Why the aristocrats were ‘heavy’ or how ethnopsychology legitimized inequality among the Tlingit

Conclusion Even a cursory look at the ethnographic literature on other Northwest Coast societies reveals some striking similarities with the Tlingit way of conceptualizing aristocrats as special persons. Thus the Kwakiutl referred to their chiefs as real or complete people, who were heavier than commoners. The Coast Tsimshian called their highest aristocrats real or ripe persons, in contrast to the low-ranking ones, who were described as unhealed or green. The Coast Tshimshian also referred to their chiefs as strong, heavy, and solid like a rock. The neighboring Gitksan contrasted the chiefs, described as people who were good and clean and stayed put, with the commoners, who were said to be dirty, ignorant, and always moving around. Because spirits of the dead liked to return to persons who were clean and showed respect by giving away wealth and feasts, there was considerable moral and practical pressure on the aristocrats to remain pure, train knowledgeable and clean heirs, and continue potlatching. Finally, among the Haida, rank was tied to a wider system of symbolic classification, associating aspects of food, space, clothing, ritual pollution and the ethic of industry with attributes of seniority.While some of the symbolic associations of aristocratic status are culture specific, others are present in several, if not all, of the NWC cultures. What we need is a comparative symbology of aristocratic status, which would combine the reanalysis of the existing ethnographic data with the introduction of some new materials that can still be obtained in the field. Such work would be the best tribute to Irving Goldman himself and to our common illustrious ancestors—Franz Boas and Marcel Mauss.Sergei Kan is Professor of Anthropology at Dartmouth College.     

Binding of Amyloid Beta-Protein to Intracellular Brain Proteins in Rat and Human

Amyloid beta-protein (A), in its soluble form, is known to bind several circulatory proteins such as apolipoprotein (apo) E, apo J and transthyretin. However, the binding of A to intracellular proteins has not been studied. We have developed an overlay assay to study A binding to intracellular brain proteins. The supernatants from both rat and human brains were found to contain several proteins that bind to A 1–40 and A 1–42. No major difference was observed in the A binding-proteins from brain supernatants of patients with Alzheimer's disease and normal age-matched controls. Binding studies using shorter amyloid beta-peptides and competitive overlay assays showed that the binding site of A to brain proteins resides between 12–28 amino acid sequence of A. The presence of several intracellular A-binding (AB) proteins suggests that these proteins may either protect A from its fibrillization or alternatively promote A polymerization. Identification of these proteins and their binding affinities for A are needed to assess their potential role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.     

Considerations on the astroglial architecture and the columnar organization of the cerebral cortex

Present knowledge on astroglial roles in brain organization and function indicates that these cells can regulate the extracellular ionic composition and modulate neuronal activity. In this regard, the panglial synctium formed by electrically and chemically coupled stellate astrocytes (general mammalian architecture) is believed to provide an intracellular pathway for the redistribution of ions and molecules within the cerebral cortex. Long astroglial interlaminar processes (primate-specific architecture) that run parallel to apical dendrites in the cerebral cortex of primates, may provide additional properties to the glial participation in cortical physiology and function. Since these processes are exclusively present within the primate order, functional models of cortical computations for these species should incorporate the astroglial interlaminar architecture in addition to the panglial synctium. This study analyzes possible implications of interlaminar astroglial processes, for the regulation of the extracellular ionic composition and segregation of functional columns in the cerebral cortex.     

Involvement of Erks activation in cadmium‐induced AP‐1 transactivation in vitro and in vivo

Cadmium is a potent and effective carcinogen in rodents and has recently been accepted by IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) as a category 1 carcinogen. Cadmium-induced upregulation of intracellular signaling pathways leading to increased mitogenesis is thought to be a major mechanism for the carcinogenic activity following chronic cadmium exposure. In the present study, we found that exposure of cells to cadmium induced significant activation of AP1 and all three members of the MAP kinase family in mouse epidermal JB6 cells. The induction of AP1 activity by cadmium appears to involve activation of Erks, since the induction of AP1 activity by cadmium was blocked by pretreatment of cells with PD98058. Interestingly, the induction of AP1 by cadmium was greatly enhanced by the chemical tumor promoter, TPA and the growth factor EGF, but not by ultraviolet C radiation. In vivo studies demonstrated that cadmium could also induce transactivation of AP1 in AP1luciferase report transgenic mice. Considering the role of AP1 activation in tumor promotion, the results presented in this study provide a possible molecular mechanism for cadmiuminduced carcinogenesis.     

