PURPOSE To investigate macular photoreceptor structure in patients with inherited retinal degeneration using high-resolution images and to correlate the findings with clinical phenotypes and genetic mutations. METHODS Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) images of photoreceptors were obtained in 16 eyes: five with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), three with cone-rod dystrophy (CRD)...

BACKGROUND Activation of proteinase-activated receptor-4 (PAR-4) from the colonic lumen has an antinociceptive effect to colorectal distension (CRD) in mice in basal conditions. We aimed to determine the functional localization of the responsible receptors and to test their role in two different hyperalgesia models. METHODS Mice received PAR-4 activating peptide (PAR-4-AP, AYPGKF-NH(2)) or ve...

Polycystin 2-type cation channels PKD2 and PKD2L1 interact with polycystin 1-type proteins PKD1 and PKD1L3 respectively, to form receptor-cation-channel complexes. The PKD2L1-PKD1L3 complex perceives sour taste, whereas disruption of the PKD2-PKD1 complex, responsible for mechanosensation, leads to development of ADPKD (autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease). Besides modulating channel a...

In this paper, we present a criterion on the oscillation of unbounded solutions for higher-order dynamic equations of the following form: [ x(t) +A(t)x(α(t)) ]∆n +B(t)F (x(β(t))) = φ(t) for t ∈ [t0,∞)T, (?) where n ∈ [2,∞)Z, t0 ∈ T, sup{T} = ∞, A ∈ Crd([t0,∞)T,R) is allowed to alternate in sign infinitely many times, B ∈ Crd([t0,∞)T,R), F ∈ Crd(R,R) is nondecreasing, and α, β ∈ Crd([t0,∞)T,T) a...

Wistar Furth (WF) rats do not develop renal injury after severe reduction of renal mass. Because clinical and animal studies suggested that nitric oxide (NO) deficiency occurs and may contribute to chronic renal disease (CRD), the status of the NO system in WF versus Sprague Dawley (SD) rats was examined with the 5/6 renal ablation/infarction (A/I) model of CRD. Eleven weeks after A/I, SD rats ...

C. elegans spermatogenesis employs lysosome-related fibrous body-membranous organelles (FB-MOs) for transport of many cellular components. Previous work showed that spe-10 mutants contain FB-MOs that prematurely disassemble, resulting in defective transport of FB components into developing spermatids. Consequently, spe-10 spermatids are smaller than wild type and contain defective FB-MO derivat...

Galectins regulate cellular functions by binding to glycan ligands on cell surface glycoprotein receptors. Prototype galectins, such as galectin-1, are one carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) monomers that noncovalently dimerize, whereas tandem-repeat galectins, such as galectin-9, have two non-identical CRDs connected by a linker domain. Dimerization of prototype galectins, or both CRDs in t...

We have identified colorectal distension (CRD)-responsive neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and demonstrated that persistence of a heightened visceral afferent nociceptive input to the ACC induces ACC sensitization. In the present study, we confirmed that rostral ACC neurons of sensitized rats [induced by chicken egg albumin (EA)] exhibit enhanced spike responses to CRD. Simultaneo...