We have assessed the effects of intraplantar local anaesthetics (bupivacaine and lignocaine) on carrageenan-induced oedema, mechanical allodynia and spinal c-fos protein expression. Mechanical allodynia was evaluated using the vocalization threshold to paw pressure (VTPP) every 30 min until 60, 180 or 240 min after administration of carrageenan. Peripheral oedema, mechanical allodynia and spina...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is known to be crucial for the development of peripheral vestibular neurons. However, the maturation profile of the BDNF signal transducing receptor, tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) in functionally activated otolith-related vestibular nuclear neurons of postnatal rats remains unexplored. In the present study, conscious Sprague-Dawley rats (P4 to adult) were sub...

The immediate early gene c-Fos is reported to be regulated by Elk-1 and cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), but whether nuclear factor (NF)-κB is also required for controlling c-Fos expression is unclear. In this study, we determined how NF-κB's coordination with Elk/serum response factor (SRF) regulates c-fos transcription. We report that PMA strongly induced c-Fos expression, but tu...

The activator protein-1 transcription factor is a heterodimer containing one of each of the Fos and Jun subfamilies of basic-region leucine-zipper proteins. We have previously shown by fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy (FCCS) that the fluorescent fusion proteins Fos-EGFP and Jun-mRFP1, cotransfected in HeLa cells, formed stable complexes in situ. Here we studied the relative position ...

Both glutamate receptors and transporters are known to be important in the postsynaptic regulation of glutamate neurotransmission. However, the maturation profile of glutamate transporter EAAC1 and glutamate receptor subunits (NR1, NR2A and NR2B; and GluR 1-4) in functionally activated saccule-related vestibular nuclear neurons of postnatal rats remains unclear. In the present study, conscious ...

Both glutamate receptors and transporters are known to be important in the postsynaptic regulation of glutamate neurotransmission. However, the maturation profile of glutamate transporter EAAC1 and glutamate receptor subunits (NR1, NR2A and NR2B; and GluR 1-4) in functionally activated saccule-related vestibular nuclear neurons of postnatal rats remains unclear. In the present study, conscious ...

The regulation of nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2) in airway epithelial cells plays a key role in the innate host response to a wide variety of microbial agents and also participates in the generation of pathologic airway inflammation. Among the important signalling cascades that direct NOS2 gene expression are nuclear factor kappaB (NFkappaB) and interferon-gamma (IFNgamma)/signal transducer and...

It has become increasingly clear that agents classically thought to act as neurotransmitters can also alter gene expression. To understand the early events by which neurotransmitters could effect genetic responses, we have studied the induction of two immediate early genes, c-fos and c-jun. These genes encode proteins that form a dimeric complex (AP-1) active as a transcriptional factor. Using ...

Objective(s): Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), one of the most devastating kinds of anxiety disorders, is the consequence of a traumatic event followed by intense fear. In rats with contextual fear conditioning (CFC), a model of PTSD caused by CFC (electrical foot shock chamber), deep brain stimulation (DBS) alleviates CFC abnormalities.Materials and Methods: Forty Male Wistar rats (220–2...

BACKGROUND The mammalian response to stress results in the activation of stress-activated protein kinases (also known as cJun N-terminal kinases; SAPKs or JNKs), which are a sub-group of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase family. The SAPKs are involved in the upregulation of activity of the transcription factor AP-1 by post-translational modification of two of its components, cJun and A...