Chronic social defeat stress increases dopamine D2 receptor dimerization in the prefrontal cortex of adult mice.

The present study aimed to examine the effects of chronic social defeat stress on the dopamine receptors and proteins involved in post-endocytic trafficking pathways. Adult mice were divided into susceptible and unsusceptible groups after 10 days of social defeat stress. Western blot analysis was used to measure the protein expression levels of dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs), a short (D2S) and a long form (D2L) and, D2R monomers and dimers, dopamine D1 receptors (D1Rs), neuronal calcium sensor-1 (NCS-1) and G protein-coupled receptor-associated sorting protein-1 (GASP-1), and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to measure the mRNA expression levels of D2S, D2L, D2R monomers and dimers, and D1Rs in different brain areas. We observed increased expression of D2S, D2L and D2Rs dimers in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of susceptible and/or unsusceptible mice compared with controls. The only significant findings with regard to mRNA expression levels were lower expression of D2S mRNA in the amygdala (AMYG) of susceptible and unsusceptible mice compared with controls. The present study demonstrated that chronic social defeat stress induced increased expression of D2S, D2L, and D2R dimers in the PFC of susceptible and/or unsusceptible mice.

A comparative clinical trial evaluating efficacy and safety of fixed dose combination of nimesulide (100 mg) and racemethionine (50 mg) (namsafe) versus reference drug (nimesulide) and other NSAIDs in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Sixty consecutive patients of either sex, above the age of 18 years with symptoms of osteo-arthritis participated in this open, randomised, comparative clinical trial carried out over 3 months. Patients were randomised into 5 groups: Group A (paracetamol 500 mg), group B (ibuprofen 400 mg), group C (nimesulide 100 mg), group D (diclofenac 50 mg), and group E [fixed dose combination of nimesulide (100 mg) and racemethionine (50 mg) (namsafe)]. The efficacy parameters were pain intensity, pain on movement, tenderness and swelling. The liver function tests were carried out to estimate the effect of the drugs on the hepatic profile. The Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Kruskal Wallis (one way ANOVA) test were utilised to evaluate the significance of the change from baseline to the final visit. The treatment with combination of nimesulide and racemethionine gave the best relief from tenderness. With respect to pain intensity and pain movement, combination of nimesulide and racemethionine with nimesulide efficacy was comparable. Theliver function test data at the end of 6 months show that combination of nimesulide and racemethionine treated group showed the least rise in the serum asparatate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels, whereas in the other treatment groups it was very pronounced. Thereby, combination of nimesulide and racemethionine is found to be better for the long-term treatment of osteo-arthritis in patients. The combination of the two agents, namely nimesulide and racemethionine is expected to augment the safety profile of nimesulide, without influencing the effectiveness of the analgesic agent, i.e., nimesulide.

Transcriptional responses to reinforcing effects of cocaine in the rat hippocampus and cortex.

The psychostimulant effects of cocaine are thought to result from its ability to block dopamine (DA) uptake and increase DA levels in ventral striatum. In addition, cocaine causes biochemical changes in the brain areas involved in learning and memory, including hippocampus and cortex, whose role in drug reinforcement is now being actively investigated. Thus, we studied molecular events in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of rats treated with cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. After exposure to cocaine conditioning (cocaine paired), cocaine alone (cocaine non-paired) or saline rats were tested for place conditioning. Cocaine (10 mg/kg) caused increases in time spent in the drug-paired compartment. By using microarray analyses, we examined gene expression in the hippocampi and frontal cortices of cocaine-paired rats, cocaine non-paired and saline-treated controls. Our study revealed that 214 transcripts were differentially regulated in the hippocampi of cocaine-paired rats. These include genes that play roles in protein phosphorylation, RNA processing and protein synthesis, ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation and cytoskeleton organization. In contrast, 39 genes were differently expressed in the frontal cortex. Our data support the possibility that molecular changes in the hippocampus might participate in the formation and maintenance of memory patterns induced by cocaine in the brain. Differences in the transcriptional responses in the hippocampus and cortex suggest the primary importance of the hippocampus for recent memory processing associated with cocaine-induced CPP.

