The nucleus accumbens (Acb) is prominently involved in the aversive behavioral aspects of kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) agonists, including its endogenous ligand dynorphin (Dyn). We examined the ultrastructural immunoperoxidase localization of KOR and immunogold labeling of Dyn to determine the major cellular sites for KOR activation in this region. Of 851 KOR-labeled structures sampled from a to...

Dynorphin A (Dyn A) stimulates the release of ACTH in fetal sheep, a response that involves N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors but not the secretogogues corticotropin-releasing hormone or arginine vasopressin. We now find that neither Dyn A-(1-13) (0.5 mg/kg, i.v.) nor NMDA (4 mg/kg, i.v.) elicits ACTH release in postnatal lambs. This led us to hypothesize that Dyn A-(1-13) and NMDA might ac...

Methods Dyn KO mice were generated by replacement of the entire coding region of the prodynorphin gene [2] and backcrossed onto C57bl/6N. Age and testing experiencematched female intact and ovariectomized (OVX) Dyn KO and wildtype (WT) mice at 3-8 months age were tested in all experiments. Anxiety (open field test, OF; elevated plus maze test, EPM; light dark test, LDT) and stressrelated behavi...

Chronic opioid agonist treatment produces tolerance and in some cases opioid receptor internalization and down-regulation. Both morphine and etorphine induce tolerance; however, only etorphine produces mu-opioid receptor (muOR) down-regulation. In vitro studies implicate dynamin-2 (DYN-2) and G-protein receptor kinase-2 (GRK-2) in these processes. Therefore, we examined etorphine and morphine e...

Cell polarity is crucial for the generation of cell diversity. Recent evidence suggests that the actin cytoskeleton plays a key role in establishment of embryonic polarity, yet the mechanisms that maintain polarity cues in particular membrane domains during development remain unclear. Dynamin, a large GTPase, functions in both endocytosis and actin dynamics. Here, the Caenorhabditis elegans dyn...

In this study, we aimed to systematically and globally evaluate the monthly precipitation forecasts of JMA/MRI-CPS2, a dynamical seasonal climate forecast (Dyn-SCF) system operated by Japan Meteorological Agency, comparing its with those statistical SCF (St-SCF) using indices. We developed new global St-SCF 17 indices compared JMA/MRI-CPS2. Consequently, skill JMA/MRI-CPS2 was determined be hig...

The endogenous opioid dynorphin A-(1-17) (Dyn A) has been implicated as a mediator of tissue damage after traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) and causes hindlimb paralysis when administered intrathecally. Motor impairment following intrathecal Dyn A is attenuated by antagonists of excitatory amino acids (EAAs); whether opioid receptors mediate such injury has been questioned. TSCI causes variou...

We present the first complete problems for dynamic complexity classes including the classes Dyn-FO and Dyn-ThC , the dynamic classes corresponding to relational calculus and (polynomially bounded) SQL, respectively. The first problem we show complete for Dyn-FO is a singlestep version of the circuit value problem (SSCV). Of independent interest, our construction also produces a first-order form...

The dense central regions of tidally disrupted galaxies can survive as ultra-compact dwarfs (UCDs) that hide among the luminous globular clusters (GCs) in halo massive galaxies. An exciting confirmation this model is detection overmassive black holes centers some UCDs, which also lead to elevated dynamical mass-to-light ratios ($M/L_{dyn}$). Here we present new high-resolution spectroscopic obs...