Organizational effects of estrogens on brain vasotocin and sexual behavior in quail

Reproductive behavior is sexually differentiated in quail: The male-typical copulatory behavior is never observed in females even after treatment with high doses of testosterone (T). This sex difference in behavioral responsiveness to T is organized during the embryonic period by the exposure of female embryo to estrogens. We showed recently that the sexually dimorphic medial preoptic nucleus (POM), a structure that plays a key role in the activation of male copulatory behavior, is innervated by a dense steroid-sensitive network of vasotocin-immunoreactive (VT-ir) fibers in male quail. This innervation is almost completely absent in the female POM and is not induced by a chronic treatment with T, suggesting that this neurochemical difference could be organizational in nature. This idea was tested by injecting fertilized quail eggs of both sexes on day 9 of incubation with either estradiol benzoate (EB) (25 μg, a treatment that suppresses the capacity to show copulatory behavior in adulthood) or the aromatase inhibitor R76713 (10 μg, a treatment that makes adult females behaviorally responsive to T), or with the solvents as a control (C). At 3 weeks posthatch, all subjects were gonadectomized and later implanted with Silastic capsules filled with T. Two weeks later, all birds were perfused and brain sections were processed for VT immunocytochemistry. Despite the similarity of the adult endocrine conditions of the subjects (all were gonadectomized and treated with T Silastic implants providing the same plasma level of steroid to all subjects), major qualitative differences were observed in the density of VT-ir structures in the POM of the different groups. Dense immunoreactive structures (fibers and a few cells) were observed in the POM of C males but not females; EB males had completely lost this immunoreactivity (and lost the capacity to display copulatory behavior); and, conversely, R76713 females displayed a male-typical VT-ir system in the nucleus (and also high levels of copulatory behavior). Similar changes in immunoreactivity were seen in the nucleus of the stria terminalis and in the lateral septum (VT-ir fibers only in this case) but not in the magnocellular vasotocinergic system. These neurochemical changes closely parallel the effects of the embryonic treatments on male copulatory behavior. The vasotocinergic system of the POM can therefore be considered an accurate marker of the sexual differentiation of brain circuits mediating this behavior. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Neurobiol 37: 684–699, 1998     

Coordinate Expression of the Vesicular Acetylcholine Transporter and Choline Acetyltransferase Following Septohippocampal Pathway Lesions

Abstract: The gene for the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) was recently cloned and found to be located within a 5' noncoding intron of the gene for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). There appear to be several shared and unique promoters for each gene, suggesting that control of expression of these two genes can be either coordinated or independent. Two lesions, axotomy and immunotoxin, directed at the well defined septohippocampal cholinergic pathway were used to determine VAChT and ChAT protein expression in the degenerating terminal fields in the hippocampus and the cell bodies of the medial septum nucleus after injury. Two weeks after lesioning, decreases of up to 90% in VAChT were found in the affected hippocampus by immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry, similar to ChAT activity. The number of VAChT- and ChAT-immunopositive neurons in the medial septum decreased by up to 95%. Eight weeks following axotomy, the number of VAChT- and ChAT-immunopositive neurons had increased to almost 50% in fimbria-fornix-lesioned animals, indicating coordinate reexpression of both cholinergic markers in recovered neurons. There was no recovery of either VAChT or ChAT immunoreactivity after the irreversible immunotoxin lesions. Thus, with use of immunological techniques, there appears to be coordinate expression of VAChT and ChAT in the septohippocampal pathway following either unilateral fimbria-fornix or bilateral immunotoxin lesion.     

Distinct Dorsal and Ventral Hippocampal CA3 Outputs Govern Contextual Fear Discrimination

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大鼠内侧隔核、斜角带中NOS与ChAT、NGF-R、AChE的共存神经元

用酶组织化学和免疫组织化学双标技术,观察了正常ＳＤ大鼠基底前脑内侧隔核（ＭＳ）、斜角带垂直支（ＶＤＢ）和水平支（ＨＤＢ）中ＮＯＳ阳性神经元的形态和分布及ＮＯＳ与胆碱能神经元标志物ＣｈＡＴ、ＮＧＦ受体（ＮＧＦ－Ｒ）和ＡＣｈＥ之间的共存关系。结果发现,ＭＳ、ＶＤＢ和ＨＤＢ的头端ＮＯＳ阳性神经元较多、胞体较大、突起多,尾端ＮＯＳ阳性神经元数目较少、胞体较小、突起少而短。ＮＯＳ＋ＣｈＡＴ双标神经元占ＮＯＳ阳性神经元总数的９０％,占ＣｈＡＴ阳性神经元总数的３９％;ＮＯＳ＋ＮＧＦ－Ｒ双标神经元占ＮＯＳ阳性神经元总数的８３％,占ＮＧＦ－Ｒ阳性神经元总数的４０％;ＮＯＳ＋ＡＣｈＥ双标神经元占ＮＯＳ阳性神经元总数的９６％,占ＡＣｈＥ阳性神经元总数的３９％。这些结果为研究Ａｌｚｈｅｉｍｅｒ＇ｓｄｉｓｅａｓｅ病理过程中基底前脑隔区胆碱能神经元退变与ＮＯ的关系提供了形态学依据。     

