Localization of two cholinergic markers, choline acetyltransferase and vesicular acetylcholine transporter in the central nervous system of the rat: in situ hybridization histochemistry and immunohistochemistry

Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) are proteins that are required for cholinergic neurotransmission. Present knowledge concerning the organization of cholinergic structures has been derived primarily from immunohistochemistry for ChAT. In the present study, we investigated the distribution of mRNAs and the corresponding proteins for ChAT and VAChT by in situ hybridization histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. The patterns of distribution of perikarya containing ChAT mRNA, ChAT protein, VAChT mRNA and VAChT protein were similar in most regions, and co-localization in the same neuron of mRNAs for ChAT and VAChT, that of ChAT mRNA and ChAT protein, and that of VAChT mRNA and VAChT protein were demonstrated. However, in the cerebral cortex and hypothalamus, ChAT-immunoreactive perikarya were present, but they did not contain mRNAs for ChAT and VAChT, and VAChT protein. On the other hand, in the cerebellum, Purkinje cell bodies contained VAChT mRNA and VAChT protein, but they did not contain either ChAT mRNA or ChAT protein. Axon bundles were clearly revealed by immunohistochemistry for ChAT, but they were not detected by that for VAChT. Both ChAT and VAChT antibodies revealed preterminal axons and terminal-like structures. In the forebrain, they were present in the olfactory bulb, nucleus of the lateral olfactory tract, olfactory tubercle, lateral septal nucleus, amygdala, hippocampus, neocortex, caudate-putamen, thalamus and median eminence of the hypothalamus. In the brainstem, they were localized in the superior colliculus, interpeduncular nucleus and some cranial nerve motor nuclei, and further in the ventral horn of the spinal cord. These results indicate strongly that ChAT and VAChT are expressed in most of the cholinergic neurons, and that immunohistochemistry for VAChT is as useful to detect cholinergic terminal fields as that for ChAT.     

Pre‐conditioning activates adenosine utilization in a cost‐effective way during myocardial ischaemia

During pre‐conditioning the interstitial concentration of adenosine, in contrast to lactate, presents a die‐away curve‐pattern for every successive episode of ischaemia. This die‐away pattern might not necessarily be attributed to diminished adenosine production. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether pre‐conditioning alters the metabolic turnover of adenosine as observed by the lactate production during ischaemia. Interstitial levels of metabolites in pre‐conditioned (n=21) and non‐preconditioned (n=21) porcine hearts were monitored with microdialysis probes inserted in both ischaemic and non‐ischaemic tissue in an open chest heart model. Three subgroups perturbated with either plain microdialysis buffer (control), buffer containing adenosine (375 μM ), or buffer containing deoxyadenosine (375 μM ) were studied. All animals were subjected to 90 min of equilibrium microdialysis before 40 min of regional myocardial ischaemia and 120 min of reperfusion. Pre‐conditioning consisted of four repetitive episodes of 10 min of ischaemia and 20 min of reperfusion. Significantly higher levels of inosine and lactate were found in the ischaemic tissue of the pre‐conditioned subgroup receiving adenosine (P < 0.05) compared with the other two subgroups receiving deoxyadenosine and plain buffer, respectively. This difference was only valid for pre‐conditioned ischaemic myocardium, and hence equal amounts of inosine and lactate were produced in the non‐preconditioned ischaemic myocardium regardless of the presence of adenosine or deoxyadenosine. In the non‐ischaemic myocardium baseline levels of metabolites were measured in all subgroups. Pre‐conditioning favoured degradation of exogenous adenosine to inosine successively ending up in enhanced lactate production. This was probably because of the involvement of the hexose monophosphate pathway in the pre‐conditioned ischaemic myocardium. This route may therefore be supplementary in energy metabolism as a metabolic flow can be started by adenosine ending up in lactate without initial adenosine 5′‐triphosphate (ATP) investment. Utilization of adenosine in this way may also explain the successive die‐away pattern of adenosine seen in consecutive pre‐conditioning cycles.     

Oxidative stress, ER stress, and the JNK pathway in type 2 diabetes

Pancreatic -cell dysfunction and insulin resistance are observed in type 2 diabetes. Under diabetic conditions, oxidative stress and ER stress are induced in various tissues, leading to activation of the JNK pathway. This JNK activation suppresses insulin biosynthesis and interferes with insulin action. Indeed, suppression of the JNK pathway in diabetic mice improves insulin resistance and ameliorates glucose tolerance. Thus, the JNK pathway plays a central role in pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and may be a potential target for diabetes therapy.     

上皮间质转化(EMT)及其分子机制

上皮细胞受到细胞外因子刺激后向间质细胞转化的现象与肿瘤的浸润转移密切相关。在此过程中上皮细胞的极性丧失，迁移和运动能力增强，同时上皮表型丢失而逐渐获得间质表型。参与这一过程的细胞内信号转导途径有受体酪氨酸激酶Ras-MAPK途径，Src激酶，Rho家族激酶，PI3K/AKT途径，Wnt信号通路，转录因子等。     

