鞘内注射M受体和GDNF反义寡脱氧核苷酸抑制吗啡戒断大鼠蓝斑c-Fos表达

应用免疫组化方法观察鞘内注射毒蕈碱型乙酰胆碱(muscarinic acetylcholine receptor,M) 受体和胶质细胞源性神经营养因子(glial cell derived neurotrophic factor,GDNF)反义寡脱氧核苷酸对吗啡戒断大鼠蓝斑(locus coeruleus,LC)区内Fos表达的影响。结果显示,鞘内注射M_2受体和GDNF反义寡脱氧核苷酸明显减少大鼠吗啡戒断症状评分值(n=6,P<0.05)。正常大鼠LC区神经元Fos基础表达较低,吗啡依赖大鼠LC区神经元Fos表达增加,吗啡依赖大鼠纳酪酮(4mg/Kg,ip)催促戒断后,Fos表达进一步增加;鞘内注射M_2受体和GDNF反义寡脱氧核苷酸处理后均减少吗啡戒断大鼠LC区神经元Fos表达(n=5,P<0.05)。而鞘内注射M_1受体反义寡脱氧核苷酸处理组LC 区神经元Fos表达较吗啡戒断组没有显著差异(n=5,P>O.05)。结果提示:脊髓M_2受体调节吗啡戒断时LC区的神经元激活,而这种神经上行性激活涉及神经元与胶质细胞之间的适应性调节。     

实验性高血压大鼠室旁核加压素分泌的免疫细胞化学研究

精氨酸加压素（AVP）主要是由下丘脑室旁核（PVN）和视上核（SON）的加压素能神经元合成分泌。近年来的研究表明,AVP作为一种血管活性肽与高血压的发病有关。本文采用二肾一夹法制成高血压模型。应用光、电镜技术、免疫细胞化不技术和图象分析技术对实验性高血压大鼠PVN加压素神经元进行了研究,并与SON加压素神经元及正常大鼠进行比较,研究结果表明,实验性高血压大鼠PVN和SON内AVP阳性细胞中分泌颗粒密集呈棕黄色,正常大鼠组染色浅谈。图象分析检测两组PVN和SON中AVP阳性细胞平均灰度值,所得数据分别经统计学处理,实验组和正常组AVP神经元在PVN有显著性差异。在SON也有显著性差异。但在实验组内的PVN和SON之间无显著性差异,正常大鼠组PVN和SON之间亦无显著性差异。结果表明, 高血压大鼠在血压升高时,PVN和SON内加压素神经元的分泌增强。     

胃缺血/再灌注损伤引起大鼠脑室旁核及孤束核c-fos表达

目的:观察电和化学刺激下丘脑室旁核(PVN) 对大鼠胃缺血/再灌注损伤(GI/RI)的影响及孤束核(NTS)在其中的作用和GI-RI后PVN、NTS内c-fos表达的情况.方法:夹闭大鼠腹腔动脉30 min,松开动脉夹血流复灌1 h制备GI/RI模型,应用Fos免疫组织化学法(ABC法)观察GI-RI后中枢神经系统内c-fos表达的情况.结果:①电和化学刺激PVN后,GI/RI减轻.②损毁双侧NTS后,能取消电刺激PVN对GI-RI的影响.③GI-RI能引起PVN、NTS等核团内c-fos表达增加.结论:GI-RI的伤害性刺激影响了PVN、NTS的功能.PVN、NTS参与了对GI-RI的调控.     

