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PMID: 18383551 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Review

Imaging second messenger dynamics in developing neural circuits.

Developmental neurobiology ·Vol. 68 ·No. 6 ·2008-05-00 ·Pages 835-44

Dunn TA, Feller MB

Abstract

A characteristic feature of developing neural circuits is that they are spontaneously active. There are several examples, including the retina, spinal cord, and hippocampus, where spontaneous activity is highly correlated among neighboring cells, with large depolarizing events occurring with a periodicity on the order of minutes. One likely mechanism by which neurons can "decode" these slow oscillations is through activation of second messenger cascades that either influence transcriptional activity or drive posttranslational modifications. Here, we describe recent experiments where imaging has been used to characterize slow oscillations in the cAMP/PKA second messenger cascade in retinal neurons. We review the latest techniques in imaging this specific second messenger cascade, its intimate relationship with changes in intracellular calcium concentration, and several hypotheses regarding its role in neurodevelopment.

MeSH Terms
Animals Diagnostic Imaging Nerve Net/cytology Neurons/physiology Nonlinear Dynamics Second Messenger Systems/physiology
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Dunn Timothy A
Division of Biological Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
Feller Marla B
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Article Info
Journal
Developmental neurobiology
Abbr.
Dev Neurobiol
ISSN
1932-8451
DOI
10.1002/dneu.20619
Published
2008-05-00
Pages
835-44
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
101300215
PMCID
PMC2930489
Subset
IM
Grants
NEI NIH HHS · R01 EY013528 · United States
NEI NIH HHS · R01 EY013528-08 · United States
NEI NIH HHS · R21 EY016417 · United States
NEI NIH HHS · R21 EY016417-02 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1002/dneu.20619 PMC Full Text View journal details
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