Dipole Localization and Test-Retest Reliability of Frequency and Duration Mismatch Negativity Generator Processes

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event related potential component elicited by changes in duration, frequency or intensity of the stimuli during repetitive series of equal standard stimuli. In the present study we compared duration and frequency MMN using dipole source analysis concerning both the test-retest reliability of MMN-amplitudes and the locations of the potential sources. Furthermore, the influence of attention for test-retest-reliability was studied. Therefore, two groups of healthy subjects were investigated with different attentional manipulations. Twenty-one healthy subjects had to perform a visual attention task during the recording and 21 healthy subjects had no additional task to perform. All subjects were studied twice with a time interval of 3 weeks. Test-retest reliability was sufficiently high for the frequency but slightly lower for the duration MMN. The locations of the frequency and duration MMN-dipoles were in the auditory cortex with a more anterior and caudal location for the frequency MMN-dipoles. The latter finding supports the hypothesis that the frequency and duration MMNs have separate neuronal generators.     

P>胰岛素样生长因子-1抑制β淀粉样蛋白25～35诱导的神经干细胞凋亡/P>

目的 观察β-淀粉样蛋白(Aβ)对神经干细胞(NSCs)增殖和凋亡的影响,探讨胰岛素样生长因子-1(IGF-1)对Aβ介导的NSCs毒性作用的保护机制.方法 从E14 SD大鼠大脑中分离神经干细胞,分别用Aβ、IGF-1和Aβ加IGF-1处理,锥虫蓝(trypan blue)染色确定细胞死亡数量和细胞死亡率,BrdU标记并分析细胞增殖能力,免疫细胞化学法鉴定神经干细胞和新生细胞,TUNEL技术检测凋亡细胞.结果 IGF-1处理时细胞死亡率低下,有大量BrdU阳性细胞生成,但无TUNEL阳性细胞.Aβ处理组细胞死亡率在6～48 h快速上升,并形成大量TUNEL阳性细胞.而IGF-1加Aβ处理时,细胞死亡率较Aβ组显著下降.TUNEL阳性细胞显著减少.结论 Aβ促进神经干细胞死亡和凋亡;而IGF-1促进神经干细胞增殖并抑制由Aβ诱导的神经干细胞凋亡.     

Intracerebral xenografts of dopamine neurons: the role of immunosuppression and the blood-brain barrier

Summary Fetal mesencephalic mouse tissue, rich in dopamine neurons, was xenografted as a dissociated cell suspension into the striatum of rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine induced lesions of the mesostriatal pathway. The rats were either assigned to a 10-day, 21-day or 42-day Cyclosporin A (CyA) immunosuppression scheme, or given no immunosuppression. The functional effects of the grafts were followed over 6 months by monitoring changes in the recipient rats' amphetamine-induced turning behaviour. Without immunosuppression no grafts were functional at the end of the experiment. In the 10-, 21-and 42-day CyA treatment groups there was a significant reduction of rotational asymmetry at some timepoint following grafting in 26 of the 33 rats. However, by 6 months only 8 grafts remained functional suggesting that in several rats an immunological rejection took place following the termination of immunosuppression. This was supported by catecholamine histofluorescence analysis which revealed evidence of surviving grafts only in the few rats which had shown sustained functional graft effects at 6 months after grafting. In animals in which the grafts had undergone rejection, there was scarlike tissue in the striatum which appeared more extensive in rats that had lost their grafts after several weeks compared to rats in which the grafts were rejected at an early time-point. In a subgroup of the grafted animals the humoral antibody response against major transplantation antigens present on the grafted cells was investigated. All the studied rats were found to be immunized against the grafted mouse tissue following the intrastriatal implantation. This occurred irrespective of prior immunosuppressive treatment. In a parallel group of rats, the leakage of the blood-brain barrier was studied following intrastriatal implantation of a syngeneic fetal neural cell suspension. Evans Blue was infused into rats 3–12 days following transplantation surgery. At the early time-points there was a marked barrier leakage at the implantation site. This subsided with time such that there was minor leakage after 7–8 days and no leakage after 12 days. In summary, the results indicate the CyA is effective in promoting survival of intracerebral xenografts of fetal neural tissue, but that cessation of immunosuppressive treatment in most cases results in rejection of the grafted tissue. Temporary CyA treatment, even exceeding the time it takes for the blood-brain barrier to reform after transplantation surgery, is thus not sufficient to reliably support long term survival of xenografted dopamine neurons.     

