Substance P: a putative sensory transmitter in mammalian autonomic ganglia

Repetitive presynaptic stimulation elicited slow membrane depolarization in neurons of inferior mesenteric ganglia from guinea pigs. This response was not blocked by cholinergic antagonists but was specifically and reversibly inhibited by a substance P analog, (D-Pro2, D-Phe7, D-Trp9)-substance P, which also depressed the depolarization induced by exogenously applied substance P. The atropine-sensitive slow excitatory and slow inhibitory postsynaptic potentials evoked in neurons of rabbit superior cervical ganglia were not affected by the substance P analog. These and previous results provide strong support for the hypothesis that substance P or a closely related peptide is the transmitter mediating the slow depolarization. The latter may represent a sensory input from the gastrointestinal tract to neurons of the prevertebral ganglia.     

Effects of alcohol on the generation and migration of cerebral cortical neurons

Prenatal exposure to alcohol produces many developmental defects of the central nervous system, such as microcephaly, mental retardation, motor dysfunction, and cognitive deficiencies. Therefore, the generation of neurons in the cerebral cortex was examined in the offspring of female rats fed a diet containing ethanol. Prenatal exposure to ethanol delayed and extended the period during which cortical neurons were generated, reduced the number of neurons in the nature cortex with the same time of origin, and altered the distribution of neurons generated on a particular day. Thus, the proliferation and migration of cortical neurons are profoundly affected by in utero exposure to ethanol.     

Proteoglycan-specific molecular switch for RPTPσ clustering and neuronal extension

Heparan and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs and CSPGs, respectively) regulate numerous cell surface signaling events, with typically opposite effects on cell function. CSPGs inhibit nerve regeneration through receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma (RPTPσ). Here we report that RPTPσ acts bimodally in sensory neuron extension, mediating CSPG inhibition and HSPG growth promotion. Crystallographic analyses of a shared HSPG-CSPG binding site reveal a conformational plasticity that can accommodate diverse glycosaminoglycans with comparable affinities. Heparan sulfate and analogs induced RPTPσ ectodomain oligomerization in solution, which was inhibited by chondroitin sulfate. RPTPσ and HSPGs colocalize in puncta on sensory neurons in culture, whereas CSPGs occupy the extracellular matrix. These results lead to a model where proteoglycans can exert opposing effects on neuronal extension by competing to control the oligomerization of a common receptor.     

Long-term sensitization in Aplysia: biophysical correlates in tail sensory neurons

A fundamental problem in the cellular analysis of learning and memory is the identification of the neuronal substrates of long-term information storage and their relation to short-term cellular alterations. In this report, biophysical correlates of long-term sensitization of a simple withdrawal reflex in the mollusc Aplysia were examined. A voltage-clamp analysis of the sensory neurons that control the reflex, 24 hours after sensitization training, revealed a significant reduction in net outward current. The results indicate that one mechanism for the storage of long-term sensitization is the regulation of membrane currents that influence the characteristics of the action potential and the excitability of individual neurons. The results also provide insights into the relation between short- and long-term sensitization in that the biophysical loci involved in the storage of long-term sensitization appear similar to those involved in short-term sensitization.     

运动发酵单胞菌表达载体的构建

能源和环境问题是目前制约世界经济发展的两大难题,利用微生物生产燃料乙醇,已引起各国的普遍关注。运动发酵单胞菌(Zymomonas mobilis)是目前发现的乙醇发酵能力最强的微生物之一,但其只能以葡萄糖、果糖和蔗糖为底物。为了扩大运动发酵单胞菌的底物利用范围,本研究构建了重组表达载体pBPSG、pBPSE、pBPSGE,将瑞氏木霉内切葡聚糖酶基因和黑曲霉葡萄糖淀粉酶基因引入运动发酵单胞菌ATCC31821,在运动发酵单胞菌内源强启动子和转录终止信号的调控下获得表达,在胞外和胞内都检测到了活性,这为下一步试验打下基础。     

杏鲍菇菌糠提取液对不同食用菌的化感作用

杏鲍菇是一种近几年来发展较快的药食两用型食用菌。随着杏鲍菇工厂的逐年增多,产生的菌糠也越来越多,菌糠如何再利用,是目前研究的热点问题。采用平板培养法研究了杏鲍菇菌糠的水提液和醇提液对姬菇、金针菇、杏鲍菇、猴头菇、白玉菇和白灵菇6种食用菌菌丝生长的影响。结果表明,杏鲍菇菌糠的水提液和醇提液对供试食用菌菌丝生长均有不同程度的影响,水提液有利于猴头菇、白灵菇、姬菇和白玉菇菌丝的生长;醇提液有利于猴头菇和白玉菇菌丝生长;2种提取液均不利于杏鲍菇菌丝的生长。     