Tn1000 (γδ) insertions stabilize pBR322-derived recombinant plasmids in Escherichia coli

Tn1000 (or ) insertions in a pBR322-recombinant plasmid carrying the threonine operon (pBE) were obtained either spontaneously during chemostat cultivation (pBE-2) or selected during transconjugation (pBE-3 and pBE-4). The different insertion derivatives were tested for their stability in different host genetic backgrounds (in relation to threonine auxotrophy and recA function), various media composition (liquid or solid, rich or minimal) and growth temperatures (30°C, 37°C and 42°C). All the derivatives carrying the sequence, albeit increasing their size from 9.7 to 15.6 Kb, significantly enhanced segregational and structural plasmid stability in every condition tested.     

Secondary structural changes in the intact and the disulfide bridges cleaved beta-lactoglobulin A and B in solutions of urea, guanidine hydrochloride, and sodium dodecyl sulfate

The relative proportions of -helix, -sheet, and unordered form in -lactoglobulin A and B were examined in solutions of urea, guanidine, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). In the curve-fitting method of circular dichroism (CD) spectra, the reference spectra of the corresponding structures determined by Chen et al. (1974) were modified essentially according to the secondary structure of -lactoglobulin B predicted by Creamer et al. (1983), i.e., that the protein has 17% -helix and 41% -sheet. The two variants showed no appreciable difference in structural changes. The reduction of disulfide bridges in the proteins increased -sheet up to 48% but did not affect the -helical proportion. The -helical proportions of nonreduced -lactoglobulin A and B were not affected below 2 M guanidine or below 3 M urea, but those of the reduced proteins began to decrease in much lower concentrations of these denaturants. By contrast, the -helical proportions of the nonreduced and reduced proteins increased to 40–44% in SDS. The -sheet proportions of both nonreduced and reduced proteins, which remained unaffected even in 6 M guanidine and 9 M urea, decreased to 24–25% in SDS.     

The effect of the methyl substituent on the bioconversion of cyclohexene derivatives

Summary The absence of the methyl substituent at the 2position of the cyclohexene ring of TCHP enhances the conversion rate as well as the yields of the 3-hydroxy product obtained byStreptomyces natalensis and the 3-keto product obtained byMycobacterium smegmatis.Abbreviations TCHP 1-(2-thienyl)-3-(1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-1-propanone - TCHP-OH 1-(2-thienyl)-3-(3-hydroxyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-1-propanone - TCHP-ketone 1-(2-thienyl)-3-(1-cyclohexen-1-yl-3-one)-1-propane - TMCHP 1-(2-thienyl)-3-(2-methyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-propanone     

The “Bantu Clinic”: A Genealogy of the African Patient as Object and Effect of South African Clinical Medicine, 1930–1990

This paper is about power, medicine andthe identity of the African as a patient of westernmedicine. From a conventional perspective and asencoded in the current quest for wholeness thatcharacterises South African biomedical discourse, theAfrican patient – like any other patient – has alwaysexisted as an authentic and subjectified being, whosetrue attributes and experiences have been denied bythe mechanistic, reductionistic and ethnocentricpractices of clinical medicine. Against this liberalhumanist perspective on the body as ontologicallyindependent of power, this paper offers a Foucaultianreading of the African patient as – like any otherpatient – contingent upon the force relations immanentwithin and relayed through the clinical practices ofbiomedicine. A quintessential form of disciplinarymicro-power, these fabricate the most intimaterecesses of the human body as manageable objects ofmedical knowledge and social consciousness to makepossible the great control strategies of repression,segmentation and liberation that are the usual focusof conventional investigations into the place andfunction of medicine in society. Since the 1930s whenthe African body first emerged as a discrete object ofa secular clinical knowledge, these have repeatedlytransformed the attributes and identity of the Africanpatient, and the paper traces this archaeology ofSouth African clinical perception from then until the1990s to show how its quest for wholeness is not anend point of discovery or liberation, but merelyanother ephemeral crystallization of socio-medicalknowledge in a constantly changing force field ofdisciplinary power.     

