Differential inhibition of postnatal brain,spinal cord and body growth by a growth hormone antagonist

Background  

Growth hormone (GH) plays an incompletely understood role in the development of the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we use transgenic mice expressing a growth hormone antagonist (GHA) to explore the role of GH in regulating postnatal brain, spinal cord and body growth into adulthood. The GHA transgene encodes a protein that inhibits the binding of GH to its receptor, specifically antagonizing the trophic effects of endogenous GH.     

Suppression of inelastic collisions between polar molecules with a repulsive shield

We propose and analyze a technique that allows one to suppress inelastic collisions and simultaneously enhance elastic interactions between cold polar molecules. The main idea is to cancel the leading dipole-dipole interaction with a suitable combination of static electric and microwave fields in such a way that the remaining van der Waals-type potential forms a three-dimensional repulsive shield. We analyze the elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections relevant for evaporative cooling of polar molecules and discuss the prospect for the creation of stable crystalline structures.     

Fusion around the barrier for 7Li+12C

Fusion cross-sections for the ⁷Li + ¹²C reaction have been measured at energies above the Coulomb barrier by the direct detection of evaporation residues. The heavy evaporation residues with energies below 3 MeV could not be separated out from the α-particles in the spectrum and hence their contribution was estimated using statistical model calculations. The present work indicates that suppression of fusion cross-sections due to the breakup of ⁷Li may not be significant for ⁷Li + ¹²C reaction at energies around the barrier.     

Evaluation of a sensitive HPLC method for the determination of Malondialdehyde, and application of the method to different biological materials

Summary Reactive oxygen species (ROS), important mediators of cell and tissue injury during inflammation, are produced by several types of inflammatory cells. The formation of ROS can be monitored by detection of lipid peroxidation products. The extremely broad spectrum of biological effects of aldehydic lipid peroxidation products has necessitated the development of a technique that enables the sensitive routine quantitation of aldehydes formed in biological materials. Malondialdehyde (MDA) is a by-product of enzymatic eicosanoid formation and an end-product of nonenzymatic peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids with three or more bisallylic double bonds. The determination of the thiobarbituric acid derivative of MDA (TBA-MDA) is a widely used method for estimating overall lipid peroxidation. We describe a rapid, isocratic, simple, and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with spectrofluorimetric detection for measurement of MDA-TBA in human biological samples such as plasma, urine, wound secretions, amniotic fluid, sputum and tissue samples. By use of this method, picomole quantities of MDA can be readily and specifically detected in different biological materials. Coefficients of variation of repeated MDA-TBA assays were 4.4% within run and 6.9% from run to run. Reference values are given for a variety of human body fluids and for rat tissues.     

Hybrid quantum processors: molecular ensembles as quantum memory for solid state circuits

We investigate a hybrid quantum circuit where ensembles of cold polar molecules serve as long-lived quantum memories and optical interfaces for solid state quantum processors. The quantum memory realized by collective spin states (ensemble qubit) is coupled to a high-Q stripline cavity via microwave Raman processes. We show that, for convenient trap-surface distances of a few microm, strong coupling between the cavity and ensemble qubit can be achieved. We discuss basic quantum information protocols, including a swap from the cavity photon bus to the molecular quantum memory, and a deterministic two qubit gate. Finally, we investigate coherence properties of molecular ensemble quantum bits.     

Time course and progression of wild type α-Synuclein accumulation in a transgenic mouse model

Background

Progressive accumulation of α-synuclein (α-Syn) protein in different brain regions is a hallmark of synucleinopathic diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy. α-Syn transgenic mouse models have been developed to investigate the effects of α-Syn accumulation on behavioral deficits and neuropathology. However, the onset and progression of pathology in α-Syn transgenic mice have not been fully characterized. For this purpose we investigated the time course of behavioral deficits and neuropathology in PDGF-β human wild type α-Syn transgenic mice (D-Line) between 3 and 12 months of age.

Results

These mice showed progressive impairment of motor coordination of the limbs that resulted in significant differences compared to non-transgenic littermates at 9 and 12 months of age. Biochemical and immunohistological analyses revealed constantly increasing levels of human α-Syn in different brain areas. Human α-Syn was expressed particularly in somata and neurites of a subset of neocortical and limbic system neurons. Most of these neurons showed immunoreactivity for phosphorylated human α-Syn confined to nuclei and perinuclear cytoplasm. Analyses of the phenotype of α-Syn expressing cells revealed strong expression in dopaminergic olfactory bulb neurons, subsets of GABAergic interneurons and glutamatergic principal cells throughout the telencephalon. We also found human α-Syn expression in immature neurons of both the ventricular zone and the rostral migratory stream, but not in the dentate gyrus.

Conclusion

The present study demonstrates that the PDGF-β α-Syn transgenic mouse model presents with early and progressive accumulation of human α-Syn that is accompanied by motor deficits. This information is essential for the design of therapeutical studies of synucleinopathies.     

Detection of human and rodent 5-HT3B receptor subunits by anti-peptide polyclonal antibodies

Background  

The 5-HT₃ receptor is a member of a neurotransmitter-gated ion channel family which includes nicotinic acetylcholine, GABA_A, and glycine receptors. While antibodies specific for the 5-HT_3A receptor subunit are plentiful, and have revealed a wealth of structural and functional information, few antisera exist for the detection of 5-HT_3B receptor subunits. Here we describe the generation and characterisation of a rabbit polyclonal antiserum that specifically recognises 5-HT_3B receptor subunits     

Dibenzyl Structuresin a Macromolecular Chain. III. Dibenzyldiisocyanates Reactivity

The reactivity of the 2,2′-, 2,4′-, 4,4′-dibenzyldiisocyanate (2,2′-, 2,4′-, 4,4′-DBDI) with n-butanol in benzene has been studied. The concentrations of all species were monitored by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The reactivity of 4,4′-DBDI is similar to that of 4,4′-diphenylmethanediisocyanate (4,4′-MDI). Very strong intramolecular catalytic effects were noticed in the case of 2,2′-DBDI, probably due to the variable molecular geometry. These effects are responsible for the whole reaction pattern. The 2,4′-DBDI NCO ortho and para groups reactivities are different and comparable to that of 2,4-toluylenediisocyanate (2,4-TDI).     

Defect-suppressed atomic crystals in an optical lattice

We present a coherent filtering scheme which dramatically reduces the site occupation number defects for atoms in an optical lattice by transferring a chosen number of atoms to a different internal state via adiabatic passage. With the addition of superlattices it is possible to engineer states with a specific number of atoms per site (atomic crystals), which are required for quantum computation and the realization of models from condensed matter physics, including doping and spatial patterns. The same techniques can be used to measure two-body spatial correlation functions.