Extirpation and transplantation of the brain of the snail Helix aspersa: a study of the survival of the animal and the implant

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1505-1512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Gomot ◽  
Lucien Gomot ◽  
Claude-Roland Marchand ◽  
Claude Colard
Keyword(s):  
Neurosecretory Cells ◽  
Helix Aspersa ◽  
Culture Methods ◽  
Cerebral Ganglia ◽  
Temperature Regimes ◽  
In Vivo Culture ◽  
Immunocytochemical Studies ◽  
Snail Helix Aspersa ◽  
The Brain

Dormant, hibernating snails whose brains (supraoesophageal cerebral ganglia and associated dorsal bodies) were removed by surgery continued to live retracted in their shells. The remaining ganglia of the circumoesophageal ring did not regenerate in the 12 months following the removal of the brain. The transplanted brains in the haemocoel (auto- or allo-graft) were not rejected and many of their cerebral neurosecretory cells and the endocrine dorsal bodies appeared normal structurally and functionally, as evidenced by ultrastructural and immunocytochemical studies. The data from these experiments demonstrate the possibility of studying by in vivo culture methods the roles of cerebral ganglia and endocrine dorsal bodies on the control of reproduction under different temperature regimes.

Peptides in the brain of the common snail, Helix aspersa

1982 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 384-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARION E. WILLIAMSON ◽  
PIERS C. EMSON
Keyword(s):  
Helix Aspersa ◽  
Common Snail ◽  
The Common ◽  
Snail Helix Aspersa ◽  
The Brain

Cellular Discrimination Processes in Metal Accumulating Cells

1981 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 317-327
Author(s):  
K. SIMKISS
Keyword(s):  
Metal Ions ◽  
Helix Aspersa ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Cellular Transport ◽  
Simultaneous Administration ◽  
Snail Helix Aspersa ◽  
Vitro Data ◽  
In Vitro Data

A technique is described for investigating cellular fluxes and the accumulation of metal ions in the hepatopancreas of the snail Helix aspersa. The method involves the simultaneous administration of double isotopes into the haemocoel and the subsequent detection of these metals in tissues and granule materials. By comparing in vivo and in vitro data it is possible to detect two separate accumulation systems which appear to correspond with metallothionein and pyrophosphate granules. It is also possible to obtain some information of the nature of possible cellular transport systems.

scholarly journals Hormonal control of transmitter plasticity in insect peptidergic neurons. I. Steroid regulation of the decline in cardioacceleratory peptide 2 (CAP2) expression

1993 ◽  
Vol 181 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Loi ◽  
N. J. Tublitz
Keyword(s):  
Steroid Hormone ◽  
Peptide Hormone ◽  
Neurosecretory Cells ◽  
Hormonal Control ◽  
Peptidergic Neurons ◽  
Steroid Sensitive ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Lines Of Evidence

Transmitter plasticity, the ability to alter transmitter expression, has been documented in several different preparations both in vivo and in vitro. One of these is the tobacco hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, whose central nervous system contains four individually identified lateral neurosecretory cells (LNCs) that undergo a postembryonic transmitter switch in vivo. In larvae, the LNCs express high levels of a myoregulatory peptide, cardioacceleratory peptide 2 (CAP2). In contrast, the predominant LNC transmitter in adult moths in bursicon, a classic insect peptide hormone responsible for cuticular tanning. Here we show that the CAP2-to-bursicon conversion by the LNCs is a multi-step process beginning with a decline in CAP2 levels midway through the final larval stage. We provide several lines of evidence that this CAP2 drop is regulated by the insect steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE). The LNCs exhibit a fall in CAP2 levels at the beginning of metamorphosis, immediately after the commitment pulse of 20-HE when steroid levels are elevated. LNCs not exposed to this 20-HE rise do not exhibit a decline in CAP2 level. The transmitter switch can also be prevented by using an analog of juvenile hormone to create a larval hormonal environment during the commitment pulse of 20-HE. The CAP2 decline in the LNCs could be directly induced by exogenous steroid application, but only under conditions where the LNCs remained connected to the brain. Thus, the first step in the transmitter switch by the LNCs, the decline in CAP2 levels, is triggered by the commitment pulse of 20-HE, which may act indirectly through a set of steroid-sensitive cells in the brain.

The development of mesocerebral neurons in the snail Helix aspersa maxima

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 2034-2041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley LaBerge ◽  
Ronald Chase
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behaviour ◽  
Growth Phase ◽  
Reproductive Development ◽  
Reproductive Organs ◽  
Helix Aspersa ◽  
The Right ◽  
Snail Helix Aspersa ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Helix Aspersa Maxima

The neurons in the right mesocerebrum of Helix aspersa participate in the control of sexual behaviour. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between reproductive development and the development of mesocerebral neurons. The growth of right mesocerebral neurons was quantified by intracellular filling cells with hexamminecobalt chloride. It was found that the peak growth phase of the neurites preceded the peak growth phase of the penis by about 4 weeks. Comprehensive measurements from sectioned material showed that postembryonic growth in three regions of the brain was expressed as increases in soma diameters but not in neuron numbers. The rate of growth of neurons in the right mesocerebrum was significantly greater than that of neurons in the left mesocerebrum and the right postcerebrum. Ablations of the penis and dart sac did not affect the development of right mesocerebral neurons. Thus, no evidence was obtained for a trophic influence of the peripheral reproductive organs on the mesocerebrum.

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