Alteration of CaBP Expression Pattern in the Nucleus Magnocellularis following Unilateral Cochlear Ablation in Adult Zebra Finches

Jie Li,Xin Fu,Xin Zhou,Xinwen Zhang,Mingxue Zuo,Yingyu Sun,Li Huang,Jin Liu,David S Vicario

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0079297

Jie Li, Xin Fu + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0079297

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Nov 14, 2013
Citations: 7	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Beijing Normal University, Hainan Normal University

Abstract

Songbirds have the rare ability of auditory-vocal learning and maintenance. Up to now, the organization and function of the nucleus magnocellularis (NM), the first relay of the avian ascending auditory pathway is largely based on studies in non-vocal learning species, such as chickens and owls. To investigate whether NM exhibits different histochemical properties associated with auditory processing in songbirds, we examined the expression patterns of three calcium-binding proteins (CaBPs), including calretinin (CR), parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin-D28k (CB), and their relations to auditory inputs in NM in adult zebra finches. We found enriched and co-localized immunostaining of CR, PV and CB in the majority of NM neurons, without neuronal population preference. Furthermore, they were sensitive to adult deafferentation with differential plasticity patterns. After unilateral cochlear removal, CR staining in the ipsilateral NM decreased appreciably at 3 days after surgery, and continued to decline thereafter. PV staining showed down-regulation first at 3 days, but subsequently recovered slightly. CB staining did not significantly decrease until 7 days after surgery. Our findings suggest that the three CaBPs might play distinct roles in association with auditory processing in zebra finches. These results are in contrast to the findings in the NM of chickens where CR is the predominant CaBP and deafferentation had no apparent effect on its expression. Further extended studies in other avian species are required to establish whether the difference in CaBP patterns in NM is functionally related to the different auditory-vocal behaviors.

Highlights

Songbirds have the rare ability to produce learned vocal behavior, which is found in only a few animal species, including humans [1,2]
Our findings provide important details concerning the patterns of calcium-binding proteins (CaBPs) expression and their responses to auditory deprivation in nucleus magnocellularis (NM) in adult zebra finches
We show that PV and CB expression in zebra finch NM are different from that in chickens

Summary

Introduction

Songbirds have the rare ability to produce learned vocal behavior, which is found in only a few animal species, including humans [1,2]. Auditory disturbance or deprivation in songbirds leads to abnormal song learning or plastic changes of the learned songs [3,4,5,6,7]. Several recent studies in zebra finches and Bengalese finches further showed that songbirds could discriminate subtle changes in the acoustic stimuli (e.g. the frequency) to elaborately modulate their learned songs [8,9,10]. A reasonable hypothesis is that songbirds may have special properties in the auditory pathway to adapt to their rare vocal behaviors. A few recent reports have shown that the projection topography details among brainstem auditory nuclei in zebra finches are different from those in barn owls and chickens [11,12,13]

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