不同提取方法对中草药抑菌效果的影响

采用水煎法、半仿生法、乙醇回流法、超声-微波协同萃取法、微波萃取法、水提醇沉法6种方法制备五倍子、多梅、生地榆、生黄芪、大黄等6种中草药原液,以9种畜禽肠道病原菌为试验菌株进行体外抑菌试验.结果表明:6种中草药的提取液对供试菌株均有不同程度的抑菌活性;不同提取方法对不同中草药抑菌作用的影响不同,其中,五倍子、诃子以乙醇回流提取法制备的提取液的抑菌效果最好(P<0.01),水提醇沉法次之(P<0.05);乌梅以乙醇回流提取法制备的提取液的抑菌效果最好(P<0.01),超声-微波协同萃取法及微波萃取法次之(P<0.05);黄芩、大黄各提取液抑菌效果差异不显著(P>0.05),6种方法无明显的区别;地榆各提取液抑菌效果差异显著(P<0.05),其中,微波萃取法、超声-微波协同萃取法、水提醇沉法和乙醇回流法等方法制备的提取液的抑菌效果优于水煎法和半仿生法.说明乙醇回流法对6种中草药抗菌成分的提取效果最佳.     

Transient pioneer neurons are essential for formation of an embryonic peripheral nerve

In developing nervous systems, many peripheral and central pathways are established by early arising populations of pioneer neurons. The growth cones of these pioneer neurons can migrate while embryonic distances are short and while intervening tissue is relatively uncomplicated. Are these pioneers necessary? In grasshopper embryos, a pair of pioneer neurons arise at the tips of limb buds and extend axons through the limb to the central nervous system. Growth cones of later arising sensory neurons migrate along the pioneer axons. After ingrowth of sensory axons, the pioneer neurons die. If the pioneer neurons are prevented from differentiating by heat shock, then the sensory growth cones that would have migrated along them are blocked and fail to reach the central nervous system. Thus, the pioneer axons are necessary for successful migration of these sensory growth cones. By crossing a segment boundary early in embryogenesis, the pioneers circumvent an incompatibility between differentiated segment boundary cells and growth cone migration. Pioneer neurons may resolve similar problems in many systems.     

Encoding of olfactory information with oscillating neural assemblies

In the brain, fast oscillations of local field potentials, which are thought to arise from the coherent and rhythmic activity of large numbers of neurons, were observed first in the olfactory system and have since been described in many neocortical areas. The importance of these oscillations in information coding, however, is controversial. Here, local field potential and intracellular recordings were obtained from the antennal lobe and mushroom body of the locust Schistocerca americana. Different odors evoked coherent oscillations in different, but usually overlapping, ensembles of neurons. The phase of firing of individual neurons relative to the population was not dependent on the odor. The components of a coherently oscillating ensemble of neurons changed over the duration of a single exposure to an odor. It is thus proposed that odors are encoded by specific but dynamic assemblies of coherently oscillating neurons. Such distributed and temporal representation of complex sensory signals may facilitate combinatorial coding and associative learning in these, and possibly other, sensory networks.     

山羊感觉和交感神经节中的肽类免疫反应结构

所有背根节和迷走神经结状节出现大量P物质(SP)阳性胞体和纤维,小细胞占92％,大中型细胞占8％,仅有极少数生长抑素(SS)样神经胞体。大量含SP的纤维和终未见于颈上节和腹腔-前肠系膜神经节,但含SS的纤维和终末主要见于腹腔-前肠系膜神经节,颈上节甚少。交感节中无SP和SS阳性胞体。出现于交感神经节中的SP和SS纤维和终末,可能来自背根节初级感觉神经元的外周侧支或肠神经元。按照这个模式,SP和SS可通过不涉及中枢神经系统的外周短反射环路;去调节交感神经的反应。     

Responses of vomeronasal neurons to natural stimuli

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) of mammals plays an essential role in the detection of pheromones. We obtained simultaneous recordings of action potentials from large subsets of VNO neurons. These cells responded to components of urine by increasing their firing rate. This chemosensory activation required phospholipase C function. Unlike most other sensory neurons, VNO neurons did not adapt under prolonged stimulus exposure. The full time course of the VNO spiking response is captured by a simple quantitative model of ligand binding. Many individual VNO neurons were strongly selective for either male or female mouse urine, with the effective concentrations differing as much as a thousandfold. These results establish a framework for understanding sensory coding in the vomeronasal system.     

Golf: an olfactory neuron specific-G protein involved in odorant signal transduction

Biochemical and electrophysiological studies suggest that odorants induce responses in olfactory sensory neurons via an adenylate cyclase cascade mediated by a G protein. An olfactory-specific guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-binding protein alpha subunit has now been characterized and evidence is presented suggesting that this G protein, termed Golf, mediates olfaction. Messenger RNA that encodes Golf alpha is expressed in olfactory neuroephithelium but not in six other tissues tested. Moreover, within the olfactory epithelium, Golf alpha appears to be expressed only by the sensory neurons. Specific antisera were used to localize Golf alpha protein to the sensory apparatus of the receptor neurons. Golf alpha shares extensive amino acid identity (88 percent) with the stimulatory G protein, Gs alpha. The expression of Golf alpha in S49 cyc- kin- cells, a line deficient in endogenous stimulatory G proteins, demonstrates its capacity to stimulate adenylate cyclase in a heterologous system.     

