1. gaine de myéline et 2. synapse en formation

Opossum nouveau-né

Programme de recherche

Pourquoi étudier le développement des systèmes moteurs chez les mammifères?

• c’est chez les mammifères que les actes moteurs sont les plus complexes et, donc, que leur contrôle par le système nerveux est aussi le plus complexe;
• de savoir comment se développe un système permet de mieux comprendre le fonctionnement adulte et de mieux intervenir en cas de lésion et de dégénérescence.

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English version

Academic background

• Ph.D.: Ohio State University (Ohio, United States).
• M.Sc.: Université de Montréal (Quebec, Canada).

Research interest

In mammals, motor systems form almost entirely during prenatal life and, therefore, their development has not been studied as much as that of the sensory systems, especially the visual system. Using a marsupial, the opossum Monodelphis domestica, which is born in a more immature state than any placental species, we are able to investigate the development of nervous pathways controlling the motor centers of the spinal cord (propriospinal, reticulospinal, vestibulospinal, rubrospinal, corticofugal pathways as well as limb innervation) as well as that of ascending spinal pathways. We study axonal growth, neurotransmitters, synaptogenesis and myelinogenesis using different techniques in light and electron microscopy, in parallel to behavioural studies of the simple sensorimotor reflexes and spontaneous locomotion.

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Publications choisies / Selected papers

Lemieux, M, T. Cabana, J.-F Pflieger. 2010. Distribution of the neuronal gap junction protein Connexin36 in the spinal cord enlargements of developing and adult opossums, Monodelphis domestica. Brain Beh Evol, 75: 23-32.

Barthélemy, D., T. Cabana. 2005. Postnatal development of limb motor innervation in the opossum Monodelphis domestica: immunohistochemical localization of acetylcholine. Development Brain Research, 155: 87-98.

Lamoureux, S., J. Gingras, T. Cabana. 2005. Myelinogenesis in the brachial and lumbosacral enlargements of the spinal cord of the opossum Monodelphis domestica. Brain Beh Evol., 65: 143-156.

T. Cabana. 2000. The development of mammalian motor systems : the opossum Monodelphis domestica as a model Brain Res. Bull., 53: 615-626.

Gingras, J., T. Cabana. 1999. Synaptogenesis in the brachial and lumbosacral enlargements of the spinal cord in the opossum, Monodelphis domestica. J. Comp. Neurol., 414: 551-560.

Leblond, H., T. Cabana. 1997. Myelination of the ventral and dorsal roots of the C8 and L4 segments of the spinal cord at different stages of development of the opossum, Monodelphis domestica. J. Comp. Neurol., 386: 203-216.

Pflieger, J.F., G. Cassidy, T. Cabana. 1996. Development of spontaneous locomotor behaviors in the opossum, Monodelphis domestica. Behavioural Brain Research, 80: 137-143.

Pflieger, J.F., T. Cabana. 1996. The vestibular primary afferents and the vestibulospinal projections in the developing and adult opossum, Monodelphis domestica. Anatomy and Embryology, 194: 75-88.

Articles de collaboration / In collaboration

Émond, M., R. McNeil, T. Cabana, C.G. Guerra, P. Lachapelle. 2006. Comparing the retinal structures and functions in two gull species (Larus delawarensis and Larus modestus) with significant nocturnal behaviours. Vision Res., 46: 2914-2925.

Plouhinec, J.L., T. Sauka-Spengler, A. Germot, C. Le Mentec, T. Cabana, G. Harrison, C. Pieau, J.Y. Sire, G. Véron, S. Mazan. 2003. The mammalian Crx genes are highly divergent representatives of the Otx5 gene family, a Gnathostome orthology class of orthodenticle-related homeogenes involved in the differentiation of retinal photoreceptors and circadian entrainment. Mol. Biol. Evol., 20: 513-521.