Neuroscience
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Ras homolog enriched in striatum (Rhes), is a highly conserved small guanosine-5'-triphosphate (GTP) binding protein belonging to the Ras superfamily. Rhes is involved in the dopamine receptor-mediated signaling and behavior though adenylyl cyclase. The striatum-specific GTPase share a close homology with Dexras1, which regulates iron trafficking in the neurons when activated though the post-translational modification called s-nitrosylation by nitric oxide (NO). ⋯ Interestingly, Rhes is not S-nitrosylated by NO-treatment, however phosphorylated by protein kinase A at the site of serine-239. Two Rhes mutants - the phosphomimetic form (serine 239 to aspartic acid) and constitutively active form (alanine 173 to valine) - displayed an increase in iron uptake compared to the wild-type Rhes. These findings suggest that Rhes may play a crucial role in striatal iron homeostasis.
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This study was done to investigate the effects of acute intermittent hypoxia (IH) on metabolic factors associated with energy balance and body weight, and on hypothalamic satiety-inducing pathways. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to either 8h IH or normoxic control conditions. Food intake, locomotion and body weights were examined after IH. ⋯ In addition, POMC-expressing neurons were activated as determined by immediate early gene FRA-1/2 expression. Finally, ERK1/2 and its phosphorylation were reduced in response to IH. These data suggest that IH induces significant alterations to body energy balance through changes in the secretion of leptin which exert effects on satiety-inducing pathways within the hypothalamus.
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Reconsolidation refers to the destabilization/re-stabilization process upon memory reactivation. However, the parameters needed to induce reconsolidation remain unclear. Here we evaluated the capacity of memory retrieval to induce reconsolidation of object recognition memory in rats. ⋯ We observed that ani impaired reconsolidation in the absence of retrieval. Therefore, stored memory underwent reconsolidation even though it was not recalled. These results indicate that retrieval and reconsolidation of object recognition memory are independent processes.
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Neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes arise from CNS progenitor cells at defined times and locations during development, with transcription factors serving as key determinants of these different neural cell fates. An emerging theme is that the transcription factors that specify CNS cell fates function in a context-dependent manner, regulated by post-translational modifications and epigenetic alterations that partition the genome (and hence target genes) into active or silent domains. ⋯ Notably, while the basic functions of these proneural genes have been elucidated, it is becoming increasingly evident that tight regulatory controls dictate when, where and how they function. Current efforts to better understand how proneural gene function is regulated will not only improve our understanding of neocortical development, but are also critical to the future development of regenerative therapies for the treatment of neuronal degeneration or disease.
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Speech comprehension relies on auditory as well as visual information, and is enhanced in healthy subjects, when audiovisual (AV) information is present. Patients with schizophrenia have been reported to have problems regarding this AV integration process, but little is known about which underlying neural processes are altered. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 15 schizophrenia patients (SP) and 15 healthy controls (HC) to study functional connectivity of Broca's area by means of a beta series correlation method during perception of audiovisually presented bisyllabic German nouns, in which audio and video either matched or did not match. ⋯ These smaller differences in connectivity in SP suggest a less adaptive processing of audiovisually congruent and incongruent speech. The findings imply that AV integration problems in schizophrenia are associated with maladaptive connectivity of Broca's and RpSTS area in particular when confronted with incongruent stimuli. Results are discussed in light of recent AV speech perception models.