| 1. |
- Montanino, Annaclauida, 1990-, et al.
(author)
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Mechanical characterization of squid giant axon membrane sheath and influence of the collagenous endoneurium on its properties
- 2019
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 9:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To understand traumas to the nervous system, the relation between mechanical load and functional impairment needs to be explained. Cellular-level computational models are being used to capture the mechanism behind mechanically-induced injuries and possibly predict these events. However, uncertainties in the material properties used in computational models undermine the validity of their predictions. For this reason, in this study the squid giant axon was used as a model to provide a description of the axonal mechanical behavior in a large strain and high strain rate regime (ε=10%,ε⋅=1s−1), which is relevant for injury investigations. More importantly, squid giant axon membrane sheaths were isolated and tested under dynamic uniaxial tension and relaxation. From the lumen outward, the membrane sheath presents: an axolemma, a layer of Schwann cells followed by the basement membrane and a prominent layer of loose connective tissue consisting of fibroblasts and collagen. Our results highlight the load-bearing role of this enwrapping structure and provide a constitutive description that could in turn be used in computational models. Furthermore, tests performed on collagen-depleted membrane sheaths reveal both the substantial contribution of the endoneurium to the total sheath’s response and an interesting increase in material nonlinearity when the collagen in this connective layer is digested. All in all, our results provide useful insights for modelling the axonal mechanical response and in turn will lead to a better understanding of the relationship between mechanical insult and electrophysiological outcome.
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| 2. |
- Zolotarov, Grygoriy, et al.
(author)
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MicroRNAs are deeply linked to the emergence of the complex octopus brain
- 2022
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In: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 8:47
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Soft-bodied cephalopods such as octopuses are exceptionally intelligent invertebrates with a highly complex nervous system that evolved independently from vertebrates. Because of elevated RNA editing in their nervous tissues, we hypothesized that RNA regulation may play a major role in the cognitive success of this group. We thus profiled messenger RNAs and small RNAs in three cephalopod species including 18 tissues of the Octopus vulgaris. We show that the major RNA innovation of soft-bodied cephalopods is an expansion of the microRNA (miRNA) gene repertoire. These evolutionarily novel miRNAs were primarily expressed in adult neuronal tissues and during the development and had conserved and thus likely functional target sites. The only comparable miRNA expansions happened, notably, in vertebrates. Thus, we propose that miRNAs are intimately linked to the evolution of complex animal brains.
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