利用神经网络集成预测MHC-Ⅰ类分子结合肽

目的：利用神经网络集成（NNE）预测MHC-Ⅰ类分子结合肽。 方法： 基于HLA-A*0201编码的MHC-Ⅰ类分子结合肽数据库（含有628个9聚物）及其结合能力分类，利用NNE分别对具有无、低、中和高4类亲合性的结合肽进行分类预测；同时还进一步利用T细胞真实表位集（含50个表位）评估了NNE的预测性能。 结果： 集成数为12的NNE对上述分类的平均预测命中率可达0.8,而且NNE对潜在T细胞表位的预测能力也较高，约84%的真实表位归于高和中等亲合性的潜在抗原肽一类。 结论： 可以利用神经网络集成预测MHC-Ⅰ类分子结合肽，并进而预测相应的T细胞表位。经适当修改，NNE预测工具可扩展为能涵盖任意长度的Ⅰ类分子结合肽甚至可扩展到Ⅱ类分子结合肽的预测。     

Role of the neural crest in development of the cartilaginous cranial and visceral skeleton of the medaka, Oryzias latipes (Teleostei)

Summary Neural crestectomies were performed on neurula stage medaka embryos to remove neural crest with tungsten needles from one of five anteriorly located zones. The embryos were allowed to develop to stage 35 (immediately posthatching) larvae, then cleared and stained for cartilage. An analysis of changes to the head skeletons indicated that most of the anterior neurocranium and the entire viscerocranium received neural crest contributions during development. The elements involved included; the lamina orbitonasalis of the nasal capsule, the trabeculae, Meckels' cartilage and the quadrate of the lower jaw, the pterygoid process, the orbital cartilages and the epiphyseals of the neurocranial roof, as well as all the elements of the hyoid and branchial arches. By further analysis of only those neural crest ablations which produced alterations to the head skeleton, the neural crest cells which contributed to the development of each element were mapped. They originated principally, from one of three regions; the mesencephalon (second most anterior zone removed, number II), the preotic rhombencephalon (zone III), or the postotic rhombencephalon (zone IV). Neural crest from the level of the prosencephalon (zone I) was not chondrogenic nor was neural crest from the fifth region (zone V) which extended beyond the 5^th to about the 8^th or 10^th somite and marked the anterior end of trunk neural crest. The data are discussed and are found to be consistent with the results from other vertebrates and support the central role of the neural crest in the development and evolution of the vertebrate bead skeleton.     

Behavioural effects of human fetal dopamine neurons grafted in a rat model of Parkinson's disease

Summary The ventral mesencephalon, containing the developing dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra-ventral tegmental region, was obtained from aborted human fetuses of 9–19 weeks of gestation. The tissue was grafted into the striatum of rats previously subjected to a 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of the mesostriatal dopamine pathway. The graft recipients were immunosuppressed by daily injections of Cyclosporin A. Amphetamine-induced motor asymmetry was reduced, and finally totally reversed, only in rats receiving grafts from the 9-week old fetal donor. The fluorescence microscopic analysis revealed large numbers of surviving dopamine neurons, and extensive fiber outgrowth into the host striatum, in these rats. By contrast, rats receiving grafts from 11–19 week old donors had at most only few surviving dopamine neurons. These results indicate that human fetal mesencephalic tissue may be an efficient source of dopamine neurons for functional intracerebral grafting in patients with Parkinson's disease.A preliminary account of some of the results from this study was presented at the New York Academy of Sciences meeting on Cell and tissue transplantation into the adult brain, New York, April 4, 1986     

