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    Stimulation of endothelin B receptors in astrocytes induces cAMP response element-binding protein phosphorylation and c-fos expression via multiple mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways

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    The vasoconstrictor peptide endothelin (ET-1) exerts its physiological and pathological effects via activation of ET(A) and ET(B) receptor (ET-R) subtypes. In this study, we demonstrate that both ET-R subtypes are highly expressed in rat astrocytes in vivo, indicating that these cells are potential targets of the biological effects of ET-1 in the brain. In cultured cortical astrocytes, both ET-R subtypes are expressed, and selective stimulation of ET(B)-R with ET-1 induces phosphorylation of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB). The signal transduction pathway activated by ET-1 includes the Rap1/B-Raf and the Ras/Raf-1 complexes, protein kinase C (PKC) together with extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK), and the ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) isoforms RSK2 and RSK3, two kinases that lie immediately downstream of ERK and are able to phosphorylate CREB. Moreover, ET-1 activates the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent, but not the c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-dependent pathway. By using selective protein kinase inhibitors and expression of dominant-negative Rap1 protein, we also found that the Rap1/PKC/ERK-dependent pathway induces the phosphorylation of activating transcription factor-1, CREB, and Elk-1, whereas the p38MAPK-dependent pathway only causes CREB phosphorylation. ET-1-induced transcription of the immediate early gene c-fos requires the concomitant activation of both the PKC/ERK- and p38MAPK-dependent pathways, because inhibitors of either pathway block the ET-1-induced increase of c-fos mRNA. Our findings indicate that changes in the expression of cAMP response element-dependent immediate and delayed response genes could play a pivotal role in the physiological effects elicited by ET-1 in astrocytes

    cAMP-dependent protein kinase induces cAMP-response element-binding protein phosphorylation via an intracellular calcium release/ERK-dependent pathway in striatal neurons.

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    Activation of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) pathway may induce cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation either directly or via cross-talk mechanisms with other signal transduction pathways. In this study, we have investigated in striatal primary cultures the mechanism by which activation of the cAMP/PKA-dependent pathway leads to CREB phosphorylation via the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-dependent pathway. We have found that PKA-induced CREB phosphorylation and CREB-dependent transcription are mediated by calcium (Ca(2+)) release from intracellular stores and are blocked by inhibitors of the protein kinase C and ERK pathways. This mechanism appears to be mediated by the small G-protein Rap1, whose activation appears to be primed by PKA-induced Ca(2+) release but not further induced by direct or indirect PKA- or protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation. These results suggest that, in striatal neurons, intracellular Ca(2+) release, Rap1, and ERK pathway play a crucial role in the PKA-induced CREB phosphorylation and CREB-dependen

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The 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

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    “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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