电刺激与高渗盐水注入室旁核对血压的影响及其机制的初步探讨

本工作观察电刺激和微量高渗盐水注入室旁核(PVN)对蓝斑(LC)单位放电和血压的影响,以及阻断LC内精氨酸加压素(AVP)受体时PVN升压反应的变化,从而探讨PVN下行活动对LC单位放电的调制作用和LC在PVN调节血压过程中的地位。结果发现:(1)电刺激PVN使多数LC自发放电单位放电频率增高,并伴血压升高;(2)微量高渗盐水注入PVN也获得同样效果;(3)多数对电刺激PVN产生兴奋反应的LC单位,对高渗盐水注入PVN也表现为兴奋;(4)预先在LC注入AVP桔抗剂,可部分降低电刺激和高渗盐水注入PVN所引起的升压效应。上述结果提示:PVN调节血压的作用部分是通过PVN下行活动对LC功能影响实现的,PVN下行活动主要引起LC自发放电单位放电频率增加,并提示这一兴奋效应可能是由AVP介导的。     

侧脑室注射肾上腺髓质素对大鼠脑内心血管相关核团儿茶酚胺神经元及c-fos表达的影响

目的和方法:利用Fos蛋白和酪氨酸羟化酶(TH)的双重免疫组化方法,观察侧脑室注射肾上腺髓质素对大鼠心血管相关核团中儿茶酚胺神经元及c fos表达的影响,以探讨肾上腺髓质素的中枢效应是否通过激活脑内儿茶酚胺能神经元而诱发。结果:①侧脑室注射肾上腺髓质素(3nmol/kg)诱发脑干、下丘脑及前脑等多个部位的心血管中枢出现大量Fos样免疫反应神经元。②侧脑室注射肾上腺髓质素引起最后区(AP)、孤束核(NTS)、巨细胞旁外侧核(PGL)和蓝斑核(LC)内Fos TH双标神经元明显增加。③降钙素基因相关肽受体拮抗剂CGRP8-37(30nmol/kg)可明显减弱肾上腺髓质素的效应。结论:肾上腺髓质素可兴奋脑干、下丘脑及前脑等多个部位心血管相关核团的神经元,其中枢效应通过激活儿茶酚胺能神经元而诱发,降钙素基因相关肽受体介导这一效应。     

甘珀酸对内脏痛大鼠延髓星形胶质细胞和神经元反应的影响

目的:研究侧脑室注射甘珀酸后对福尔马林灌胃致内脏疼痛大鼠的延髓迷走孤束复合体内星形胶质细胞和神经元反应的影响.方法:经侧脑室注射缝隙连接阻断剂甘珀酸(carbenoxolone,CBX)后向大鼠胃内灌入2.5%福尔马林2ml诱发内脏疼痛,用免疫组织化学方法观察延髓迷走孤束复合体(VSC)内抗Fos蛋白(标记神经元)和抗胶质原纤维酸性蛋白(标记星形胶质细胞)的单一或双重标记的免疫荧光染色.结果:福尔马林灌胃后大鼠出现烦躁易激惹,呼吸变快,持续1h;而预先侧脑室注射CBX则动物疼痛行为学反应明显减轻.免疫组织化学染色发现福尔马林灌胃后大鼠VSC中的Fos免疫反应数目增强;大鼠预先侧脑室注射CBX后VSC中的Fos免疫反应数目明显减弱.结论:延髓VSC中的星形胶质细胞和神经元参与福尔马林灌胃致内脏痛的调节,星形胶质细胞可能通过缝隙连接影响神经元对内脏痛的调节功能.     

刺激室旁核及加压素对大鼠胃缺血-再灌注损伤的保护作用

采用夹闭大鼠腹腔动脉30min,松开动脉夹血流复灌1h的胃缺血-再灌注损伤(gastric ischemia-reper-fusion injury,GI-RI）模型,观察了电或化学刺激室旁核（paraventricular nucleus,PVN）及外源性加压素（arginine-va-sopression,AVP）对GI-RI的影响,并对PVN的调控通路进行了初步分析。结果表明：电或化学刺激PVN后,GI-RI显著减轻;损毁双侧孤束核（nucleus tractus solitarius,NTS）或一侧NTS内注射AVP-V1受体阻断剂,均能取消电刺激PVN对GI-RI的效应;去除脑垂体后不影响PVN的作用;切断膈下迷走神经或切除腹腔交感神经节,则能加强电刺激PVN对GI-RI的影响;PVN内注射不同剂量的AVP同样能减轻大鼠GI-RI损伤。结果提示：PVN及AVP对大鼠GI-RI具有保护作用;PVN的这种作用可能是因电或化学刺激后,激活了其中的加压素能神经元,经其下行投射纤维释放AVP作用于NTS神经元的VAP-V1受体,并通过迷走和交感神经介导,从而影响GI-RI;而似与PVN-垂体通路关系不大。     

