Topic: striosomes

The striatum constitutes the main input structure of the basal ganglia and is mainly composed of GABAergic medium spiny neurons (MSNs) giving rise to the direct and indirect pathways. An additional compartmentalization of the striatum, consisting in the striosomes and the matrix was described decades ago. The respective network organization and functions of these compartments are much less understood along with the differences in their MSNs intrinsic properties. Our aim is to assess the intrinsic properties of the striosomal and matrix neurons and to characterize their functional connectivity.

X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP) is a recessive neurodegenerative disease endemic to Panay, Philippines. The XDP striatum is notably reported to undergo significant atrophy, neuronal loss, and astrogliosis. However, detailed neuropathological studies characterising the human XDP striatum are limited.To advance our understanding of the human XDP striatum, immunohistochemistry coupled with automated analysis was conducted on post-mortem striatal tissue from 12 XDP and 5 age-matched neurologically normal cases to detail (1) the neurochemical architecture and (2) neuronal and glial populations