1,721,005 research outputs found
Expression of the rat connexin 39 (rCx39) gene in myoblasts and myotubes in developing and regenerating skeletal muscles: an in situ hybridization study
No full textWe report a detailed analysis of the expression pattern of the recently identified rat connexin gene, named rat connexin 39 (rCx39), both during embryonic development and in adult life. Qualitative and quantitative reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction analysis showed intense expression of rCx39 restricted to differentiating skeletal muscles, with a peak of expression detected at 18 days of embryonic life, followed by a rapid decline to undetectable levels within the first week of postnatal life. A combination of the in situ hybridization technique for the detection of rCx39 mRNA and immunohistochemistry for myogenin, a myoblast-specific marker, allowed us to establish that the mRNA for this connexin was expressed in myogenin-positive myoblasts and early myotubes but disappeared in mature myotubes. Moreover, in adult animals, rCx39 mRNA was expressed in myogenic cells involved in skeletal myofiber regeneration following a crush injury. This is the first case of a connexin being mainly expressed in the myogenic cell lineage. The information presented should pave the way to novel molecular approaches in studies on the role of connexin-based gap-junctional communication in skeletal muscle differentiation and regeneration
Identification of a mouse gap junction gene (cx39) highly homologous to the human cx40 and expressed in embryonic tissues
No full textEffects of some typical and atypical antidepressants on GAD activity in various brain regions
No full textThe authors have investigated the effects of acute or chronic injection of typical and atypical antidepressants on the activity of the GABA-synthesizing enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD, EC 4.1.1.15) in discrete brain regions. Very significant changes in GAD activity were observed only with sulpiride and nomifensine, two atypical antidepressants that selectively influence dopaminergic transmission and, in turn, prolactin secretion
Effects of chronic haloperidol and sulpiride treatment on rat nigral GABA content.
No full textThe effects of chronic haloperidol and sulpiride treatment on nigral GABA content were investigated in rats. Chronic sulpiride treatment is capable of inducing an increase in nigral GABA content whilst no significant effect is observed following chronic haloperidol treatment at the doses used. The different effects of haloperidol and sulpiride on nigral GABA content were related to the different neuropharmacological spectrum of the two drugs
ACTIVATION OF METABOTROPIC GLUTAMATE RECEPTORS PREVENTS NEURONAL APOPTOSIS IN CULTURE
No full textCultured granule cells grown in serum-containing medium with a ''low K+'' concentration (10 mM) underwent apoptosis after maturation for 5 days in vitro (5 DIV), a time that coincides with the developmental decline in the activity of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) coupled to polyphosphoinositide hydrolysis. The mGluR agonist (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (1S,3R-ACPD) prevented the development of low K+-induced apoptosis and the presence of the drug was critical at 6 and 7 DIV, i.e., after the drop of mGluR activity. The neuroprotective action of 1S,3R-ACPD was prevented by the mGluR antagonist (RS)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG) and was mimicked by N-methyl-D-aspartate or carbamylcholine but not by agonists of the mGluR subtypes negatively linked to adenylyl cyclase. In cultures treated either with Li+-which reduced polyphosphoinositide response to concentrations of glutamate (5 mu M) that approximate those physiologically present in the incubation medium-or MCPG, the development of low K+-induced apoptosis already occurred at 4 DIV. Thus, the activation of mGluRs coupled to polyphosphoinositide hydrolysis by endogenous glutamate could contribute to protect cultured granule cells against apoptosis during early stages of maturation
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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