Neuropeptide Y distribution in the rat brain

A massive neuronal system was detected by immunocytochemistry and radioimmunoassay with antibodies to neuropeptide Y, the recently isolated peptide of the pancreatic polypeptide family. Immunoreactive cell bodies and fibers were most prevalent in cortical, limbic, and hypothalamic regions. Neuropeptide Y was extracted in concentrations higher than those of any other peptide hitherto discovered in the mammalian brain. Column chromatography of brain extracts and double immunostaining experiments indicate that neuropeptide Y is the endogenous brain peptide responsible for immunostaining of pancreatic polypeptide-like immunoreactivity in the mammalian brain.     

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone: regional distribution in rat brain

A sensitive and specific radioimmnunoassay has been used to measure the distribution of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in rat brain. All areas of brain tested, except cerebellum, contained readily measurable amounts of TRH. The hypothalamus contained only 31.2 percent of the total brain content of TRH. These results support recent suggestions of central actions for TRH in addition to its hypophysiotropic functions.     

Cholecystokinin receptors in the brain: characterization and distribution

Specific cholecystokinin binding sites in particulate fractions of rat brain were measured with iodine 125-labeled Bolton-Hunter cholecystokinin, a cholecystokinin analog that has full biological activity. Binding was detected in brain regions known to contain immunoreactive cholecystokinin. Binding was saturable, reversible, of high affinity (dissociation constant, 1.7 x 10(-9) M), and was inhibited by cholecystokinin analogs but not by unrelated hormones.     

Human brain: left-right asymmetries in temporal speech region

We have found marked anatomical asymmetries between tile upper surfaces of the human right and left temporal lobes. The planum temporale (the area behind Hesch's gyrus) is larger on the left in 65 percent of brains; on the right it is larger in only 11 percent. The left planum is on the average one-third longer than the planum. This area makes up part of the temporal speech cortex, whose importance is well established on the basis of both anatomical findings in aphasic patients ans cortical stimulation at operation.     

Partial purification of an opiate receptor from mouse brain

A proteolipid isolated from a lipid extract of mouse brain demonstrates stereospecific binding properties for levorphanol. It is present only in neuronal tissue and most abundant in the rhombencephalon. One component saturates at a concentration corresponding to maximum pharmacologic effect in vivo. The estimated mass is 60,000 daltons per bound opiate molecule.     

Opiate agonists and antagonists discriminated by receptor binding in brain

Receptor binding of opiate agonists and antagonists can be differentiated in vivo and in vitro. Administration of either rapidly elevates stereospecific [(3)H]dihydromorphine binding to mouse brain extracts by 40 to 100 percent, but antagonists are 10 to 1000 times more potent than agonists; as little as 0.02 milligram of naloxone per kilogram of body weight significantly enhances opiate receptor binding. Sodium enhances antagonist binding in vitro but decreases agonist binding, a qualitative difference that may be relevant to the divergent pharmacological properties of opiate agonists and antagonists.     

Pentobarbital: dual actions to increase brain benzodiazepine receptor affinity

The binding of [3H]diazepam to benzodiazepine receptors was studied in extensively washed membranes of rat cerebral cortex in the presence of the depressant barbiturate, pentobarbital. Pentobarbital, like the endogenous neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), increased the basal binding and also potentiated the GABA-enhanced binding of [3H]diazepam to benzodiazepine receptors by increasing the apparent affinity of [3H]diazepam for the benzodiazepine receptor. The concentrations of pentobarbital necessary to elicit these effects in vitro are the same as those observed after treatment with pharmacologically relevant doses, suggesting that a common neurochemical association may exist between these types of compounds.     

Bimodal distribution of dopamine receptor densities in brains of schizophrenics

The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia was examined by measuring the density of dopamine receptors in the postmortem brains of 81 control subjects and 59 schizophrenics from four different countries. The densities of dopamine receptors in the tissues from the schizophrenic patients had a bimodal distribution in the caudate nucleus, putamen, and nucleus accumbens. One mode occurred 25 percent above the control density, and a second mode occurred at a density 2.3 times that of the control density for all three regions. Although almost all the patients had been medicated with neuroleptics, the two modes had the same dissociation constant for the labeled ligand used, suggesting that the neuroleptic doses were similar for the two populations of schizophrenics. The results thus provide direct evidence for two distinct categories of schizophrenia.     

Human breast cancer: androgen action mediated by estrogen receptor

Growth of the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 is enhanced by androgens, but only at pharmacological concentrations. Although physiological concentrations of androgens translocate the androgen receptor into the nucleus, no mitogenic effects are observed. By contrast, pharmacological androgens translocate not only the androgen receptor but also the estrogen receptor, and at these high doses significantly increase both DNA and estrogen-dependent protein synthesis. We therefore propose that androgens stimulate MCF-7 cell growth not through the androgen receptor but rather through the estrogen receptor.     

Human T-cell receptor alpha-chain genes: location on chromosome 14

The genes encoding the alpha chain of the human T-cell receptor have been mapped to chromosome 14, the chromosome on which the human immunoglobulin heavy chain locus resides. Thus, genes encoding two different classes of antigen receptor are present on the same chromosome. Furthermore, breaks involving chromosome 14 are frequently seen in tumors of T-cell origin. The potential relation of these chromosome abnormalities to alpha-chain genes is discussed.     