Craniofacial Development: Neural Crest in Molecular Embryology

Craniofacial development, one of the most complex sequences of developmental events in embryology, features a uniquely transient, pluripotent stem cell-like population known as the neural crest (NC). Neural crest cells (NCCs) originate from the dorsal aspect of the neural tube and migrate along pre-determined routes into the developing branchial arches and frontonasal plate. The exceptional rates of proliferation and migration of NCCs enable their diverse contribution to a wide variety of craniofacial structures. Subsequent differentiation of these cells gives rise to cartilage, bones, and a number of mesenchymally-derived tissues. Deficiencies in any stage of differentiation can result in facial clefts and abnormalities associated with craniofacial syndromes. A small number of conserved signaling pathways are involved in controlling NC differentiation and craniofacial development. They are used in a reiterated fashion to help define precise temporospatial cell and tissue formation. Although many aspects of their cellular and molecular control have yet to be described, it is clear that together they form intricately integrated signaling networks required for spatial orientation and developmental stability and plasticity, which are hallmarks of craniofacial development. Mutations that affect the functions of these signaling pathways are often directly or indirectly identified in congenital syndromes. Clinical applications of NC-derived mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells, persistent into adulthood, hold great promise for tissue repair and regeneration. Realization of NCC potential for regenerative therapies motivates understanding of the intricacies of cell communication and differentiation that underlie the complexities of NC-derived tissues.     

The Histological Basis of Frank’s Sign

Frank’s sign is a diagonal crease of the ear lobe, supposedly related to cardiac pathology, and has strongly been associated with coronary artery atherosclerosis. A total of 45 consecutive adult patients referred for autopsy in a one-and-a-half-year period were extensively studied. Samples from both the ear lobes were obtained for histopathology, as well as cardiac samples from all four cardiac compartments. When compared patients with Frank’s sign and those without it had no statistical difference in age (p = 0.0575). There was however a statistically significant increased cardiac weight (p = 0.0005), left ventricular wall thickness (p = 0.0002), and right ventricular wall thickness (p = 0.0043). Histopathology obtained from the ear lobes revealed myoelastofibrosis in an arterial vessel, located at the base of the crease, diffuse fibrosis, and Wallerian-like degeneration, with eosinophilic inclusions in the peripheral nerves. These changes suggest a time-related progression of the crease-associated changes. Our data suggest a significant correlation between the morphological changes of the myocardium and the presence of the ear lobe creases, with arterial myoelastofibrosis, Wallerian-like degeneration in peripheral nerves and deep tissue fibrosis found in the base of the crease.     

神经钙黏蛋白在宫颈癌组织中的表达及临床意义

目的探讨神经钙黏蛋白在宫颈癌中的表达及其临床意义。方法随机选取2017年8月-2019年8月浙江省肿瘤医院全子宫切除术宫颈标本存档蜡块150例,分为宫颈鳞癌组76例、宫颈上皮内瘤变组50例和正常宫颈组织组24例,统计分析3组患者的N-cad、N-cadherin、HIF-1α、p53、p63表达情况,并分析宫颈鳞癌组患者的临床病理特征与N-cad表达的差异。结果宫颈鳞癌组患者的N-cad、N-cadherin、HIF-1α、p53表达阳性率均显著高于宫颈上皮内瘤变组、正常宫颈组织组,p63表达阳性率显著低于宫颈上皮内瘤变组、正常宫颈组织组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。宫颈上皮内瘤变组患者的N-cad、N-cadherin、HIF-1α、p53表达阳性率均显著高于正常宫颈组织组,p63表达阳性率显著低于正常宫颈组织组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。宫颈鳞癌组临床分期Ⅱ期患者的N-cad表达阳性率显著高于Ⅰ期患者,组织学分级G2-G3级患者的N-cad表达阳性率显著高于G1级患者,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05);但不同年龄、淋巴结转移患者的N-cad表达阳性率之间的差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论神经钙黏蛋白在宫颈癌中的表达升高,能够将一种新的潜在靶分子提供给宫颈癌的治疗。