鼻内镜下鼻中隔软骨、筛骨垂直板或耳屏软骨修补鼻中隔穿孔

目的:探讨鼻内镜下应用颞肌筋膜包裹自体鼻中隔软骨、筛骨垂直板或耳屏软骨修补鼻中隔穿孔的临床疗效。方法:回顾性分析2007年8月至2014年8月我院17例行鼻内镜下鼻中隔穿孔修补术患者的临床资料,所有患者术前均行鼻内镜及副鼻窦CT检查,术中分别采用颞肌筋膜包裹自体鼻中隔软骨、筛骨垂直板或带软骨膜的自体耳屏软骨,形成骨性支架,修补鼻中隔穿孔。术后均予抗生素抗感染,并用碱性成纤维细胞生长因子凝胶涂抹创面,促进周边黏膜向穿孔处生长。结果:17例患者均一次修复成功,术后1~2月穿孔处被黏膜完全覆盖,鼻中隔正常解剖结构得以恢复,随访1~3年无再次穿孔,鼻中隔穿孔产生的临床症状术后改善明显。结论:鼻内镜下应用鼻中隔软骨、筛骨垂直板或耳屏软骨修补鼻中隔穿孔安全、有效、简便,值得推广。     

Tannuaspis,Tuvaspis and Ilemoraspis,endemic osteostracan genera from the Silurian and Devonian of Tuva and Khakassia (USSR)

Three osteostracan genera, Tannuaspis, Tuvaspis and Ilemoraspis, from the Silurian and Devonian of the Autonomous Republic of Tuva and the Autonomous Region of Khakassia (USSR), are revised on the basis of the type material briefly described by Obruchev (1956, 1961, 1964). Tannuaspis bears some resemblances with the Tremataspididae. Tuvaspis may be closely related to Tannuaspis. Finally, there is no evidence of paired fins and cornual processes in Ilemoraspis (neither is there any evidence of their absence). Tannuaspis and Ilemoraspis share some characters which are not found in any other osteostracan: widely separated orbits, very small and oval lateral fields, situated at the same level as the median dorsal field. These resemblances may suggest that these two genera (to which Tuvaspis may be added) form a monophyletic group of osteostracans, which may be endemic to this part of Central Asia.     

The bacterial divisome: ready for its close-up

Bacterial cells divide by targeting a transmembrane protein machine to the division site and regulating its assembly and disassembly so that cytokinesis occurs at the correct time in the cell cycle. The structure and dynamics of this machine (divisome) in bacterial model systems are coming more clearly into focus, thanks to incisive cell biology methods in combination with biochemical and genetic approaches. The main conserved structural element of the machine is the tubulin homologue FtsZ, which assembles into a circumferential ring at the division site that is stabilized and anchored to the inner surface of the cytoplasmic membrane by FtsZ-binding proteins. Once this ring is in place, it recruits a series of transmembrane proteins that ultimately trigger cytokinesis. This review will survey the methods used to characterize the structure of the bacterial divisome, focusing mainly on the Escherichia coli model system, as well as the challenges that remain. These methods include recent super-resolution microscopy, cryo-electron tomography and synthetic reconstitution.     

心脏间隔的形成

心脏形态的建成包括了腔室的形成和间隔的形成两个部分,而心脏间隔的出现又使得心脏从单腔室器官发育成为四腔室的成熟器官.在人类心脏发育过程中,心脏间隔的发生是在胚胎发育的第4周至第7周,在这个过程中,心脏的袢环化以及腔室的逐渐建成,也促进了心脏间隔的形成.心肌层在房室腔的建成中充当了重要的角色,但是研究表明它在心脏间隔的发生中却没有起到实质性的作用,相反对于心外间充质组织,人们开始重新认识它在心脏间隔发生中的意义.