Ependymal cilia: distribution and activity in the adult human brain

Examination of 150 to 200 samples of the ependymal lining of the ventricles of nine adult human brains obtained 2(1/2) to 6 hours post-mortem revealed cilia in at least 20 separate sites in the four ventricular cavities. In seven of the brains ciliary motion was evident, and in two of these it was wide-spread and rapid. It seems likely that the adult human ventricular ependyma is ciliated throughout. Currents having distinct patterns are induced in the ventricles of animal brains by ciliary motion, and such currents probably exist in man. A local mechanism for the rapid movement of cerebrospinal fluid is therefore present.     

口虾蛄脑部褐脂质分布、组织学和超微结构特征研究

为了解口虾蛄Oratosquilla oratoria脑部形态特征,揭示口虾蛄生理年龄与褐脂质(lipofuscin)含量的关系,采用组织切片、荧光成像和透射电镜技术,研究了口虾蛄脑中褐脂质的形态、分布和超微结构特征。结果表明:口虾蛄脑位于眼节之后、头脑甲最前方,体积较小;H.E组织切片下脑部细胞核颗粒呈圆形且均匀分布,直径为10~30μm,并在脑前桥细胞团(protocerebral bridge cell mass)区域分布较多;荧光显微镜下褐脂质颗粒呈黄褐色,直径为1~3μm,均匀分布于脑部;透射电镜下可见褐脂质颗粒多聚集分布于近细胞核区域,外被单层细胞器膜,染色密度较其他区域高且均匀。研究表明,整体上口虾蛄脑部褐脂质分布均匀,其形态与其他甲壳动物脑部褐脂质相似。     

口虾蛄脑部褐脂质分布、组织学和超微结构特征研究

为了解口虾蛄Oratosquilla oratoria脑部形态特征,揭示口虾蛄生理年龄与褐脂质(lipofuscin)含量的关系,采用组织切片、荧光成像和透射电镜技术,研究了口虾蛄脑中褐脂质的形态、分布和超微结构特征。结果表明:口虾蛄脑位于眼节之后、头脑甲最前方,体积较小;H.E组织切片下脑部细胞核颗粒呈圆形且均匀分布,直径为10³0μm,并在脑前桥细胞团(protocerebral bridge cell mass)区域分布较多;荧光显微镜下褐脂质颗粒呈黄褐色,直径为130μm,并在脑前桥细胞团(protocerebral bridge cell mass)区域分布较多;荧光显微镜下褐脂质颗粒呈黄褐色,直径为1³μm,均匀分布于脑部;透射电镜下可见褐脂质颗粒多聚集分布于近细胞核区域,外被单层细胞器膜,染色密度较其他区域高且均匀。研究表明,整体上口虾蛄脑部褐脂质分布均匀,其形态与其他甲壳动物脑部褐脂质相似。     

Comparison of the distribution of dynorphin systems and enkephalin systems in brain

A study of the anatomical distribution of the endogenous opioid dynorphin in rat brain showed that the peptide is localized in a widespread system with multiple cell groups and projections. This network is revealed by the use of multiple antiserums against dynorphin and can be distinguished from the system containing methionine-enkephalin and leucine-enkephalin, which is mapped by the use of antiserums against the enkephalins and biosynthetically related peptides in the adrenal. It thus appears that the brain contains at least three separate opioid neuronal networks: an enkephalin family with components similar to those found in the adrenal, a beta-endorphin family, and a dynorphin family.     

Human papovavirus (JC): induction of brain tumors in hamsters

Eighty-three percent of hamsters inoculated at birth with JC virus, a human papovavirus isolated from brain tissue of a case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, developed malignant gliomas within 6 months. Three brain tumors have been serially transplanted as subcutaneous tumors. JC virus was isolated from five of seven tumors tested. Cells from four tumors were cultivated in vitro. These cells contained an intranuclear antigen with the characteristics of a T antigen, and this antigen was antigenically related to SV40 T antigen. Although virus was not recovered from extracts of serially cultured tumor cells, JC virus was rescued when one tumor cell line was fused with permissive cells.     

Functional expression of a new pharmacological subtype of brain nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

A new type of agonist-binding subunit of rat neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) was identified. Rat genomic DNA and complementary DNA encoding this subunit (alpha 2) were cloned and analyzed. Complementary DNA expression studies in Xenopus oocytes revealed that the injection of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) for alpha 2 and beta 2 (a neuronal nAChR subunit) led to the generation of a functional nAChR. In contrast to the other known neuronal nAChRs, the receptor produced by the injection of alpha 2 and beta 2 mRNAs was resistant to the alpha-neurotoxin Bgt3.1. In situ hybridization histochemistry showed that alpha 2 mRNA was expressed in a small number of regions, in contrast to the wide distribution of the other known agonist-binding subunits (alpha 3 and alpha 4) mRNAs. These results demonstrate that the alpha 2 subunit differs from other known agonist-binding alpha-subunits of nAChRs in its distribution in the brain and in its pharmacology.     

Role of brain insulin receptor in control of body weight and reproduction

Insulin receptors (IRs) and insulin signaling proteins are widely distributed throughout the central nervous system (CNS). To study the physiological role of insulin signaling in the brain, we created mice with a neuron-specific disruption of the IR gene (NIRKO mice). Inactivation of the IR had no impact on brain development or neuronal survival. However, female NIRKO mice showed increased food intake, and both male and female mice developed diet-sensitive obesity with increases in body fat and plasma leptin levels, mild insulin resistance, elevated plasma insulin levels, and hypertriglyceridemia. NIRKO mice also exhibited impaired spermatogenesis and ovarian follicle maturation because of hypothalamic dysregulation of luteinizing hormone. Thus, IR signaling in the CNS plays an important role in regulation of energy disposal, fuel metabolism, and reproduction.