孕烷醇酮对应激性高血压大鼠血压的影响

实验探讨了孕烷醇酮(pregnanolone,PGN)对应激性高血压(stress-induced hypertension,SIH)大鼠血压影响的可能机制。采用电击足底结合噪声应激刺激的方法制备应激性高血压大鼠模型,观察每天应激刺激前腹腔注射PGN(0.24 mg/kg)对应激大鼠血压的影响,并观察PGN对应激刺激引起大鼠血中血管紧张素Ⅱ(angiotensin Ⅱ,Ang Ⅱ)含量和大鼠脑内Fos蛋白样免疫反应(FLI)神经元表达的影响。将动物随机分为正常对照组、应激1 h组、应激1 h PGN组、应激15 d组和应激15 d PGN组。实验结果如下:应激15 d PGN组大鼠尾动脉收缩压升高幅值较应激15 d组大鼠尾动脉收缩压升高幅值明显降低(P<0.001)。同时,应激1 h组及应激15 d组血中Ang Ⅱ含量与对照组相比有显著升高(均P<0.001);应激1 h PGN组及应激15 d PGN组大鼠血中Ang Ⅱ含量分别显著低于应激1 h组及应激15 d组(均P<0.05);应激15 d组血中Ang Ⅱ含量较应激1 h组高(P<0.05)。正常对照组、应激15 d组、应激15 d PGN组大鼠脑内仅见少数FLI神经元。与对照组相比,应激1 h组大鼠脑内外侧缰核(LHb)、内侧缰核(MHb)、室旁核(PVN)、杏仁中央核(CeA)和下丘脑外侧区(LH)等部位可见FLI神经元显著增加,而腹腔注射PGN后再应激1 h,可抑制上述效应。结果提示,PGN可抑制SIH大鼠血压升高的程     

cAMP反应元件结合蛋白介导磷酸化细胞外信号调节激酶在神经病理性痛形成中的作用

采用行为学、免疫组织化学和Western blot方法,观察鞘内注射细胞外信号调节激酶(extracellular signal-regulate kinase,ERK)信号转导通路阻滞剂对慢性压迫性损伤(chronic constriction injury,CCI)大鼠痛行为及脊髓背角内磷酸化cAMP反应元件结合蛋白(phosphorylated cAMP response-element binding protein,pCREB)和Fos表达变化的影响,探讨ERK／CREB转导通路在神经病理性疼痛中的作用。结果表明,CCI可明显增加双侧脊髓背角pCREB、损伤侧脊髓背角浅层Fos阳性神经元表达,以CCI后3与5d时尤为显著。鞘内沣射促分裂原活化蛋白激酶激酶(mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase,MEK)阻滞剂U0126及ERK反义寡核苷酸在减轻大鼠痛行为的同时,能明显抑制双侧脊髓背角内pCREB的表达,同时,Fos阳性神经元的表达也明显减少。大鼠痛行为及脊髓背角pCREB和Fos的表达在时相上一致。上述结果提示pCREB参与pERK介导的神经病理性疼痛。     

