its reproducibility and specificity when cerium is used as the capturing agent, and yields better results than the lead-based method. In the luteal cells, these several phosphatases might serve to maintain a constant metabolic activity in the early pregnancy

Transition and potential of the land function of “Tokushachi” (bare lands) in the Seto District, Aichi, Japan

The mountain forests of the Seto District,Aichi Prefecture, Japan had been plundered as sources of fuel for 1,000 years, leaving a wasteland of bare hills. However, the carbon content of the degraded land at least 75 years after vegetation recovery in late Taisho period (1920’s) was 4.9 to 8.5%.These data suggest that, even in non-productive wastelands like those represented by the bare hills, the land function potential is not necessarily extinguished: the functionality of such bare lands their functionality can be restored by applying appropriate treatments

Glycinergic inhibition tunes coincidence detection in the auditory brainstem

Neurons in the medial superior olive (MSO) detect microsecond differences in the arrival time of sounds between the ears (interaural time differences or ITDs),a crucial binaural cue for sound localization. Synaptic inhibition has been implicated in tuning ITD sensitivity, but the cellular mechanisms underlying its influence on coincidence detection are debated. Here we determine the impact of inhibition on coincidence detection in adult Mongolian gerbil MSO brain slices by testing precise temporal integration of measured synaptic responses using conductance-clamp. We find that inhibition dynamically shifts the peak timing of excitation, depending on its relative arrival time, which in turn modulates the timing of best coincidence detection. Inhibitory control of coincidence detection timing is consistent with the diversity of ITD functions observed in vivo and is robust under physiologically relevant conditions. Our results provide strong evidence that temporal interactions between excitation and inhibition on microsecond timescales are critical for binaural processing

Glycinergic inhibition tunes coincidence detection in the auditory brainstem

Neurons in the medial superior olive (MSO) detect microsecond differences in the arrival time of sounds between the ears (interaural time differences or ITDs),a crucial binaural cue for sound localization. Synaptic inhibition has been implicated in tuning ITD sensitivity, but the cellular mechanisms underlying its influence on coincidence detection are debated. Here we determine the impact of inhibition on coincidence detection in adult Mongolian gerbil MSO brain slices by testing precise temporal integration of measured synaptic responses using conductance-clamp. We find that inhibition dynamically shifts the peak timing of excitation, depending on its relative arrival time, which in turn modulates the timing of best coincidence detection. Inhibitory control of coincidence detection timing is consistent with the diversity of ITD functions observed in vivo and is robust under physiologically relevant conditions. Our results provide strong evidence that temporal interactions between excitation and inhibition on microsecond timescales are critical for binaural processing

Precisely timed inhibition facilitates action potential firing for spatial coding in the auditory brainstem

The integration of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs is fundamental to neuronal processing. In the mammalian auditory brainstem, neurons compare excitatory and inhibitory inputs from the ipsilateral and contralateral ear, respectively, for sound localization. However, the temporal precision and functional roles of inhibition in this integration process are unclear. Here, we demonstrate by in vivo recordings from the lateral superior olive (LSO) that inhibition controls spiking with microsecond precision throughout high frequency click trains. Depending on the relative timing of excitation and inhibition, neuronal spike probability is either suppressed or-unexpectedly-facilitated. In vitro conductance-clamp LSO recordings establish that a reduction in the voltage threshold for spike initiation due to a prior hyperpolarization results in post-inhibitory facilitation of otherwise sub-threshold synaptic events. Thus, microsecond-precise differences in the arrival of inhibition relative to excitation can facilitate spiking in the LSO, thereby promoting spatial sensitivity during the processing of faint sounds