Restraint Stress Potentiated Morphine Sensitization: Involvement of Dopamine Receptors within the Nucleus Accumbens

Sensitization to psychostimulant drugs, as well as morphine, subjected to cross-sensitization with stress. The development of morphine sensitization is associated with enhancements in dopamine overflow in the Nucleus accumbens (NAc). This study aimed to examine the role of accumbal D1/D2-like dopamine receptors in restraint stress (RS) induced sensitization to morphine antinociceptive effects. Adult male Wistar rats weighing 220–250 g underwent stereotaxic surgery. Two stainless steel guide cannulae were bilaterally implanted, 1 mm above the NAc injection site. Different solutions of SCH-23390, as a D1-like receptor antagonist or sulpiride, as a D2-like receptor antagonist, were microinjected into the NAc five min before exposure to RS. Restraint stress lasted for 3 h, 10 min after RS termination; animals received a subcutaneous injection of morphine (1 mg/kg) for 3 consecutive days. The procedure was followed by a 5-day drug and/or stress-free period. After that, on the 9th day, the nociceptive response was evaluated by the tail-flick test. The results revealed that intra-NAc administration of D1/D2-like dopamine receptor antagonists, SCH-23390 or sulpiride, respectively, blocked morphine sensitization-induced by RS and morphine co-administration in rats for three consecutive days. This work provides new insight into the determinant role of accumbal dopamine receptors in morphine sensitization produced by RS-morphine co-administration.

     

Re-validation of Gonorhynchus adiscus and G. diplochilus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) using morphological and molecular data

Small and silvery cyprinid species from eastern Iran which are usually known as Crossocheilus latius are reviewed based on morphological and molecular characters of the mtDNA COI barcode region. We demonstrate that fishes which had been identified as Crossocheilus Kuhl & van Hasselt, 1823 in Iran actually belong to the genus Gonorhynchus McClelland, 1838 with two species: G. adiscus (Annandale, 1919) and G. diplochilus (Heckel, 1838), which are rediagnosed here. Both species are well distinguished by gill raker counts, number of scales between anus and anal fin, barbel size and minimum body depth. G. adiscus and G. diplochilus are also distinguished by molecular characters of the mtDNA COI barcode region. Both species are phylogenetically close to Gonorhynchus latius (Hamilton, 1822) which is restricted to India, Nepal and Bangladesh and to G. burmanicus (Hora, 1936), restricted to India and Myanmar. All of these four related taxa are phylogenetically closer to the genus Garra than the genus Crossocheilus (restricted to south-east Asia).     

Oncogenic Notch Promotes Long-Range Regulatory Interactions within Hyperconnected 3D Cliques

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Taxonomic status of the loaches Paracobitis vignai and P. rhadinaea (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) in Iran

The crested loaches of the genus Paracobitis from the Sistan basin (Iran) are reviewed based on morphological and mitochondrial cytb and COI sequences characters to check the status of taxa in phylogenetic trees. Paracobitis rhadinaea (Regan, 1906) and P. vignai Nalbant & Bianco, 1998 were known only based on minor morphological differences (presence or absence of scales, caudal fin shape, colour pattern and fish size). We failed to find any diagnostic molecular and morphological characters between them. Therefore, we regard P. vignai as a junior synonym of P. rhadinaea.     

Dual blockade of VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 by a novel peptide abrogates VEGF-driven angiogenesis,tumor growth,and metastasis through PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK1/2 pathway

Background

Neutralization of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1) and/or VEGFR2 is a widely used means of inhibiting tumor angiogenesis.

Rapid specialization of counter defenses enables two-spotted spider mite to adapt to novel plant hosts

Genetic adaptation, occurring over a long evolutionary time, enables host-specialized herbivores to develop novel resistance traits and to efficiently counteract the defenses of a narrow range of host plants. In contrast, physiological acclimation, leading to the suppression and/or detoxification of host defenses, is hypothesized to enable broad generalists to shift between plant hosts. However, the host adaptation mechanisms used by generalists composed of host-adapted populations are not known. Two-spotted spider mite (TSSM; Tetranychus urticae) is an extreme generalist herbivore whose individual populations perform well only on a subset of potential hosts. We combined experimental evolution, Arabidopsis thaliana genetics, mite reverse genetics, and pharmacological approaches to examine mite host adaptation upon the shift of a bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)-adapted population to Arabidopsis. We showed that cytochrome P450 monooxygenases are required for mite adaptation to Arabidopsis. We identified activities of two tiers of P450s: general xenobiotic-responsive P450s that have a limited contribution to mite adaptation to Arabidopsis and adaptation-associated P450s that efficiently counteract Arabidopsis defenses. In approximately 25 generations of mite selection on Arabidopsis plants, mites evolved highly efficient detoxification-based adaptation, characteristic of specialist herbivores. This demonstrates that specialization to plant resistance traits can occur within the ecological timescale, enabling the TSSM to shift to novel plant hosts.

Mites can evolve highly efficient detoxification-based adaptation in approximately 25 generations on an initially unfavorable plant host, revealing that specialization can occur within the ecological timescale.     

Sampling-rate-dependent probabilistic Boolean networks

External control of a genetic regulatory network is used for the purpose of avoiding undesirable states, such as those associated with a disease. To date, intervention has mainly focused on the external control of probabilistic Boolean networks via the associated discrete-time discrete-space Markov processes. Implementation of an intervention policy derived for probabilistic Boolean networks requires nearly continuous observation of the underlying biological system since precise application requires the observation of all transitions. In medical applications, as in many engineering problems, the process is sampled at discrete time intervals and a decision to intervene or not must be made at each sample point. In this work, sampling-rate-dependent probabilistic Boolean network is proposed as an extension of probabilistic Boolean network. The proposed framework is capable of capturing the sampling rate of the underlying system.     

A new two-color Fab labeling method for autoantigen protein microarrays

Antigen microarrays hold great promise for profiling the humoral immune response in the settings of autoimmunity, allergy and cancer. This approach involves immobilizing antigens on a slide surface and then exposing the array to biological fluids containing immunoglobulins. Although these arrays have proven extremely useful as research tools, they suffer from several sources of variability. To address these issues, we have developed a new two-color Fab labeling method that allows two samples to be applied simultaneously to the same array. This straightforward labeling approach improves reproducibility and reliably detects changes in autoantibody concentrations. Using this technique we profiled serum from a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and detected both expected and previously unrecognized reactivities. The improved labeling and detection method described here overcomes several problems that have hindered antigen microarrays and should facilitate translation to the clinical setting.