精氨酸加压素C端片段（4—8）对大鼠海马神经元CCT的影响

为了研究精氨酸加压素C端片断 4～ 8(AVP4～ 8)对大鼠海马神经元中胞苷三磷酸 :磷酸胆碱胞苷转移酶 (CCT)的mRNA水平和酶活性的影响及其作用机制。将大鼠海马神经元用不同药物处理一定时间后 ,用RT PCR结合Southern杂交的方法测定CCT的mRNA水平 ,用测定胞苷二磷酸胆碱中 [14 C]的参入率来确定CCT活性。结果表明 :AVP4～ 8能上调海马神经元内CCT的mRNA水平 ,AVP4～ 8的拮抗剂ZDC(C)PR对此有抑制作用 ,当用放线菌素D中止基因转录 ,发现用AVP4～ 8共处理的细胞 ,比单独用放线菌素D处理的细胞 ,其CCTmRNA的半衰期较长 ;AVP4～ 8处理后 ,神经元内CCT的酶活性也有一定程度的上升。由此得出结论 :AVP4～ 8通过提高神经元内CCTmRNA的稳定性 ,提高了CCTmRNA的水平 ,进而影响了胞内CCT的酶活性。     

Ectogenesis and the case against the right to the death of the foetus

Ectogenesis, or the use of an artificial womb to allow a foetus to develop, will likely become a reality within a few decades, and could significantly affect the abortion debate. We first examine the implications for Judith Jarvis Thomson’s violinist analogy, which argues for a woman’s right to withdraw life support from the foetus and so terminate her pregnancy, even if the foetus is granted full moral status. We show that on Thomson’s reasoning, there is no right to the death of the foetus, and abortion is not permissible if ectogenesis is available, provided it is safe and inexpensive. This raises the question of whether there are persuasive reasons for the right to the death of the foetus that could be exercised in the context of ectogenesis. Eric Mathison and Jeremy Davis have examined several arguments for this right, doubting that it exists, while Joona Räsänen has recently criticized their reasoning. We respond to Räsänen’s analysis, concluding that his arguments are unsuccessful, and that there is no right to the death of the foetus in these circumstances.     

On the diversity of the Cladocera in the tropics

The mythical concept of an impoverished tropical cladoceran fauna is refuted. On a planetary scale, around half of the cladoceran species presently known occur exclusively in the tropics-subtropics, often with considerable restriction to particular geographical subzones. On a regional (political) scale, the situation is often unclear because of the continued fragmentary nature of studies, and because political units are not a good basis for biogeographical comparisons. At the finest level of resolution (lake-perlake comparisons), there appears to be an upper limit of c. 50 cladoceran species per individual lake. No significant difference between lakes in the temperate zone and in the tropics could be established here. Daphnia is largely absent from the tropics, but is replaced by more Sidids, Moinids, and Bosminids, such that the average cladoceran community in the limnetic zone of a tropical lake is not characterized by less species but rather by lower population densities. This, in turn, is considered a consequence of higher prevalent predation levels in the tropics.     

Tubular networks in the terminal endings of the visual receptor cells in the human,the monkey,the cat and the dog

Summary A tubular network was found in the terminal endings of the visual receptor cells in the human, the monkey (Macaca mulatta), the cat and the dog. These tubules are arranged in close groups in the vicinity of the synaptic lamellae and the invaginated dendrites. According to the form, diameter, density of the tubules and to the consistence of the network formed by them one can distinguish at these places an initial type (type I), a transitory (type II) and a vesicular one (type III). In the the type III branching, bizarre forms are frequent. The diameter of all the tubules reaches 500–600 Å, their density and walls being the same as in the synaptic vesicles.Similar networks also occur in the axons of the visual receptor cells of the monkey.

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Zusammenfassung In den Endigungen der Photorezeptorzellen von Mensch, Affe (Macaca mulatta), Katze und Hund kommen aus Tubuli bestehende Komplexe vor. Organellenartig in geschlossenen Gruppen angeordnet, liegen sie in Nähe der synaptischen Lamellen und der invaginierten Dendriten. An diesen Stellen kann man nach Form, Durchmesser, Dichte und Konsistenz der von den Tubuli gebildeten Komplexe drei Typen unterscheiden: 1. einen initialen (Typus I), 2. einen Übergangstypus (Typus II) und 3. einen vesiculären Typus (Typus III). In letzterem kommen häufig verzweigte, bizarre Formen vor. Der Durchmesser sämtlicher Tubuli erreicht 500–600 Å. Ihre Dichte und ihre Wand gleicht denen der synaptischen Vesikel.Ähnliche Komplexe fanden wir auch in den Axonen der Photorezeptorzellen vom Affen.