Integrins: cell adhesives and modulators of cell function

Summary Integrins encompass a family of cell-surface molecules which play a crucial role in cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interaction. Of these heterodimeric transmembrane glycoproteins (consisting of an and chain) as yet at least 20 different types have been described, all with a different pattern of reactivity with extracellular matrix components. In this review the cell and tissue distribution of the integrins is discussed, with special emphasis on immunohistochemical localization of the ₁ integrins and the ₆₄ integrin. The ₁ integrins comprise a subfamily in which eight chains combine with one (the ₁) chain. The ₂₁, ₃₁ and ₆₁ and the ₆₄ integrins are expressed on a wide variety of epithelia on the basolateral surface or exclusively on the basal surface facing the basement membrane (e.g. ₆₁ and ₆₄). Leucocyte integrins, which share a common ₂ chain, occur almost exclusively on white blood cells and their precursors. The vitronectin receptors, which share a common _v chain, occur in a wide variety of cell types. Integrins play a major role in the interaction of the cell with the extracellular matrix in order to create and maintain tissue architecture. It has become clear, however, that through integrin-ligand interaction cell function is also modulated. Furthermore, in pathological conditions integrins play a role of some significance. Integrins mediate leucocyte traffic in developing inflammatory processes and function in neoplastic growth when it comes to invasion and metastasis.     

Evidence of a bi-phasic effect of thrombospondin-1 on angiogenesis

Contradictory results have been reported regarding the association between vascularity (used as an index of angiogenesis) and thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) in human tumours. In previous studies, the reported association was based on the estimated average TSP-1 value per tumour, with a sufficient number of specimens collectively analysed per tumour type. Given the extent of intra-tumour heterogeneity, we determined the association between TSP-1 and vascularity within individual specimens, based on the average values of TSP-1 and vascularity in 10–20 pre-selected areas per tumour. Cells expressing TSP-1 mRNA were visualised by in situ hybridisation and quantified by point counting. Vascularity was quantified by point counting and vessel density of von Willebrand Factor-positive vessels. In 10 ductal breast carcinomas, a direct correlation between TSP-1 and vascularity was found in 4 tumours, no correlation in 3 and an inverse correlation in 3. The effect of TSP-1 on endothelial cell migration in vitro was assessed in the Boyden chamber assay. TSP-1 stimulated cell migration at low concentrations (0.1–10g/ml) and was inhibitory at high concentrations (25–100g/ml). These results suggest that TSP-1 may elicit a concentration-dependent, bi-phasic, effect on angiogenesis.     

Differences of the electrical and nicotinic receptor stimulation-evoked liberation of norepinephrine from chicken sympathetic neurons in culture: Possible involvement of different pools of the transmitter

We studied the release of [³H]norepinephrine from chicken sympathetic neurons in culture evoked by nicotinic and electrical stimulation with an intention to establish functional identity or nonidentity of the two stimuli in investigations of neurotransmitter release. Nicotinic stimulation evoked extracellular calcium dependent release of [³H]norepinephrine and the rise of intracellular calcium concentration. The release was completely blocked by nicotinic antagonists hexamethonium (100 mol/l) and mecamylamine (10 mol/l), and decreased by tetrodotoxin (0.3 mol/l) and -conotoxin (0.1 mol/l) to 17% and 27%, resp. The intracellular calcium response was decreased by nicotinic antagonists and tetrodotoxin, but not changed by -conotoxin. The electrical stimulation-evoked release was blocked by both tetrodotoxin and -conotoxin, and decreased by previous electrical, but not nicotinic, stimulation. The differential sensitivity to -conotoxin and tetrodotoxin, and the inability of nicotinic stimulation to decrease the liberation by following electrical stimulation may suggest the mobilization of different pools of the transmitter.     

Evolutionary origin of the class A and class C β-lactamases

Summary The protein sequences of 18 class A -lactamases and 2 class C -lactamases were analyzed to produce a rooted phylogenetic tree using the DD peptidase of Streptomyces R61 as an outgroup. This tree supports the penicillin-binding proteins as the most likely candidate for the ancestoral origin of the class A and class C -lactamases, these proteins diverging from a common evolutionary origin close to the DD peptidase. The actinomycetes are clearly shown as the origin of the class A -lactamases found in other non-actinomycete species. The tree also divides the -lactamases from the Streptomyces into two subgroups. One subgroup is closer to the DD peptidase root. The other Streptomyces subgroup shares a common branch point with the rest of the class A -lactamases, showing this subgroup as the origin of the non-actinomycete class A -lactamases. The non-actinomycete class A -lactamase phylogenetic tree suggests a spread of these -lactamases by horizontal transfer from the Streptomyces into the non-actinomycete gram-positive bacteria and thence into the gram-negative bacteria. The phylogenetic tree of the Streptomyces class A -lactamases supports the possibility that horizontal transfer of class A -lactamases occurred within the Streptomyces.     

