The sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone protein, is an interorganelle signaling modulator that potentially plays a role in drug-seeking behaviors. However, the brain site of action and underlying cellular mechanisms remain unidentified. We found that cocaine exposure triggers a Sig-1R-dependent upregulation of D-type K(+) current in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) tha...

Sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R) is an intracellular chaperone protein with many ligands, located at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Binding of cocaine to Sig-1R has previously been found to modulate endothelial functions. In the present study, we show that cocaine dramatically inhibits store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE), a Ca(2+) influx mechanism promoted by depletion of intracellular Ca(2+) stores, ...

The rate of capping and shedding of cross-linked surface immunoglobulins (SIg) was slower in old Lewis rats (greater than 24 mo) than in young Lewis rats (3-4 mo). Analysis of spleen cell populations with the fluorescence-activated cell sorter indicated that with aging there was a loss of cells with a high density of SIg. Cells with the highest density of SIg capped and shed cross-linked SIg fa...

Multi-Valued Neuron (MVN) was proposed for pattern classification. It operates with complex-valued inputs, outputs, and weights, and its learning algorithm is based on error-correcting rule. The activation function of MVN is not differentiable. Therefore, we can not apply backpropagation when constructing multilayer structures. In this paper, we propose a new neuron model, MVN-sig, to simulate ...

Sigma-1 receptors (Sig-1Rs) are endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident proteins known to be involved in learning and memory. Dendritic spines in hippocampal neurons play important roles in neuroplasticity and learning and memory. This study tested the hypothesis that Sig-1Rs might regulate denritic spine formation in hippocampal neurons and examined potential mechanisms therein. In rat hippocampal...

Neurodegenerative diseases are linked to tauopathy as a result of cyclin dependent kinase 5 (cdk5) binding to its p25 activator instead of its p35 activator and becoming over-activated. The overactive complex stimulates the hyperphosphorylation of tau proteins, leading to neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and stunting axon growth and development. It is known that the sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R), an ...

BACKGROUND The quantitative effect of strong electrolytes, unmeasured strong anions (UAs), pCO2, and plasma protein concentrations in determining plasma pH can be demonstrated using the physicochemical approach. Plasma anion gap (AG) and strong ion gap (SIG) are used to assess UAs in different species. HYPOTHESES Strong ions are a major factor influencing changes in plasma pH of hospitalized ...

The requirement for CD4 T cells in priming and maintaining cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses presents a long-standing paradox in cellular immunology. In this study, we used sequential coadministration of a DNA vaccine encoding an invariant (Ii) chain in which the class II-associated Ii-peptide region is replaced with CD4 T-helper epitope, PADRE [Pan human leukocyte antigen-DR reactive epitope (I...

This study examined the effects of motor stimulation via treadmill on the behavior of male gerbils after external carotid ischemic brain lesion. The animals were assigned to five groups; ischemic with no stimulation (SIG), ischemic with stimulation (SIG 12/24/48/72h after surgery), non-ischemic with no stimulation (CC), non-ischemic with stimulation (CE) and sham, surgery without occlusion with...

Spatial Information Grid is a kind of application grid which tries to connect resources such as computer, data sources, and processing algorithms, and builds a distributed, robust, flexible and powerful infrastructure for geocomputation. It needs a powerful and easy-to-use running environment. In this paper, an autonomic runtime environment for geo-computation is proposed and named SIGRE — the ...