title: Developmental study of rat vestibular neuronal circuits during a spaceflight of 17 days.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential plasticity of the vestibular system, in structural and biochemical terms, at the level of the gravity receptors (the sensory hair cells), the primary neurons relaying the sensory signals (the vestibular ganglion neurons) and their projections into the vestibular nuclei. We studied the biochemical differentiation of the sensory cells and of the vestibular ganglion by investigating which calcium-binding proteins were present. We studied the development of peripheral synaptic connections of the efferent system by investigating the distribution of CGRP (calcitonin-gene related-peptide) and we also studied the cerebellar synaptic connections in the vestibular nuclei, as identified by the presence of calbindin. Putative changes were studied after a 17-day episode of microgravity (Neurolab STS-90), in developing rats between postnatal days 8 and 25. The extent to which these changes could be caused by alterations in gravity was determined by examining sensory and nervous structures not involved in gravity detection, the cochlea and the cochlear nuclei.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Demêmes
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blanc
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sans
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ventéo
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Dechesne
mesh_terms: D008267:Acoustic Maculae / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D064032:Calbindin 2; D064026:Calbindins; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide / Q000032:analysis; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D018069:Hair Cells, Vestibular; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000032:analysis; D013026:Space Flight; D014726:Vestibular Nuclei / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000276:immunology; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000276:immunology; D014893:Weightlessness
chemical_list: D064032:Calbindin 2; D064026:Calbindins; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide