An Evolutionarily Conserved Region in the Second lntron of the Human Nestin Gene Directs Gene Exmession to CNS Progenitor Cells and to Early Neural Ciest Cells

Central nervous system (CNS) progenitor cells transiently proliferate in the embryonic neural tube and give rise to neurons and glial cells. A characteristic feature of the CNS progenitor cells is expression of the intermediate filament nestin and it was previously shown that the rat nestin second intron functions as an enhancer, directing gene expression to CNS progenitor cells. In this report we characterize the nestin enhancer in further detail. Cloning and sequence analysis of the rat and human nestin second introns revealed local domains of high sequence similarity in the 3' portion of the introns. Transgenic mice were generated with the most conserved 714 bp in the 3' portion of the intron, or with the complete, 1852 bp, human second intron, coupled to the reporter gene lacZ. The two constructs gave a very similar nestin-like expression pattern, indicating that the important control elements reside in the 714 bp element. Expression was observed starting in embryonic day (E)7.5 neural plate, and at E10.5 CNS progenitor cells throughout the neural tube expressed lacZ. At E12.5, lacZ expression was more restricted and confined to proliferating regions in the neural tube. An interesting difference, compared to the rat nestin second intron, was that the human intron at E10.5 mediated lacZ expression also in early migrating neural crest cells, which is a site of endogenous nestin expression. In conclusion, these data show that a relatively short, evolutionarily conserved region is sufficient to control gene expression in CNS progenitor cells, but that the same region differs between rodents and primates in its capacity to control expression in neural crest cells.     

Ventrally emigrating neural tube cells migrate into the developing vestibulocochlear nerve and otic vesicle

Virtually all cell types in the inner ear develop from the cells of the otic vesicle. The otic vesicle is formed by the invagination of non-neural ectodermal cells known as the otic placode. We investigated whether a recently described cell population, originating from the ventral part of the hindbrain neural tube known as the ventrally emigrating neural tube (VENT) cells, also contributes cells to the otic vesicle. The ventral hindbrain neural tube cells were labeled with the fluorescent vital dye DiI or replication-deficient retroviruses containing the LacZ gene in chick embryos on embryonic day 2, after the emigration of neural crest from this region. One day later, the labeled cells were detected only in the hindbrain neural tube. Shortly thereafter, the labeled cells began to appear in the eighth (vestibulocochlear) cranial nerve and otic vesicle. From embryonic day 3.5-5, the labeled cells were detected in the major derivatives of the otic vesicle, i.e. the endolymphatic duct, semicircular canals, utricle, saccule, cochlea, and vestibulocochlear ganglion. That the emigrated cells originated from the ventral part of the hindbrain neural tube was confirmed by focal application of DiI impregnated filter paper and with quail chimeras. It is concluded that, in addition to the otic placode cells, the otic vesicle also contains the ventrally emigrating neural tube cells, and that both cell populations contribute to the structures and cell types in the inner ear. It is well known that inductive signals from the hindbrain are required for the morphogenesis of the inner ear. The migration of the hindbrain neural tube cells into the otic vesicle raises the possibility that the inductive effect of the hindbrain might be mediated, at least in part, by the ventrally emigrating neural tube cells and that, therefore, a mechanism exists that involves cells rather than diffusible molecules only.     

Cutaneous basosquamous carcinoma infiltrating cerebral tissue

Basosquamous carcinoma of the skin is a rare malignancy with specific histopathological features of both basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Some authors believe that basosquamous carcinoma is a variant of basal cell carcinoma, while others suggest that this tumour may behave more aggressively. We present a 44-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with a basosquamous carcinoma histopathologically. She had extensive ulcero-vegetative lesions, involving the anterior half of the scalp, the left orbit and the left side of the face. With this case we aim to emphasize the aggressive nature of basosquamous carcinoma and review the literature.     

BP神经网络及其在药学研究中的应用

BP神经网络是目前应用最广泛的人工神经网络模型，本文详细阐述了BP神经网络的原理和特点，并论述了其在药学研究中的应用。     

Redeployment of trigeminal motor axons during metamorphosis.

As a consequence of the degeneration and replacement of the jaw muscle fibers in the leopard frog, Rana pipiens, trigeminal motoneurons innervate different targets before and after metamorphosis. This investigation examined the morphological correlates of the reassignment of trigeminal motoneurons during the initial phases of myofiber turnover. Specifically, silver-cholinesterase histochemistry and electron microscopy were used to 1) identify the fate of motor axons within the neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) applied to degenerating larval myofibers and 2) to determine the origin(s) of the motor axons that innervate the postmetamorphic muscle fibers of the jaw. The results demonstrate that the NMJs are retained on larval myofibers throughout their degeneration and are readily identifiable on the residual larval basal laminae that remain after involution of the sarcoplasm. Light and electron microscopic observations provide evidence that both pre- and post-synaptic elements are present on the degenerating fibers. Furthermore, morphometric analyses indicate that the preponderance (86%) of motor axons supplying adult muscle fibers originates from the larval NMJs. This condition suggests that metamorphic redeployment of trigeminal motoneurons occurs through the resumption of growth at the axon terminal supplying larval muscle rather than through the proximal collateralization of these axons and resorption of larval terminals.     

Global attraction and stability for Cohen–Grossberg neural networks with delays

We consider a class of Cohen–Grossberg neural networks with delays. We prove the existence and global asymptotic stability of an equilibrium point and estimate the region of existence. Furthermore, we show that the trajectories of the neural networks with positive initial data will stay in the positive region if the amplification function satisfies a divergent condition. We also establish the existence of a globally attracting compact set for more general networks. We estimate this compact set explicitly in terms of the network parameters from physiological and biological models. Our results can be applied to neural networks with a wide range of activation functions which are neither bounded nor globally Lipschitz continuous such as the Lotka–Volterra model. We also give some examples and simulations.     

BDNF基因修饰神经干细胞移植后大鼠脊髓损伤移植处的基因表达变化

目的：了解脑源性神经营养因子（Brain-derived neurotrophic factor,BDNF）基因修饰神经干细胞移植到大鼠脊髓损伤处后的基因表达变化，为脊髓损伤修复提供基础研究资料。方法：大鼠随机分为4组：正常对照组，手术对照组，神经干细胞（Neural stem cells,NSCs）移植组，BDNF－NSCs移植组，各组分4个时相点（7d、1个月、2个月、3个月），利用细胞移植、X-gal组化、免疫组化、原位杂交等方法，观察了移植处细胞的标记基因（LacZ）表达和BDNF、胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）、神经丝－200（NF－200）的表达。结果：大鼠脊髓损伤移植处细胞中，有标记基因阳性细胞，BDNF强烈表达，尤其是BDNF－NSCs移植组的移植后1周和1个月时。各组各时相点均有GFAP和NF－200免疫反应阳性细胞和纤维。结论：BDNF基因修饰神经干细胞能在脊髓损伤移植处存活，强烈表达BDNF，BDNF基因修饰神经干细胞可以作为脊髓损伤修复的移植材料。     

基于GMDH型神经网络的EEG分类研究

为了提高对不同认知状态下脑电信号(EEG)的分类正确率，提出一种GMDH型神经网络及改进的训练算法。此网络结构在演化中生成，分类规则由简单多项式表示，训练算法可防止出现过拟合。此网络用于区分算术运算和休息状态下的脑电信号，正确率达到84．5％，与标准前向型神经网络(FNN)比较，显示了较好的分类效果。