Vol 139, No 1 (2011)

This paper is aimed at the characterization of beta-III-tubulin, MAP2 and doublecortin, the proteins which participate in the organization, stabilization and function of the microtubules of nerve cell cytoskeleton. Due to the structural and functional features, these proteins may be regarded as differentiation markers, associated with neurogenesis and as the indicators of nerve cell functional status under normal and pathological conditions. The data presented show that these proteins perform important structural and transport functions in nerve cells and are essential for some neurospecific intracellular processes. However, current knowledge of the functional role of these proteins in nerve cells is insufficient and requires significant supplementation indispensable for unequivocal interpretation of the studies results.

Using the methods of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry combined with nerve fiber labeling with carbocyanin dye DiI (l,l',dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate), the distribution of catecholaminergic (CE) neurons and their ascending projections to the basal telencephalon were studied in adult Amur cypriniform fish Rhodeus sericeus. Highly specialized complex of CE neurons was demonstrated in diencephalon. Six populations of TH-immunopositive neurons were detected in the area of posterior tuberculum, two of them were double-labeled, indicating the presence of dopaminergic projections to the ventral portion of the telencephalon (striatum). In the posteriotuberal area, two populations of CE cells were identified (small round neurons and large pear-shaped cells) which probably could correspond to the populations of sensomotor and limbic cells in mammals.

Electron microscopy was used to study the peculiarities of the development of nervous elements in the sympathetic caudal mesenteric ganglion (CMG) in the cat from the moment of birth until the end of the second month of life. The discordance in the rate of maturation of both neurons and their endings was observed. In newborn kittens, mature neurons, glial cells and synapses were observed together with many immature ones. In 14-day-old animals, the proportion of immature neurons decreased, while destruction of neurons was observed more frequently in this age. In CMG of the animals of all the age groups, axodendritic synapses were found most frequently and axosomatic synapses were observed more rarely. Finally, the ultrastructure of CMG in kittens become comparable to that of adult animals at the age of 60 days.

Using histological methods, qualitative and quantitative changes in cell composition were studied in mesenteric lymph nodes in 20 male Wistar rats after experimental 30 days-long hypokinesia, and in 10 rats 1 month following the cessation of mobility restriction. Hypokinesia was found to result in massive destruction of lymphoid cells in the structural organ zones, suppression of lymphocytopoiesis, reduction in plasma cell and macrophage numbers, indicating the dampening of the immune reactions, however the full restoration of the cytoarchitectonics in the structural zones of lymph nodes did not take part 30 days following the cessation of hypokinesia.

The purpose of this study was the analysis of the buccal smears from 200 healthy children and children with chronic tonsillitis and chicken pox. The smears were stained using Pappenheim's method. The peculiarity of buccal mucosa cytograms of children of different ages was the significant increase in mature forms of the cells (presence of differentiation stage 5 and 6 cells) in adolescents. They also had a lower area of epitheliocytes at all the stages of differentiation and of their nuclei. In chronic tonsillitis and chicken pox, the complex of cytological changes was detected, that included the increase of the leukocyte number, changes in the proportions of epitheliocytes in cell population, augmentation of inflammation-destruction and destruction indexes.

Total preparations of the urinary bladder wall obtained from 130 corpses of humans of both sexes and various ages, who died by chance cause, were examined with the macro-microscopical method. Morphometry was used to study the structural characteristics of the glands of this organ in the different parts of its wall (proximal, medial and distal thirds of the urinary bladder). The diversity of the appearance of the glands was noted; the greatest variability of glandular shape variants was detected at the age of 22-35 years. The glandular apparatus of the urinary bladder was found to attain its maximum development at the age of 22-35 years, thereafter it undergoes the involutive changes. Proximo-distal gradient of the change of shape of the glands was detected along the urinary bladder, this gradient was independent on age and gender. Age-associated changes of the total numbers of glands and of their density (relative numbers) in the walls of the urinary bladder, as well as the regional peculiarities of these parameters, were described for the first time. Gender-related differences in the structure of the urinary bladder glands were found only in the reproductive period. They were demonstrated as the larger gland dimensions in females of this age as compared to those of males.

Comparative histological and morphometric methods were used to study the bone callus (BC) in rats 14 and 30 days after the experimental fibula fracture. Animals were infused with cell preparations of multipotent bone marrow stromal cells - BMSC (also known as multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells) in the site of injury immediately after the fracture. BMSC were cultivated in vitro under normoxic (20% O2) and hypoxic (5% O2) conditions. 14 days after the fracture, in rats that received no BMSC (control group) and in animals injected with BMSC, newly formed BC contained fibrous tissue, cartilage and reticulofibrous bone tissue (RFBT). The portion of BC, occupied by RFBT was significantly greater in rats that received BMSC grown at 5%O2, than in the other experimental groups. Thickening index of BC at day 14 was 1.3 and 1.4 times higher in animals treated with BMSC grown at 5% and 20%O2 (p<0.05) than in rats that received no BMSC. At day 30, BC was histologically more mature in rats that received BMSC infusion than in the control group, while the restoration of the initial bone thickness was also more effective in these animals. Thus, the results of this study demonstrated that the infusion of allogeneic BMSC, expanded in vitro at different oxygen concentrations, into the site of fracture improved osteocartilaginous fragment and BC formation and bone size restoration in rats with fibula fracture.