Uniform inhibition of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area by aversive stimuli

Dopamine neurons play a key role in reward-related behaviors. Reward coding theories predict that dopamine neurons will be inhibited by or will not respond to aversive stimuli. Paradoxically, between 3 and 49% of presumed dopamine neurons are excited by aversive stimuli. We found that, in the ventral tegmental area of anesthetized rats, the population of presumed dopamine neurons that are excited by aversive stimuli is actually not dopaminergic. The identified dopamine neurons were inhibited by the aversive stimulus. These findings suggest that dopamine neurons are specifically excited by reward and that a population of nondopamine neurons is excited by aversive stimuli.     

Song replay during sleep and computational rules for sensorimotor vocal learning

Songbirds learn a correspondence between vocal-motor output and auditory feedback during development. For neurons in a motor cortex analog of adult zebra finches, we show that the timing and structure of activity elicited by the playback of song during sleep matches activity during daytime singing. The motor activity leads syllables, and the matching sensory response depends on a sequence of typically up to three of the preceding syllables. Thus, sensorimotor correspondence is reflected in temporally precise activity patterns of single neurons that use long sensory memories to predict syllable sequences. Additionally, "spontaneous" activity of these neurons during sleep matches their sensorimotor activity, a form of song "replay." These data suggest a model whereby sensorimotor correspondences are stored during singing but do not modify behavior, and off-line comparison (e.g., during sleep) of rehearsed motor output and predicted sensory feedback is used to adaptively shape motor output.     

几种植物提取物对4种植物病原真菌的抑制作用

以链格孢菌、芭蕉炭疽菌、尖孢镰刀菌、灰葡萄孢菌等4种植物病原真菌为供试菌,对采自福建省福州地区16种植物乙醇提取物的抑菌活性进行测试,结果表明,0.0lg·mL-1下,有8种植物对至少1种病原真菌孢子的萌发抑制率达60%以上,大飞扬、杨梅、桃金娘3种植物的乙醇提取物对孢子萌发与菌丝生长都有较好的抑制效果.对这3种植物用极性从小至大的溶剂依次提取,提取物抑菌活性表明,活性物质多只分布在其中1至3种极性溶剂层中,不同极性提取物的抑菌能力与抑菌范围存在较大差异.大飞扬的丙酮提取物对芭蕉炭疽菌孢子可能具有毒害作用,乙酸乙酯提取物使芭蕉炭疽菌和链格孢菌的孢子芽管生长不正常.     

Neural mechanisms of visual attention: how top-down feedback highlights relevant locations

Attention helps us process potentially important objects by selectively increasing the activity of sensory neurons that represent the relevant locations and features of our environment. This selection process requires top-down feedback about what is important in our environment. We investigated how parietal cortical output influences neural activity in early sensory areas. Neural recordings were made simultaneously from the posterior parietal cortex and an earlier area in the visual pathway, the medial temporal area, of macaques performing a visual matching task. When the monkey selectively attended to a location, the timing of activities in the two regions became synchronized, with the parietal cortex leading the medial temporal area. Parietal neurons may thus selectively increase activity in earlier sensory areas to enable focused spatial attention.     

Synaptic connections in vitro: modulation of number and efficacy by electrical activity

The functional architecture of synaptic circuits is determined to a crucial degree by the patterns of electrical activity that occur during development. Studies with an in vitro preparation of mammalian sensory neurons projecting to ventral spinal cord neurons slow that electrical activity induces competitive processes that regulate synaptic efficacy so as to favor activated pathways over inactive convergent pathways. At the same time, electrical activity initiates noncompetitive processes that increase the number of axonal connections between these sensory and spinal cord neurons.     

Identification of a peptide specific for Aplysia sensory neurons by PCR-based differential screening.

In order to identify genes specific for the sensory neurons of Aplysia, a miniaturized differential screening method based on the polymerase chain reaction and applicable to small amounts of tissue was used. One messenger RNA was isolated that is expressed in every mechanoreceptor sensory cluster of the Aplysia central nervous system. This messenger RNA encodes a peptide that seems to function as an inhibitory cotransmitter. The peptide selectively inhibits certain postsynaptic cells but not others and thereby allows the sensory neurons to achieve target-specific synaptic actions.     

山羊正中神经感觉纤维来源及节段性分布规律的研究—HRP法

本实验采用HRP正中神经断端涂抹法,对五只山羊正中神经感觉纤维的节段性来源,进行了研究。结果表明:正中神经的感觉神经元主要集中于C_7、C_8和Th_1的脊神经节中,其次位于C_6、Th_2的脊神经节中。胞体形态具有多型性,并区分为大、中、小三型。其中以小型细胞为主。