Medicinal plants of rajasthan in Indian system of medicine.

Medicinal plants used in Indian system of medicine from Rajasthan state have been surveyed and catagorised systematically. The paper deals with 205 medicinal plants, thoroughly indexed along with their important traditional application for the cure of various ailments.

Phonon interpretation of inelastic neutron scattering in DNA crystals.

The calculated spectrum of longitudinal compressional waves on DNA polymer chains is shown to be in excellent agreement with recently performed inelastic neutron scattering measurements in hydrated, oriented DNA crystals. This opens up a previously unexplored frequency regime of DNA science and establishes the validity of the phonon extended wave description of DNA elementary excitations in this region.

Development of a prostate cDNA microarray and statistical gene expression analysis package.

A cDNA microarray comprising 5184 different cDNAs spotted onto nylon membrane filters was developed for prostate gene expression studies. The clones used for arraying were identified by cluster analysis of > 35 000 prostate cDNA library-derived expressed sequence tags (ESTs) present in the dbEST database maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Total RNA from two cell lines, prostate line 8.4 and melanoma line UACC903, was used to make radiolabeled probe for filter hybridizations. The absolute intensity of each individual cDNA spot was determined by phosphorimager scanning and evaluated by a bioinformatics package developed specifically for analysis of cDNA microarray experimentation. Results indicated 89% of the genes showed intensity levels above background in prostate cells compared with only 28% in melanoma cells. Replicate probe preparations yielded results with correlation values ranging from r = 0.90 to 0.93 and coefficient of variation ranging from 16 to 28%. Findings indicate that among others, the keratin 5 and vimentin genes were differentially expressed between these two divergent cell lines. Follow-up northern blot analysis verified these two expression changes, thereby demonstrating the reliability of this system. We report the development of a cDNA microarray system that is sensitive and reliable, demonstrates a low degree of variability, and is capable of determining verifiable gene expression differences between two distinct human cell lines. This system will prove useful for differential gene expression analysis in prostate-derived cells and tissue.

Analysis of gene expression in mutiple sclerosis lesions using cDNA microarrays.

In multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a coordinated attack of the immune system against the primary constituents of oligodendrocytes and/or the myelin sheath of oligodendrocytes results in the formation of lesions in the brain and spinal cord. Thus far, however, a limited number of genes that potentially contribute to lesion pathology have been identified. Using cDNA microarray technology, we have performed experiments on MS tissue monitoring the expression pattern of over 5,000 genes and compared the gene expression profile of normal white matter with that found in acute lesions from the brain of a single MS patient. Sixty-two differentially expressed genes were identified, including the Duffy chemokine receptor, interferon regulatory factor-2, and tumor necrosis factor alpha receptor-2 among others. Thus, cDNA microarray technology represents a powerful new tool for the identification of genes not previously associated with the MS disease process.

Proteomic profiling of the cancer microenvironment by antibody arrays.

Critical changes in protein expression that enable tumors to initiate and progress originate in the local tissue microenvironment, and there are increasing indications that these microenvironmental alterations in protein expression play critical roles in shaping and directing this process. As a model to better understand how patterns of protein expression shape the tissue microenvironment, we analyzed protein expression in tissue derived from squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity through an antibody microarray approach for high-throughput proteomic analysis. Utilizing laser capture microdissection to procure total protein from specific microscopic cellular populations, we demonstrate that quantitative, and potentially qualitative, differences in expression patterns of multiple proteins within epithelial cells reproducibly correlate with oral cavity tumor progression. Furthermore, differential expression of multiple proteins was also found in stromal cells surrounding and adjacent to regions of diseased epithelium that directly correlated with tumor progression of the epithelium. Most of the proteins identified in both cell types are involved in signal transduction pathways, thus we hypothesize that extensive molecular communication involving complex cellular signaling between epithelium and stroma play a key role in driving oral cavity cancer progression.