     

Assessing the Physiological State of the Fucoids from the Barents Sea Littoral by the End of the Polar Night

Methods of amperometry and potentiometric titration were used to follow dark respiration (DR) and apparent photosynthesis (AP) in the fucoids Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jol, Fucus vesiculosus L., and F. serratus L. from the Barents Sea littoral by the end of the 40-day-long polar night. The macroalgae were shown to manifest species-specific low rates of photosynthesis and respiration. However, in spite of their low photosynthetic status due to the effects of subzero temperature and prolonged low or zero illumination, the macroalgae have been able to restore DR and AP to the initial level already by the day 9; the ability to restore AP depended on the level of illumination. The study of the changes in the carbonate–bicarbonate system in the light and darkness demonstrated that the macroalgae grown in darkness, in contrast to those grown in twilight, could absorb bicarbonate in darkness; however, they lost this capacity after two-day-long illumination at an irradiance of 7 mol/(m² s). Bicarbonate uptake in darkness and the capacity to restore the systems of photosynthesis and respiration in fucoid cells are discussed in the context of algal energy metabolism under the polar night conditions.     

Arranging the elements of the potassium channel: the T1 domain occludes the cytoplasmic face of the channel

The voltage-gated potassium channel is currently one of the few membrane proteins where functional roles have been mapped onto specific segments of sequence. Although high-resolution structures of the transmembrane portions of three bacterial potassium channels, the tetramerization domain and the cytoplasmic ball are available, their relative spatial arrangement in mammalian channels remains a matter of ongoing debate. Cryo-electron microscopic images of the six transmembrane voltage-gated Kv channel have been reconstructed at up to 18 Å resolution, revealing that the T1 domain tetramerizes and is suspended below the transmembrane segments. However, the resolution of these images is insufficient to reveal the location of the third piece of the puzzle, the inactivating ball domain. We have used the aberrant interactions observed in a series of chimæric channels to establish that an assembled T1 domain restricts access to the cytoplasmic face of the channel, suggesting that the N-terminal ball and chain may be confined in the space between the T1 domain and the transmembrane portion of the channel.     

Feeding the vertebrate retina from the Cambrian to the Tertiary

The retina of the vertebrate eye is metabolically active and requires nutritive support. During the last 540 million years it has evolved into forms as complicated and nutritionally demanding as those found in avian or primate eyes. Diffusion from the choroid is generally able to supply the metabolic needs of thin retinae. However, when the thickness exceeds the limits of diffusion, structures are needed to supplement the vascular supply from the choroid. These supplemental nutritive devices include the choroidal gland, the falciform process and preretinal vascular plexus of fish, the conus papillaris of lizards, the pecten oculi of birds, the intraretinal vessels of mammals and a few novel systems that remain difficult to classify. These vascular systems are among the most variable features of the vertebrate eye. Here, we review classical and recent findings regarding such retinal nutrition systems, propose a three category classification for them based on histologic origins and speculate on the evolutionary forces which drove their development.     

Observations on the permeability of the choriocapillaris of the eye

Summary The choriocapillaris is a fenestrated capillary bed located posterior to the retinal pigment epithelium. It serves as the main source of supply to the photoreceptors, retinal pigment epithelium, and other cells of the outer retina. The permeability of these capillaries to intravenously injected ferritin (MW — approx. 480,000; mol. diam. 11 nm) was examined in the mouse, rabbit, and guinea pig, each of which is characterized by a different type of retinal vascularization. In all three species, the bulk of the ferritin remained in the capillary lumina, where it appeared to be blocked at the level of the diaphragmed fenestrae. Some ferritin was present in endothelial cell vacuoles. The results confirm previous work on the rat choriocapillaris and indicate that the barrier function of the choriocapillary endothelium is present even among species in which the retinal circulation differs significantly.Supported by NIH grant EY03418