Possible use of an analgesic (fentanyl) during electrophysiological investigations of the cerebellar cortex

The effect of the central analgesic fentanyl on evoked potentials and responses of single Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex to stimulation of the sensomotor cortex and of somatic nerves was investigated in unanesthetized cats. Injection of fentanyl in an analgesic dose (10–30 µg/kg, intravenously) had no appreciable effect on evoked potentials and led only to very slight changes in spontaneous activity and responses of Purkinje cells. As a rule fentanyl, in a dose of 30 µg/kg, depressed, but in a dose of 10 µg/kg, facilitated responses and spontaneous activity of Purkinje cells. This effect of fentanyl is negligible compared with the action of barbiturate anesthetics on responses of cerebellar cortical neurons. Consequently, fentanyl can be used for analgesia during electrophysiological investigations of the cerebellar cortex in unanesthetized cats.Institute for Problems in Information Transmission, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 11, No. 6, pp. 585–592, November–December, 1979.     

Multifactorial study of the combined effect of rifampicin and microbial peptidoglycan in experimental plague infection

The combined effect of rifampicin and a microbial peptidoglycan was studied in multifactorial experiments on noninbred mice with plague infection. The effect of rifampicin and the immunomodulator was shown to be synergistic. The results of the multifactorial experiments provided designing of polynomial statistic models of the second order characterizing the animal survival rate and mean life-span and plotting of nomograms or equal level lines useful in optimization of the combined therapy parameters.     

Effect of the quality of fat substrate on the dynamics of fatty acid utilization during biosynthesis of cephalosporin C

Influence of the quality of the fats used on their utilization in the process of cephalosporin C fermentation and accumulation was studied. A decrease in the level of all the fractions of the fatty acids was observed during the fermentation process. The antibiotic yield with the use of oxidized fats was lower. Treatment of the fats with gaseous nitrogen prevented their oxidation. It was supposed that the decreased yields of the antibiotic were associated with the influence of the oxidized fats on the biosynthetic processes.     

Isolation of 5-benzyl hydroxytryptophan enantiomers by using microbial aminoacylase

The process of asymmetric deacylation of an acetyl derivative of 5-benzyl hydroxytryptophan racemate in the presence of native microbial aminoacylase was studied. The effect of pH, temperature, concentration of the enzyme and substrate were investigated. Conditions for preparation and isolation of individual amino acids were defined by optimization of N-Ac-DU-5-BOT hydrolysis.     

The clinico-epidemiological characteristics of the course of a mixed epidemic of influenza and respiratory syncytial infection in Novoshakhtinsk in the summer of 1986

In the summer of 1986 the epidemic, whose etiological agents were influenza viruses A (H1N1) and respiratory syncytial virus, was registered among the population of Novoshakhtinsk. In a number of mines 15.3-16.7% of the employees were affected. Influenza viruses A (H1N1) proved to be closely related in their antigenic and biological properties to viruses isolated in the USSR in March-June 1986, as well as to viruses A (H1N1), the etiological agents of the epidemic which developed in the USSR in October-December 1986.     

Effects of delta sleep-inducing peptide on the intercentral integration during experimental epilepsy

In free behavior experiments on cats it has been shown, that the intraperitoneal injection of delta-sleep-inducing peptide (100 mg/kg) may change organization of the pathology integration-epileptic discharges did not spread all the structures simultaneously. The slow-waves were registered in central medium of the thalamus and nucl. caudati. The epileptic discharges were registered first in visual and auditory cortex, hippocampus. After that they were observed in the motor cortex, nucl. caudati and centrum medianum of the thalamus.     

Identification of ATP-Binding Regions in the RyR1 Ca2+ Release Channel

ATP is an important modulator of gating in type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1), also known as a Ca²⁺ release channel in skeletal muscle cells. The activating effect of ATP on this channel is achieved by directly binding to one or more sites on the RyR1 protein. However, the number and location of these sites have yet to be determined. To identify the ATP-binding regions within RyR1 we used 2N₃ATP-2′,3′-Biotin-LC-Hydrazone (BioATP-HDZ), a photo-reactive ATP analog to covalently label the channel. We found that BioATP-HDZ binds RyR1 specifically with an IC₅₀ = 0.6±0.2 mM, comparable with the reported EC50 for activation of RyR1 with ATP. Controlled proteolysis of labeled RyR1 followed by sequence analysis revealed three fragments with apparent molecular masses of 95, 45 and 70 kDa that were crosslinked by BioATP-HDZ and identified as RyR1 sequences. Our analysis identified four glycine-rich consensus motifs that can potentially constitute ATP-binding sites and are located within the N-terminal 95-kDa fragment. These putative nucleotide-binding sequences include amino acids 699–704, 701–706, 1081–1084 and 1195–1200, which are conserved among the three RyR isoforms. Located next to the N-terminal disease hotspot region in RyR1, these sequences may communicate the effects of ATP-binding to channel function by tuning conformational motions within the neighboring cytoplasmic regulatory domains. Two other labeled fragments lack ATP-binding consensus motifs and may form non-canonical ATP-binding sites. Based on domain topology in the 3D structure of RyR1 it is also conceivable that the identified ATP-binding regions, despite their wide separation in the primary sequence, may actually constitute the same non-contiguous ATP-binding pocket within the channel tetramer.