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Article: Identification of nerve plexi in connective tissues of the sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrima by using a novel nerve-specific antibody.
- Article from:
- The Biological Bulletin
- Article date:
- August 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Marine Biological Laboratory. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
The neurobiology of species from the phylum Echinodermata has lagged behind that of other invertebrates. One impediment to study has been the lack of markers to identify nerve cells and fibers, which are usually small and sometimes surrounded by a calcite skeleton (Pentreath and Cobb, 1972; Cobb, 1987). The classical experiments aimed at describing the echinoderm nervous system mainly used methylene blue as a marker, but this does not identify the nervous components with sufficient specificity (Pentreath and Cobb, 1972). Some investigators have identified neuronal and fiber populations that express particular neurotransmitters, mainly catecholamines ...