Moral commitment without objectivity or illusion: Comments on Ruse and Woolcock

Peter Woolcock, in Ruse's Darwinian Meta-Ethics: A Critique, argues that the subjectivist (nonobjectivist) Darwinian metaethics proposed by Michael Ruse (in Taking Darwin Seriously) cannot work, because the illusion of objectivity that Ruse claims is essential to morality breaks down when it is recognized as illusion, and there then remain no good reasons for acknowledging or following moral obligations. Woolcock, however, is mistaken in supposing that moral behaviour requires rational motivation. Ruse's Darwinian metaethical analysis shows why such objective support for morality is neither plausible nor necessary; and when that is recognized, it can also be seen that Ruse's proposed illusion of moral objectivity is superfluous.     

über die biologie blutsaugender simuliiden (diptera) I. Besamungsrate der ♀♀ beim blütenbesuch und anflug auf den blutwirt

Zusammenfassung Außer an ihren Blutwirten findet man die bei uns heimischen Simuliiden regelmäßig im Frühjahr auf der Weißweide (Salix alba), im Sommer auf den gelbgrünen Blüten und Früchten des Pastinak (Pastinca sativa) und im Herbst auf den grünen Blüten des Efeu (Hedera helix). Die Blüten zumindest von Pastinak und Efeu werden von allen Simuliidenarten selektiv angeflogen. Die übrigen Umbelliferen bleiben, auch wenn sie in unmittelbarer Nähe von Pastinak wachsen, unberührt. Efeu wird auch dann reichlich angeflogen, wenn er in einzelnen Stöcken an entlegenen Plätzen wächst. Alle von Simuhiden nachweislich direkt angeflogenen Blüten haben eine in der Natur unauffällige, entweder gelbe, gelbgrüne oder rein grüne Farbe und offene Nektarien. Aus diesen Gründen scheint mindestens beim Anflug auf Efeu und Pastinak eine olfaktorisch gesteuerte Orientierung vorzuliegen. Sie ist offenbar viel spezifischer als die vorwiegend optische Orientierung derselben Simuliidenarten nach ihren Blutwirten.Durchschnittlich sind etwa doppelt soviele wie auf Blüten anzutreffen. Abends und nachts sowie an kalten, regnerischen Tagen findet man mehr Simuliiden auf Pastinak als an sonnigen Tagen. Die auf Blüten angetroffenen der mammalophilen Simuliidenarten Wilhelmia salopiensis, W. equina, Boophthora erythrocephala und Odagmia ornata sind durchschnittlich zu 90% besamt, die der ornithophilen Art Eusimulium latipes nur zu 32%. Bei allen Arten fanden sich auf Blüten stets auch einige mit Blut im Mitteldarm oder legereifen Eiern im Abdomen. Der Blütenbesuch kann demnach vor und nach dem Blutsaugen stattfinden.Beim Anflug auf den Blutwirt sind die der genannten mammalophilen Arten ebenfalls zu rund 98% besamt, die von E. latipes wiederum nur zu 53%. Das Verhalten dieser Art, welche auch nachts Blut saugt, scheint von dem der mammalophilen Arten hinsichtlich der Geschlechterfindung erheblich abzuweichen.Das bekannte tagesperiodische Anflugsverhalten der auf ihren Säugetierblutwirt mit je einem Maximum nach Sonnenaufgang und vor Sonnenuntergang läßt sich auch bei den zugehörigen feststellen, wean man berücksichtigt, daß die den Blutwirt nicht direkt anfliegen, sondern ihn nur umschwärmen.Das Anflugsverhalten der und ist von der Änderung der Lichtintensität in der Zeiteinheit (Wolfe u. Peterson 1960), das Schwarmverhalten der allein von der absoluten Tageshelligkeit (Wenk 1965b) abhängig. Die Kopulation kann demnach einerseits morgens und abends in der Nähe des Blutwirtes und andererseits tagsüber beim Schwärmen der stafffinden. Wie wir später direkt zeigen konnten, sind beide Arten der Geschlechterfindung zur Kopulation bei drei von den vier genannten mammalophilen Simuliidenarten verwirklicht (Wenk 1965b). Die Kopulation von O. ornata und der ornithophilen Art E. latipes konnten wir dagegen selbst nie beobachten.

