The Ay allele is a recessive lethal mutation at the mouse agouti locus, which results in embryonic death around the time of implantation. In the heterozygous state, Ay produces several dominant pleiotropic effects, including an increase in weight gain and body length, a susceptibility to hepatic, pulmonary and mammary tumors, and a suppression of the agouti phenotype, which results in a yellow ...

Telmisartan is an angiotensin II receptor blocker with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonistic properties. Telmisartan prevents weight gain and decreases food intake in models of obesity and in glitazone-treated rodents. This study further investigates the influence of telmisartan and pioglitazone and their association on weight gain and body composition by examining their in...

Scatter hoarding by the Central American agouti: a test of optimal cache spacing theory Dumas Gálvez , Bart Kranstauber , Roland W. Kays , Patrick A. Jansen a,d,e,* Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen Migration and Immuno-ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Radolfzell New York State Museum d Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Centre for Ecosys...

The Melanocortin-4 Receptor is a G-protein coupled receptor that has been physiologically linked to participate in the regulation of energy homeostasis. The Melanocortin-4 Receptor is stimulated by endogenous melanocortin agonists derived from the pro-opiomelanocortin gene transcript and antagonized by the endogenous antagonist agouti-related protein. Central administration of melanocortin agon...

The NH strain of mice was developed for the purpose of producing the highest possible degree of biological variability without the interfering incidence of spontaneous tumors. In order to do this, mice of three separate inbred strains were mated seriatim. The above strains were the CBA, the JK, and the N. Mice of the CBA strain have reached the forty-eighth generation of a pedigreed brother-to-...

Radiation-induced mucositis is a common and serious side effect of radiotherapy. Molecular mechanisms of mucosal injury, however, are still poorly understood and extremely difficult to study in humans. A novel Dark Agouti rat model using fractionated radiotherapy to induce mucositis has been developed to investigate the occurrence of alimentary mucosal injury. Twenty-four Dark Agouti rats were ...