Neurological and adrenal dysfunction in the adrenal insufficiency/alacrima/achalasia (3A) syndrome

Review of 20 patients with glucocorticoid deficiency (three cases also with salt loss) associated with absent tear secretion (19 cases) and achalasia of the cardia (15 cases) revealed neurological abnormalities in 17 including hyper-reflexia, muscle weakness, dysarthria, and ataxia together with impaired intelligence and abnormal autonomic function, particularly postural hypotension. These findings indicate that significant neurological problems are common in this multisystem disorder.     

Rationale for the combination of nuclear medicine with magnetic resonance for pre-clinical imaging

Multi-modality combinations of SPECT/CT and PET/CT have proven to be highly successful in the clinic and small animal SPECT/CT and PET/CT are becoming the norm in the research and drug development setting. However, the use of ionizing radiation from a high-resolution CT scanner is undesirable in any setting and particularly in small animal imaging (SAI), in laboratory experiments where it can result in radiation doses of sufficient magnitude that the experimental results can be influenced by the organism's response to radiation. The alternative use of magnetic resonance (MR) would offer a high-resolution, non-ionizing method for anatomical imaging of laboratory animals. MR brings considerably more than its 3D anatomical capability, especially regarding the imaging of laboratory animals. Dynamic MR imaging techniques can facilitate studies of perfusion, oxygenation, and diffusion amongst others. Further, MR spectroscopy can provide images that can be related to the concentration of endogenous molecules in vivo. MR imaging of injected contrast agents extends MR into the domain of molecular imaging. In combination with nuclear medicine (NM) SPECT and PET modalities in small animal imaging, MR would facilitate studies of dynamic processes such as biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. However, the detectors for nearly all PET and SPECT systems are still based on vacuum tube technology, namely: photomultiplier tubes (PMT's) in which the signal is generated by transporting electrons over a substantial distance within an evacuated glass tube, making them inoperable in even small magnetic fields. Thus the combination of SPECT or PET with MR has not been practical until the recent availability of semiconductor detectors such as silicon avalanche photodiodes (APD's) for PET and CdZnTe (CZT) detectors for SPECT coupled with the availability of high-density low noise ASIC electronics to read out the semiconductor detectors. The strong advantage of these technologies over PMT's is their insensitivity to magnetic fields which makes their use in co-axial multi-modality nuclear medicine/magnetic resonance instrumentation possible.     

Quantitative analysis of neuropeptide Y receptor association with ��-arrestin2 measured by bimolecular fluorescence complementation

Background and purpose:

β-Arrestins are critical scaffold proteins that shape spatiotemporal signalling from seven transmembrane domain receptors (7TMRs). Here, we study the association between neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptors and β-arrestin2, using bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) to directly report underlying protein–protein interactions.

Experimental approach:

Y1 receptors were tagged with a C-terminal fragment, Yc, of yellow fluorescent protein (YFP), and β-arrestin2 fused with the complementary N-terminal fragment, Yn. After Y receptor–β-arrestin association, YFP fragment refolding to regenerate fluorescence (BiFC) was examined by confocal microscopy in transfected HEK293 cells. Y receptor/β-arrestin2 BiFC responses were also quantified by automated imaging and granularity analysis.

Key results:

NPY stimulation promoted association between Y1–Yc and β-arrestin2–Yn, and the specific development of BiFC in intracellular compartments, eliminated when using non-interacting receptor and arrestin mutants. Responses developed irreversibly and were slower than for downstream Y1 receptor–YFP internalization, a consequence of delayed maturation and stability of complemented YFP. However, β-arrestin2 BiFC measurements delivered appropriate ligand pharmacology for both Y1 and Y2 receptors, and demonstrated higher affinity of Y1 compared to Y2 receptors for β-arrestin2. Receptor mutagenesis combined with β-arrestin2 BiFC revealed that alternative arrangements of Ser/Thr residues in the Y1 receptor C tail could support β-arrestin2 association, and that Y2 receptor–β-arrestin2 interaction was enhanced by the intracellular loop mutation H155P.

Conclusions and implications:

The BiFC approach quantifies Y receptor ligand pharmacology focused on the β-arrestin2 pathway, and provides insight into mechanisms of β-arrestin2 recruitment by activated and phosphorylated 7TMRs, at the level of protein–protein interaction.