Neuroscience
-
The ability to selectively control the differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) into cholinergic neurons in vivo would be an important step toward cell replacement therapy. First, green fluorescent protein (GFP)-NSCs were induced to differentiate into cholinergic neuron-like cells (CNLs) with retinoic acid (RA) pre-induction followed by nerve growth factor (NGF) induction. Then, these CNLs were transplanted into bilateral hippocampus of APP/PS1 transgenic mice. ⋯ APP/PS1 mice transplanted with CNLs showed a significant improvement in learning and memory ability compared with control groups at different time points. Furthermore, CNLs transplantation dramatically increased in the expressions of ChAT mRNA and protein, as well ChAT activity and ACh concentration in APP/PS1 mice. Our findings support the prospect of using NSC-derived CNLs in developing therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD).
-
Whether visceral organ cross-sensitization is involved in endometriosis-associated pain remains elusive. Previous studies have shown that visceral noxious stimuli may trigger a cascade of signal transductions in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) via the spinal dorsal column (DC) pathway and the RVM plays a critical role in the descending control of visceral nociception. In the current study, we hypothesized that the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation in the RVM by noxious visceral inputs from ectopic growths via the DC was involved in the development of pelvic organ cross-sensitization in established endometriosis. ⋯ Our results showed that lesions of bilateral DCs immediately following uterine or fat auto-transplantation in female rats significantly attenuated the later development of ectopic growths-to-colon cross-sensitization and the increased p38 MAPK activation in the RVM, as compared to sham DC lesions. Furthermore, intra-RVM microinjection of a p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB 203580), but not vehicle, in female rats with established endometriosis significantly attenuated ectopic growths-to-colon cross-sensitization and the increased activation of p38 MAPK in the RVM. These findings suggest that the noxious inputs from ectopic growths may activate p38 MAPK in the RVM via the DC, which may contribute to the development of ectopic growths-to-colon cross-sensitization in established endometriosis.
-
Morphine has a profound role in neurofilament (NF) expression. However, there are very few studies on the fate of NFs during morphine abstinence coinciding with periods of relapse. Mice were treated chronically with morphine to render them tolerant to and dependent on morphine and sacrificed thereafter while another group, treated similarly, was left for 2 months without morphine. ⋯ Mass spectrometric analysis following two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE)-gel electrophoresis of cytoskeleton fractions of both cortex and subcortex regions identified enzymes associated with energy metabolism, cytoskeleton-associated proteins as well as NFs which showed sustained regulation even after abstinence of morphine for 2 months. It is suggestive that alteration in the levels of some of these proteins may be instrumental in the increased nitration of NFL during morphine exposure. Such gross alteration in NF dynamics is indicative of a concerted biological process of neuroadaptation during morphine abstinence.
-
Comparative Study
Impramine, fluoxetine and clozapine differently affected reactivity to positive and negative stimuli in a model of motivational anhedonia in rats.
Anhedonia is a relevant symptom in depression and schizophrenia. Chronic stress exposure induces in rats escape deficit, disrupts the dopaminergic response to palatable food and the competence to acquire sucrose self-administration (SA), thus configuring a possible model of motivational anhedonia. Repeated lithium administration reverts stress effects and brings back to control values the breaking point (BP) score, a measure of reward motivation. ⋯ Clozapine-treated rats recovered the dopaminergic response to sucrose consumption and the competence to acquire sucrose SA, although they still showed the escape deficit, thus confirming that motivation toward reward may be dissociated from that to punishment escape. These results indicate that imipramine or fluoxetine are not endowed with a rapid onset antianhedonic effect. On the other hand, clozapine treatment showed a motivational antianhedonic activity similar to that observed after lithium treatment.
-
Creativity is the production of novel ideas that have value. Previous research indicated that while regions in the right hemisphere are implicated in the production of new ideas, damage to the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is associated with increased creativity, indicating that the left IFG damage may have a "releasing" effect on creativity. ⋯ To further confirm that only altering the balance between the two hemispheres is crucial in modulating creativity, in the second experiment we show that stimulation targeting separately the left IFG (cathodal stimulation) or the right IFG (anodal stimulation) did not result in changes in creativity as measured by verbal divergent thinking. These findings support the balance hypothesis, according to which verbal creativity requires a balance of activation between the right and the left frontal lobes, and more specifically, between the right and the left IFG.