Astrogliosis following spinal cord injury (SCI) involves an early hypertrophic response that is beneficial and a subsequent formation of a dense scar. We investigated the role of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling in gliosis after SCI and find that BMPR1a and BMPR1b signaling exerts opposing effects on hypertrophy. Conditional ablation of BMPR1a from glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFA...

trasal-contact method test using glass petri-dish rather than the conventional glass jar was used to evaluate the permethrin toxicity and synergism effect of piperonal butoxode (pbo) on nymphae of five strains of blattella germanica (l.). the test was carried out on 2-3 days old of first nympal stage, at four replicates of 10 cockroaches. the susceptible strain showed t50 and kt50 of 12.81 and ...

Mice lacking ALK activity have previously been reported to exhibit subtle behavioral phenotypes. In this study of ALK of loss of function mice we present data supporting a role for ALK in hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in male mice. We observed lower level of serum testosterone at P40 in ALK knock-out males, accompanied by mild disorganization of seminiferous tubules exhibiting decreased numbers...

The heterodimer thyrostimulin, comprised of two novel glycoprotein hormone subunits GPA2 and GPB5, activates the TSH receptor. To understand its role in the regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT-) axis, we evaluated juvenile and adult GPB5 knock-out (GPB5(-/-)) and wild type mice (WT) during euthyroidism, hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis. Surprisingly, juvenile euthyroid GPB5(-...

Several studies have shown that activation of alpha(2)-adrenergic receptors (alpha(2)ARs) leads to mild analgesic effects. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), such as desipramine (DMI), which block norepinephrine transporters (NETs), also produce mild antinociception. The coadministration of either alpha(2)AR agonists or TCAs with opiates produces synergistically potentiated antinociception. It h...

UNLABELLED Intellectual disability is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired intellectual and adaptive functioning. Both environmental insults and genetic defects contribute to the etiology of intellectual disability. Copy number variations of SORBS2 have been linked to intellectual disability. However, the neurobiological function of SORBS2 in the brain is unknown. The ...

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which begin in childhood and persist into adulthood. They cause lifelong impairments and are associated with substantial burdens to patients, families, and society. Genetic studies have implicated the sodium/proton exchanger (NHE) nine gene, Slc9a9, to ASDs and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD). Slc9a9 enc...

DARPP-32 (dopamine and adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate-regulated phosphoprotein, 32 kDa) is an important component of dopaminergic function in brain areas thought to be important for drug and alcohol addiction. The present experiments characterized the acquisition of ethanol-induced conditioned taste aversion, ethanol-induced conditioned place preference, and ethanol self-administration in DARPP-...

Spongiform encephalopathies such as scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle or Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS) in humans is caused by a transmissible agent designated prion. The 'protein only' hypothesis proposes that the prion consists partly or entirely of a conformational isoform of the normal host protein PrP(C), d...