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Summary Simuliids of South-Western Germany show a marked preference for the white willow (Salix alba) in spring, the yellow blossoms of parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) in summer, and the green blossoms of ivy (Hedera helix) in autumn, whereas all the other Umbelliferae are disregarded, although they may be numerous and in close proximity. Ivy will be found by many simuliids even if growing in single plants at hidden places. All flowers for which a predelection by simuliids can be clearly established are inconspicuous under natural conditions — being of yellow, yellowish green or pure green colour — and their nectaries are of the open type. Therefore orientation of these simuliids to their nectar donors seems to rely on olfactoric senses and is apparantly much more specific than optical orientation to the blood hosts of the same species.On average, about twice as many are found on blossoms than During the evening and night; as well as on cold rainy days, more simuliids are encountered on parsnip than on sunny days. The of the mammalophilic species Wilhelmia salopiensis, W. equina, Boophthora erythrocephala and Odagmia ornata are inseminated at the rate of 90% , the of the ornithophilic species Eusimulium latipes at 32% only. In all species, some have been found with blood in the midgut or eggs in the abdomen, i. e. visiting of flowers may take place before or after bloodsucking.All of mammalophilic species attacking their blood hosts are inseminated at the rate of 98%, the of the ornithophilic species E. latipes at 53% only. The behaviour of the latter, which is bloodsucking also at nighttime, seems to differ considerably with regard to sexfinding orientation from the mammalophilic species.The diurnal periodicity of mammalophilic in attacking the host —with the well-known maxima at sunrise and sunset — is the same for the , bearing in mind that do not attack the hosts of their directly but are flying around them. Consequently, copulation may take place either in the morning and evening near the blood host, or during the day in the swarms of . It has been demonstrated for three of the four mammalophilic species mentioned (WENK, 1965b) that sex-finding and copulation occur at both occasions.

     

Phenylacetic acid-induced somatic embryogenesis in cultured hypocotyl explants of geranium (Pelargonium x hortorum Bailey)

Summary The effect of a non-indole compound, phenylacetic acid (PAA), on the induction of somatic embryogenesis in tissue cultures of geranium (Pelargonium x hortorum Bailey cv. Scarlet Orbit Improved) was investigated. Hypocotyl explants derived from young, dark-grown seedlings were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (1962) medium (MS) supplemented with PAA or IAA (0.01–120 M) alone or in combination with BAP (8 M). Somatic embryogenesis was induced by both PAA and IAA at 0.01–20 M with 8 M BAP, however, the optima differed considerably for the two compounds. Maximal activity of IAA for somatic embryogenesis was found at 0.1–2.5 M, whereas PAA gave best results at 10 and 20 M under identical culture conditions. Higher concentrations (30–120 M) of IAA or PAA in the medium induced callusing in the explants, but the callus was neither embryogenic nor morphogenic.Abbreviations BAP N⁶-benzylaminopurine - IAA indole-3-acetic acid - MS Murashige and Skoog (1962) - PAA phenylacetic acid     

Convergent synthesis of neoglycopeptides by coupling of 2-bromoethyl glycosides to cysteine and homocysteine residues in T cell stimulating peptides

The 2-bromoethyl -glycosides of the disaccharide galabiose [Gal(1-4)Gal] and the trisaccharides globotriose [Gal(1-4)Gal(1-4)Glc] and 3-sialyllactose [Neu5Ac(2-3)Gal(1-4)Glc] have been prepared by improved routes. The 2-bromoethyl glycosides were then used in cesium carbonate promoted alkylations of the sulfhydryl groups of cysteine and homocysteine residues in T cell stimulating peptides. This convergent and general approach was used to prepare 16 neoglycopeptides which were obtained in 52–95% yields after purification by HPLC. 1H NMR spectroscopy revealed that -elimination and epimerization of neoglycopeptide stereocentres did not occur during the synthesis.     

