Dra. Luisa Rocha y el Dr. Emilio Galván - NEURONAL RECONSTRUCTIONS AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF PYRAMIDAL NEURONS OF THE HUMAN CEREBRAL CORTEX.

Invitamos a leer el artículo: “NEURONAL RECONSTRUCTIONS AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF PYRAMIDAL NEURONS OF THE HUMAN CEREBRAL CORTEX.”, en la que colaboró la Dra. Luisa Rocha y el Dr. Emilio Galván, Investigadores de Cinvestav Sede Sur

Autores: Nadia Estefania Gutiérrez-Castañeda, Roberto Olvera Guillén, Luisa Rocha, Emilio Galván.

Felicitamos al estudiantado y profesorado que contribuyeron en esta investigación por su arduo trabajo.

Abstract: The opportunity to use live human tissue obtained through elective neurosurgery procedures provides access to a significant resource; it enables research to associate neuronal morphology and single-cell electrophysiological properties of one of the less explored brains relevant to us: the human brain. Analyzing morphological features of neurons derived from human tissue is essential to describe neuronal phenotypes and changes observed in the epileptic brain. In experimental epilepsy  models, neuronal morphology has been reported to change. For this study, grey matter sections of the human cerebral cortex  were obtained from surgical interventions; The procedures were to remove deeper brain areas harboring previously diagnosed neuropathologies. The tissue was sliced with a vibratome to obtain grey matter slices (400–450 μm thick). Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were performed in cortical neurons. Patch pipettes were loaded with biocytin (0.4 – 0.5%), post-hoc reconstructions were next performed. Confocal imaging microphotographs revealed cell bodies and dendritic arborizations that were reconstructed. Branching patterns were quantified using Sholl analysis. Dendritic length and surface area were computed using The Simple Neurite Tracer plug-in. Morphometric analysis revealed a significant difference in cell morphology. Reconstructed neurons show different characteristics in complexity and the number of dendrites and dendritic extension. Although some have the classic pyramidal neuron morphology, others have abnormal morphology with more extensive processes, alterations in the branch angles formed between a parent segment and daughter segments, and increased dendrites. Furthermore, we observed aberrant filopodia-like spines in neurons from epilepsy patients. These results provide morphological evidence that the pathological electrical activity in the human epileptic brain can respond to morphological changes in dendritic growths. The structural variation in spines observed in our studies could impact the late excitability of neuronal circuitry and contribute to the aberrant formation of circuitry and comorbidities of epilepsy, in addition to disruptive behavior and cognitive deficits.