胸腹水组织因子及组织因子途径抑制物的检测及其意义

目的研究三组疾病胸腹水组织因子(Tissue factor,TF)及组织因子途径抑制物(Tissue factor pathway inhibitor,TFPI)的表达及其鉴别诊断意义。方法TF和TFPI采用ELISA法测定抗原表达。结果胸腹水TF水平和TFPI水平,恶性肿瘤组(570.04±627.53)ng/L,(28.60±15.57)μg/L和结核病组(283.82±143.16)ng/L,(31.16±12.26)μg/L明显高于肝硬化组(60.83±66.87)ng/L,(7.84±5.45)μg/L,P<0.01。TF/TFPI比值则为恶性肿瘤组(32.17±44.19)明显高于结核病组(13.55±13.15)和肝硬化组(11.22±9.05,P<0.05)。在恶性肿瘤组中,胸腹水癌细胞阳性组的TF表达(1106.92±1244.28)ng/L高于阴性组(331.08±295.84)ng/L,P<0.05。而阳性组的TFPI水平(27.35±17.75)μg/L与阴性组(30.34±13.20)μg/L无明显差异(P>0.05)。TF/TFPI比值则为阳性组(59.59±65.10)明显高于阴性组(11.54±8.37,P<0.01)。结论检测胸腹水TF和TFPI并分析TF/TFPI比值可以作为临床实验室有鉴别诊断意义的辅助指标,同时还可了解疾病的某些病理机制,尤其是肿瘤的某些生物学行为。     

Migration and distribution of circumpharyngeal crest cells in the chick embryo

The cardiac neural crest is located in a transitional area on the neuraxis between trunk and cephalic regions and gives rise to both the dorsolateral and ventrolateral crest cell populations. Around stage 18 of chick development, a mass of E/C8⁺ cells surrounds the postotic pharyngeal arches and forms a crescent-shaped arch, termed the circumpharyngeal ridge. Using immunohistochemistry and quail-chick chimeras, it was determined that the E/C8⁺ cell mass located in the circumpharyngeal ridge derives from the dorsolateral component of the cardiac neural crest. The ventrolateral cell population of the cardiac crest is located more medially and shows long-persistent HNK-1 immunoreactivity dorsolateral to the foregut. The crest cells that populate the gut arise from the caudal portion of the circumpharyngeal crest and are always located caudal to the caudalmost pharyngeal ectomesenchyme. Circumpharyngeal crest cells continuously populate the pharyngeal arch ectomesenchyme and enteric nervous system on the lateral side of the foregut wall, as well as the hypoglossal pathway which develops within the ventral portion of the circumpharyngeal ridge. E/C8 and HNK-1 immunoreactivity are associated with the cells migrating via the dorsolateral (circumpharyngeal) and ventrolateral pathways, respectively, with one exception: there is a population of putative crest cells along the proximal course of the vagal intestinal branch that shows both immunoreactivities around stage 20. Dil labeling of the cells in the circumpharyngeal ridge suggests that the cells are contributed from the circumpharyngeal ridge to this population. Thus, the distribution of the circumpharyngeal crest cells and their derivatives coincides with the peripheral branch distribution of the cranial nerves IX, X, and XII, whose development is selectively affected in the absence of the cardiac neural crest, the source of the circumpharyngeal crest.© Willey-Liss, Inc.     

Functional reactivation of the deafferented hippocampus by embryonic septal grafts as assessed by measurements of local glucose utilization

Summary Transection of the septo-hippocampal connections through fimbria-fornix damage in the rat results in profound hippocampal cholinergic deafferentation, and, when applied bilaterally, leads to severe and long-lasting impairments in learning and memory. Previous studies have shown that intrahippocampal septal grafts can reestablish a new cholinergic innervation in the inititally denervated hippocampal formation and at least partly compensate for the lesion-induced learning impairments in fimbria-fornix lesioned rats. The purpose of the present study was to determine the magnitude of lesion-induced alterations in cerebral function as reflected in local glucose use measured by (¹⁴C)-2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) autoradiography, and the degree to which this index of functional activity could be normalized following reinnervation from transplants of fetal cerebral tissue from the primordial septal region. Six months after unilateral fimbriafornix transection the rate of glucose utilization was reduced markedly throughout the ipsilateral hippocampus when compared to the intact contralateral side, while in the neocortex only the cingulate cortex showed long-lasting reductions in glucose use. Rats that received a transplant of fetal septal-diagonal band tissue at the time of fimbria-fornix transection, and were sacrificed 6 months later, displayed significantly greater glucose utilization in the ipsilateral hippocampus and cingulate cortex than was measured in these areas in rats with lesion alone. The recovery in glucose use was paralleled by a significant increase in acetylcholinesterase (AChE) staining in several areas of the ipsilateral hippocampal formation and cingulate cortex. This index of graft-induced cholinergic reinnervation was, moreover, significantly correlated with the rate of glucose use. Thus, in the fimbria-fornix transected animals the magnitude of glucose depression correlated with the extent of reduction in AChE staining, and in the grafted animals the degree of normalization of glucose use was correlated with the graft-induced increase in AChE-staining density. These results thus indicate that the 2-DG autoradiographic technique can provide a unique opportunity to map both altered functional activity in localized areas of the brain following specific lesions and the extent to which transplant-derived reinnervation of the host may induce a return to normal functional levels in the target site.ETP and Royal Society (London) visiting fellow     

NM23基因相关信号通路在肿瘤转移中作用机制的研究进展

浸润和转移是恶性肿瘤的重要特征,也给肿瘤的治疗带来困难,是预后不良的重要因素.转移抑制因子23(non-metastasis,NM23)基因是最早发现的抗肿瘤转移基因之一.现在已经发现NM23是一个基因家族,包括NM23-H1、NM23-H2等重要的基因家族成员.研究表明NM23基因表达与实体瘤转移抑制有关,在很多实体瘤中可以作为进展和预后的分子标记.随着对NM23基因调控肿瘤转移的分子机制的研究的进一步开展,已经发现了一些NM23肿瘤转移抑制通路上下游的相关调控分子,为进一步的信号通路研究创造了条件.本文概述了近年来对NM23基因转移抑制通路研究的新近展,提出了以后可能的研究方向和需要解决的关键问题.