{"title":"Adenosine Kinase Expression Modulates Expression of Myelin Proteolipid Protein","authors":"N. Wu, D. Boison","doi":"10.2174/1874082000701010015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874082000701010015","url":null,"abstract":"Adenosine is known to regulate myelination in vitro. Here we tested the hypothesis that adenosine, regulated by adenosine kinase (ADK), might regulate myelin-specific protein expression and myelination in vivo. We demonstrate that transgenic overexpression of ADK, which reduces adenosine in mouse brain, results in increased levels of myelin prote- olipid protein.","PeriodicalId":88753,"journal":{"name":"The open neuroscience journal","volume":"34 1","pages":"15-19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78708172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xue Jiang, Penelope C. Georges, Baogang Li, Y. Du, Melinda K. Kutzing, M. Previtera, N. Langrana, B. Firestein
{"title":"Cell Growth in Response to Mechanical Stiffness is Affected by Neuron- Astroglia Interactions","authors":"Xue Jiang, Penelope C. Georges, Baogang Li, Y. Du, Melinda K. Kutzing, M. Previtera, N. Langrana, B. Firestein","doi":"10.2174/1874082000701010007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874082000701010007","url":null,"abstract":"Cell adhesion and morphology are affected by the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix. Using polyacrylamide gels as cell substrates, the cellular response to substrate compliance was investigated in pure neuronal, pure astroglial, or mixed co-cultures. Substrates used spanned a large range of stiffnesses including that of brain tissue. In both pure and mixed cultures, immature (vimentin+) astroglia adhered best to stiffest gels. Mature (GFAP+) astrocyte ad- hesion peaked on intermediate stiffness, while pure GFAP+ astroglial adhesion displayed no intermediate preference and increased with stiffness. Neurite length was constant with stiffness; however, primary dendrite number was lowest on in- termediate gels. Pure neuronal cultures were more adherent to hard gels, while mixed cultures had no stiffness preference. Furthermore, we investigated the role of stiffness in the modulation of the neurotoxic effect of glutamate. Exposure to two glutamate concentrations (500 and 1000 � M) of cultured spinal cord neurons induced cell death. The damage elicited by 500 � m glutamate to neurons in a mixed culture of spinal cord cells is most severe on soft 300 Pa gels. The neurotoxic ef- fect of glutamate on neurons cultured on hard gels where astrocytes are present was strongly attenuated compared with that observed on soft gels, where there is a relatively low number of astrocytes. Our data suggest that mechanical stiffness of the substrate affects the response of both neurons and astroglia, and this response is varied by interaction between the two cell types.","PeriodicalId":88753,"journal":{"name":"The open neuroscience journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"7-14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90285947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Tale of Two Hormones: Role of Leptin and Insulin in Hippocampal Synaptic Function","authors":"J. Harvey","doi":"10.2174/1874082000701010001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874082000701010001","url":null,"abstract":"It is well documented that the endocrine hormones, leptin and insulin provide signals to specific hypothalamic brain regions to regulate energy balance. However, the past decade of research has not only revealed the widespread ex- pression of insulin and leptin receptors in the CNS, but has also identified numerous additional functions of these hor- mones in the brain. In particular, there is growing evidence that these hormones markedly influence hippocampal excita- tory synaptic transmission as well as hippocampal synaptic plasticity. More recent studies have also identified links be- tween dysregulation of leptin and insulin systems and the development of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alz- heimer's disease. Here we review the recent evidence supporting a role for these hormones in modulating hippocampal synaptic function in health and disease.","PeriodicalId":88753,"journal":{"name":"The open neuroscience journal","volume":"188 1","pages":"1-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85101201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}