The 3D Stereotaxic Brain Atlas of the Degu

Kumazawa-Manita, Noriko; Hashikawa, Tsutomu; Iriki, Atsushi

doi:10.1007/978-4-431-56615-1

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Regions of interest were selected based on anatomical brain regions known to be impacted in Alzheimer’s disease. The degu brain atlas was used on degu coronal sections to locate these regions of interest and analyze them appropriately [ 19 ]. Maximum projection images covering randomly selected singular or multiple ROIs from confocal images of one section per animal were used to measure the intensity of specific immunoreactivity signals and subsequently analyzed using ImageJ software.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitively impaired aged Octodon degus recapitulate major neuropathological features of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease

Tan

Garduño

Aburto

et al. 2022

acta neuropathol commun

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The long-lived Chilean rodent (Octodon degus) has been reported to show spontaneous age-dependent neuropathology and cognitive impairments similar to those observed in human AD. However, the handful of published papers on degus of differing genetic backgrounds yield inconsistent findings about sporadic AD-like pathological features, with notably differing results between lab in-bred degus versus outbred degus. This motivates more extensive characterization of spontaneously occurring AD-like pathology and behavior in degus. In the present study, we show AD-like neuropathological markers in the form of amyloid deposits and tau abnormalities in a cognitively impaired subset of aged outbred degus. Compared to the aged degus that show normal burrowing behavior, the age-matched degus with burrowing behavior deficits correlatively exhibit detectable human AD-like Aβ deposits and tau neuropathology, along with neuroinflammatory markers that include enhanced microglial activation and higher numbers of reactive astrocytes in the brain. This subset of cognitively impaired aged degus also exhibits cerebral amyloid angiopathy and tauopathy. We find robust neurodegenerative features in behaviorally deficient aged degus, including hippocampal neuronal loss, altered parvalbumin and perineuronal net staining in the cortex, and increased c-Fos neuronal activation in the cortex that is consistent with the neural circuit hyperactivity reported in human AD patients. By focusing on the subset of aged degus that show AD-like behavioral deficits and correlative neuropathology, our findings establish outbred degus as a natural model of sporadic AD and demonstrate the potential importance of wild-type outbred genetic backgrounds for AD pathogenesis.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitively impaired aged Octodon degus recapitulate major neuropathological features of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease

Tan

Garduño

Aburto

et al. 2022

acta neuropathol commun

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“…For each hemisphere two pyramidal neurons located in layer II/III of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) comprising the infralimbic (IL) and prelimbic (PL) cortex were analyzed ( Figure 1A ). The brain region was defined according to the rat brain atlas (Paxinos and Watson, 2004 ) and the degu brain atlas (Kumazawa-Manita et al, 2018 ). All neurons were reconstructed at a final magnification of 1,000× using a computer-based neuron tracing system (NEUROLUCIDA ® , MicroBright-Field, Williston, VT, USA), which allows the quantitative three-dimensional analysis of complete dendritic trees.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, after the removal of the father single degu mothers do not compensate for the lack of paternal care by intensifying maternal activities (Helmeke et al, 2009 ), which creates a socio-emotionally deprived environment in fatherless families. Degus share the principal brain anatomy with common laboratory rodents (Wright and Kern, 1992 ; Kumazawa-Manita et al, 2013 , 2018 ) and they display superior cognitive functions, such as learning to use a tool to retrieve food (Okanoya et al, 2008 ). Similar to human babies (De Casper and Fifer, 1980 ; Fifer and Moon, 1994 ), newborn degus learn to recognize and to respond to their mothers’ vocalizations within the first days of life (Poeggel and Braun, 1996 ; Braun and Scheich, 1997 ; Braun and Poeggel, 2001 ), and also similar to humans this vocal communication is important for the establishment and maintenance of the emotional attachment to the parents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paternal Deprivation and Female Biparental Family Rearing Induce Dendritic and Synaptic Changes in Octodon degus: I. Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Schultz

Bock

Braun

2020

Front. Synaptic Neurosci.

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In most mammalian species parent-offspring interactions during early life periods primarily comprise social contacts with the mother, whereas the role of males in parental care is one of the most overlooked and understudied topics. The present study addressed the hypothesis that the complete deprivation of paternal care delays or permanently retards synaptic connectivity in the brain, particularly in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the offspring in a sex-specific manner. Another aim of this study was to address the question whether and in which way replacing the father with a female caregiver (in our experiments the "aunt") can "buffer" the detrimental effects of paternal deprivation on neuronal development. The comparison of: (a) single mother rearing; (b) biparental rearing by father and mother; and (c) biparental rearing by two female caregivers revealed that: (i) paternal care represents a critical environmental factor for synaptic and dendritic development of pyramidal neurons in the vmPFC of their offspring; (ii) a second female caregiver ("aunt") does not "buffer" the neuronal consequences of paternal deprivation; and that (iii) neuronal development in the vmPFC is differentially affected in male and female offspring in response to different family constellations.

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“…The degu brain atlas (Kumazawa-Manita et al, 2018 ) was superimposed on epiflourescent scans of degu coronal hemispheres to delineate anatomical regions of interest (ROI). ROIs were then imported into ImageJ (FIJI) software for analysis and quantification.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the forebrain transitions to adulthood: developmental plasticity markers in a long-lived rodent reveal region diversity and the uniqueness of adolescence

Garduño,

Hanni,

Hays

et al. 2024

Front. Neurosci.

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Maturation of the forebrain involves transitions from higher to lower levels of synaptic plasticity. The timecourse of these changes likely differs between regions, with the stabilization of some networks scaffolding the development of others. To gain better insight into neuroplasticity changes associated with maturation to adulthood, we examined the distribution of two molecular markers for developmental plasticity. We conducted the examination on male and female degus (Octodon degus), a rodent species with a relatively long developmental timecourse that offers a promising model for studying both development and age-related neuropathology. Immunofluorescent staining was used to measure perineuronal nets (PNNs), an extracellular matrix structure that emerges during the closure of critical plasticity periods, as well as microglia, resident immune cells that play a crucial role in synapse remodeling during development. PNNs (putatively restricting plasticity) were found to be higher in non-juvenile (>3 month) degus, while levels of microglia (putatively mediating plasticity) decreased across ages more gradually, and with varying timecourses between regions. Degus also showed notable variation in PNN levels between cortical layers and hippocampal subdivisions that have not been previously reported in other species. These results offer a glimpse into neuroplasticity changes occurring during degu maturation and highlight adolescence as a unique phase of neuroplasticity, in which PNNs have been established but microglia remain relatively high.

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The 3D Stereotaxic Brain Atlas of the Degu

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Cognitively impaired aged Octodon degus recapitulate major neuropathological features of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease

Cognitively impaired aged Octodon degus recapitulate major neuropathological features of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease

Paternal Deprivation and Female Biparental Family Rearing Induce Dendritic and Synaptic Changes in Octodon degus: I. Medial Prefrontal Cortex

How the forebrain transitions to adulthood: developmental plasticity markers in a long-lived rodent reveal region diversity and the uniqueness of adolescence

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