On genetic components in autoimmunity: a critical review based on evolutionarily oriented rationality

The immune system furnishes the organism with the utmost effective defence mechanisms against foreign and changes in self without doing self-harm. However, optimized efficacy in the defence against the immense variety of foreign antigens generates a higher risk for inadvertent self challenge. Such inherent short-comings are the inevitable burden traded for the benefits of an optimally organized defence system. The central molecules involved in specific immune reactions include antigen receptors of B and T lymphocytes, and antigen-presenting proteins encoded by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC; in man HLA). The genetics and evolution of these multigene families is discussed here with respect to their potential contributions to disturbances of self recognition. Simple molecular biological tools and procedures for efficiently screening the immunologically relevant genes are described.Dedicated to Professor Dr. U. Wolf on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Observations on the fine structure of the cercaria of Notocotylus attenuatus and formation of the cyst wall of the metacercaria

Summary The dorsal tegument of the mature cercaria of Notocotylus attenuatus is a syncytial, cytoplasmic layer, containing two types of secretory granule which are identifiable ultrastructurally. The type 1 secretory bodies are electron lucid, whereas most type 2 granules have a banded appearance. The ventral tegument contains granules which are secreted from the type 3 cells; the type 3 granules are membrane bound, electron dense, and consist of both an amorphous and a finely striated zone. The type 4 cells mainly contain cigar-shaped granules consisting of an amorphous core surrounded by concentric striations. The granules exhibit structural variability in shape and content. The type 4 cells undergo a cellular migration to the tegument during encystment. The structure of the posterior-lateral glands and mode of secretion of the granules are described. Possible functions of microtubules are discussed for each cell type. Details of some secretory processes involved in the formation of the hemispherical cyst wall are described. The layers of the cyst wall may be related to the granular contents of the various parenchymal cells of the cercaria. The tegument of the metacercaria originates primarily from the cytoplasm of the type 1, type 2, type 3 and type 4 cells.     

Gene expression profiling during thymus ontogeny and its association with TCRVβ8.1-Dβ2.1 rearrangements of inbred mouse strains

The V(D)J recombination of TCR and in early developing T-cells is a highly modulated phenomenon initiated and completed by recombinase complex (RAG-1 and RAG-2), and regulated by other gene products such as interleukins. To further evaluate the association of several other gene products with the evolution of TCRV8.1 V(D)J rearrangements in vivo, the mRNA expression levels of seven interleukins, three cytokines, receptors TCRV8.1 and IL-2R, MHC-I/MHC-II, RAG-1/RAG-2 and retroviral superantigen MMTV(SW) were measured by RT-PCR during the fetal development of the thymus of three inbred mouse strains (Balb-c, C57Bl/6 and CBA/J). Clustering using the Tree View software, was used to organize these genes based on similarity of expression patterns. Each strain displayed a different expression profile during thymus ontogeny.During the late developmental stage the most evident association was the kinetics of MMTV(SW) retrovirus, IL-2R and IL-7 overexpression with reduction of TCRV8.1-D2.1 rearrangement in the thymus of CBA/J mice. These data suggest a susceptibility of this strain to expression of MMTV(SW) upon reduction of the rearranged TCRV8.1-D2.1 segment in developing thymocytes, with parallel IL-7 overexpression.     

Local Perfusion of Nicotine Differentially Modulates Somatodendritic Dopamine Release in the Rat Ventral Tegmental Area After Nicotine Preexposure

We examined the effects of nicotine perfusion into the ventral tegmental area (VTA) on extracellular dopamine (DA) levels in rats using in vivo microdialysis. Local perfusion with nicotine for 80 min (10–100 M) modestly increased (105–131% of basal) the extracellular DA levels in the VTA of rats that had been pretreated with saline for 5 days. In animals that had been pretreated with nicotine for 5 days (0.3 mg/kg, s.c.), perfusion with nicotine for 80 min (10–100 M) dose-dependently increased the extracellular DA levels in the VTA of rats and did so to a greater extent than in saline-pretreated animals (125–171% of basal). Co-perfusion through the dialysis probe with 100 M mecamylamine, a nonselective nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonist, or 100 M dihydro--erythroidine, a high affinity and competitive nAChR antagonist, attenuated the enhancement of extracellular DA levels produced by 100 M nicotine alone. These results suggest that local nicotine challenge potentiated the somatodendritic DA release after nicotine preexposure by stimulation of high-affinity nAChRs in the VTA.