电损毁海马CA3区及连合前穹窿对大鼠血浆胰岛素水平...

Bilateral electrical lesioning of the hippocampal CA3 region (HCA3-EL) or anterior commissura hippocampi (ACHF-EL) caused marked elevations in plasma basal levels of insulin. 2 weeks later, fasting blood glucose levels were also augmented with decreased glucose tolerance. In contrast, the secretory response of pancreatic B cells to glucose stimulation was markedly enhanced. Following intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT), the relative amounts of glucagon-like and insulin-like immunoreactants were reduced in the pancreatic islets of both HCA3-EL and ACHF-EL rats in comparison with the controls. In the HCA3-EL group, the relative amounts of somatostatin-like immunoreactants and gross numbers of such immunostained cells in islets were also decreased as compared with the control. No difference was seen in pancreatic-polypeptide-like immunoreactivities as assessed by immunohistochemistry plus microphotometry method. The above results suggest strongly that HCA3 and ACHF exert a tonic inhibitory action on the insulin secretion in the rat.     

NMDA受体在海马CA3区习得性TP保持中的作用

The effect of microinjection of 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV), a selective NMDA receptor antagonist, into the rat hippocampal CA3 area on the synaptic efficacy and related conditioned behavior during the acquisition and consolidation of discrimination learning behavior was examined. The results showed: (1) After population spike (PS) amplitude had just increased to the maximum through training i.e. learning-dependent LTP had just formed, APV 1 microliter (2 mmol/L) was injected into CA3 area, then the rats were trained during the time of efficacy of the drug in every experimental block. The result demonstrated that the PS amplitude could not be maintained at the highest level but decreased to the pre-experiment level after 8 blocks. Correct response percentage of rats could not be consolidated with further training but decreased to less than 10%. (2) After the PS amplitude had kept up at the highest level, APV 1 microliter (2 mmol/L) was injected into CA3 area, then the rats were trained during the time of efficacy of the drug in every experimental block, in which case the PS amplitude also could not be maintained at the highest level but decreased to the pre-experiment level after 14 blocks. Correlatively, when the correct response percentage of rats decreased gradually to less than 10%, the conditioned response of the animals extinguished, but its extinction speed was slower than it was in result (1). These results suggest that the NMDA receptor in CA3 area plays an important role in the maintenance of the learning-dependent long-term potentiation.     

电刺激大鼠尾核头部镇痛的中枢效应—[^3H]—2脱氧...

Sokoloff's 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) autoradiographic technique was used to identify changes of glucose metabolic rate in the rat brain following unilateral stimulation of the head of the caudate nucleus. The results were as follows. The local glucose metabolic rate after noxious stimulation was increased in the somatosensory cortex, cingulate cortex, ventroposterior and parafascicular nucleus of the thalamus, septal area, habenular nucleus, head of caudate nucleus, periaqueductal gray (PAG) and dorsal raphe nucleus (P < 0.05). After stimulating the head of the caudate nucleus, the local glucose metabolic rate of nucleus raphe magnus (rm) and nucleus paragigantocellularis (pgcl) was increased significantly and that of the PAG and dorsal raphe nucleus had a tendency to increase, while stimulation of the head of caudate nucleus could partially abolish the increased glucose metabolic rate in the somatosensory cortex, cingulate cortex, ventroposterior and parafascicular nucleus of the thalamus, septal area and habenular nucleus as induced by noxious stimulation. These results suggest that caudate stimulation is able to depress the activation of some brain structures related to nociception and to activate those related to antinociception. The pgcl, rm, PAG and dorsal raphe nucleus might be the key structures participating in the caudate stimulation produced analgesia.     

Comparison between avian and human prolyl 4-hydroxylases: studies on the holomeric enzymes and their constituent subunits.

Prolyl 4-hydroxylase, a key enzyme in collagen biosynthesis, catalyzes the conversion of selected prolyl residues to trans-hydroxyproline in nascent or completed pro-alpha chains of procollagen. The enzyme is a tetramer composed of two nonidentical subunits, designated alpha and beta. To compare the enzyme and its subunits from different sources, the chick embryo and human placental prolyl 4-hydroxylases were purified to homogeneity and their physicochemical and immunological properties were determined. Both enzymes were glycoproteins with estimated apparent molecular weights ranging between 400 and 600 kDa. Amino acid and carbohydrate analyses showed slight differences between the two holomeric enzymes, consistent with their deduced amino acid sequences from their respective cDNAs. Human placental prolyl 4-hydroxylase contained more tightly bound iron than the chick embryo enzyme. Immunodiffusion of the human placental enzyme with antibodies raised against the purified chick embryo prolyl 4-hydroxylase demonstrated partial identity, indicating different antigenic determinants in their tertiary structures. The enzymes could be separated by high-resolution capillary electrophoresis, indicating differential charge densities for the native chick embryo and human placental proteins. Electrophoretic studies revealed that the human prolyl 4-hydroxylase is a tetrameric enzyme containing two nonidentical subunits of about 64 and 62 kDa, in a ratio of approximately 1 to 2, designated alpha and beta, respectively. In contrast, the chick embryo alpha and beta subunit ratio was 1 to 1. Notably, the human alpha subunit was partially degraded when subjected to electrophoresis under denaturing conditions. Analogously, when the chick embryo enzyme was subjected to limited proteolysis, selective degradation of the alpha subunit was observed. Finally, only the alpha subunit was bound to Concanavalin A demonstrating that the alpha subunits of prolyl 4-hydroxylase in both species were glycosylated. Using biochemical techniques, these results demonstrated that the 4-trans-hydroxy-L-proline residues in human placental collagens are synthesized by an enzyme whose primary structure and immunological properties differ from those of the previously well-characterized chick embryo enzyme, consistent with their recently deduced primary structures from cDNA sequences.     

Atomic force microscopy of uncoated plasmid DNA: nanometer resolution with only nanogram amounts of sample.

Reproducible, high-contrast, nanometer-resolution AFM images of uncoated plasmid DNA can be obtained with nanogram quantities of DNA with the help of two advances in sample preparation: (1) Heating a DNA solution at 35 degrees C for 10 to 20 minutes before deposition on mica helps separate and spread the DNA, and (2) Using 5 microliter drops of the heated DNA solution in the concentration range of 2 to 10 nanogram/microliter in contact with a specially prepared mica surface for 5 to 10 minutes gives optimal coverage with only nanograms of DNA.     

Hypertension in obesity may reflect a homeostatic thermogenic response

Systemic hypertension of mild to moderate degree is often associated with obesity. The hypothesis is that over-eating leads to increased sympathetic activity targeted at the peripheral vasculature as well as other tissues in an attempt (that in many cases may be futile) to stimulate facultative thermogenesis and burn-off the excess energy. This hypothesis represents an important modification of one proposed by Landsberg and is supported by: 1) recent observations that carbohydrate feeding to humans specifically increases muscle sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity in the peroneal nerve, and 2) studies with animal models in which active vasoconstriction in the limbs and elsewhere is associated with marked increases in oxygen consumption (energy expenditure).