Inhibition of UL54 and UL97 genes of human cytomegalovirus by RNA interference.

Short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), namely siUL54-1 and siU54-2 targeting UL54 (DNA polymerase) gene, and siUL97-1 and siUL97-2 targeting UL97 (phosphotransferase) gene, were used to inhibit respective genes of Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and consequently the virus infection process in human foreskin fibroblast (HFF) cultures. The virus infection was monitored by cell morphology (CPE), levels of UL83 and IE86 mRNAs, and virus antigen. The results showed that siUL97-2 remarkably inhibited viral CPE while other siRNAs were less inhibitory. The siRNAs reduced the levels of UL83 mRNA but not that of IE86 mRNA; again, siUL97-2 was most inhibitory. Particularly, siUL97-2 reduced the UL83 mRNA level 14, 19, 203, and 37 times at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hrs post infection (p.i.), respectively. When tested for the effect on viral antigen by immunofluorescent assay (IFA), UL97-2 exerted a marked inhibition. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of siRNAs against experimental HCMV infection and indicate their therapeutic potential.

Treadmill running promotes functional recovery and decreases brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA expression following sciatic crushed nerve injury in rats.

AIM: Peripheral nerve injuries are commonly encountered clinical problems and often result in severe functional deficits. In the present study, the effects of treadmill running on the recovery rate of locomotor function and the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA following sciatic crushed nerve injury in rats were investigated. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Comparative investigation was performed over 14 days. SETTING: Experimental animal laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: 24 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200+/-10 g. Animals were randomly assigned into 3 groups: the sham-operation group, the sciatic nerve injury group, and the sciatic nerve injury and running group. INTERVENTIONS: The right sciatic nerve was crushed for 30 s using a surgical clip. Rats of the running group were made to run on a treadmill for 30 min once a day for 12 consecutive days. MEASURES: Functional recovery was analyzed using a walking track analysis which can be quantified with the sciatic function index (SFI) and BDNF mRNA expression was analyzed using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: Sciatic crushed nerve injury showed characteristic gait changes showing decrease of SFI value and treadmill running significantly enhanced the SFI value. The level of BDNF mRNA expression was increased following sciatic crushed nerve injury and treadmill running significantly suppressed the sciatic nerve injury-induced increment of BDNF mRNA expression. CONCLUSIONS: It can be suggested that treadmill running after peripheral nerve injury is effective in the functional recovery by inhibition on the over-expression of BDNF mRNA.

Caffeine inhibits exercise-induced increase in tryptophan hydroxylase expression in dorsal and median raphe of Sprague-Dawley rats.

Effect of caffeine on the expression of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), rate limiting enzyme of serotonin synthesis, in dorsal and median raphe was investigated via immunohistochemistry. In exercise groups, Sprague-Dawley rats were put on treadmill running for 30 min per day for 6 consecutive days. On the seventh day, animals of control-with-caffeine group were injected subcutaneously with 4 mg/kg caffeine, while control-without-caffeine group were injected with 0.9% NaCl, sacrificed 2 h later. Exercise-with-caffeine group and exercise-without-caffeine group were injected with caffeine and NaCl, respectively; all-out time was determined 1 h after injection, and then sacrificed. Caffeine increased all-out time in exercised rats, and inhibited the exercise-induced elevation in TPH expression. The suppressive effect of caffeine on TPH expression in exercised rats can be suggested as one possible ergogenic mechanism of caffeine.

New titanium alloys for biomaterials: a study of mechanical and corrosion properties and cytotoxicity.

Three new titanium alloys with Zr, Nb, Ta, Pd and In as alloying elements were developed and compared with currently used implant metals, namely, pure Ti and Ti-6Al-4V alloy, in terms of mechanical and corrosion properties, and cytotoxicity. New alloys showed comparable mechanical properties with that of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy, but increased corrosion potential, somewhat decreased breakdown potential and increased corrosion rate. There were no significant differences in cell growth on the surface of the various metal specimens, indicating that the cells cannot differentiate between the passivated surfaces of the various Ti metals.

Comparison of edge detection algorithms using a structure from motion task.

This paper presents an evaluation of edge detector performance. We use the task of structure from motion (SFM) as a "black box" through which to evaluate the performance of edge detection algorithms. Edge detector goodness is measured by how accurately the SFM could recover the known structure and motion from the edge detection of the image sequences. We use a variety of real image sequences with ground truth to evaluate eight different edge detectors from the literature. Our results suggest that ratings of edge detector performance based on pixel-level metrics and on the SFM are well correlated and that detectors such as the Canny detector and Heitger detector offer the best performance.

Improvement of water treatment performance by using polyamine flocculants.

In this study, polyamine flocculants were synthesized and applied to Nak-dong river raw water in Korea to examine their efficiency in reducing turbidity, total organic carbon (TOC) and UV254. Synthesized polyamines were effective as flocculants for water treatment and the addition of organic polymer caused a reduction of 50-80% of the consumption of polyaluminium chloride (PAC). The effects of polyamine on the removal of turbidity, TOC and UV254 were investigated via both jar and pilot tests. The adsorption and separation mechanisms for the removal of turbidity and TOC by using the polymer flocculants were also observed.

Effects of halothane on GABAergic and glutamatergic transmission in isolated hippocampal nerve-synapse preparations.

We evaluated the effects of halothane on synaptic and extrasynaptic GABA(A) and glutamate receptor responses using mechanically dissociated rat hippocampal CA3 neurons in which the well isolated neurons retain functional native nerve endings (the 'synaptic bouton' preparation). The preparation allows the simultaneous comparison of extrasynaptic GABA(A) and glutamate receptors, activated by bath applied GABA and glutamate, respectively, to the synaptic receptors measured as spontaneous and evoked postsynaptic currents. Paired-pulse synaptic responses evoked by focal electrical stimulation were also measured to evaluate any presynaptic effects. Halothane enhanced the extrasynaptic GABA(A)-receptor mediated postsynaptic responses in a concentration dependent fashion. At clinically relevant concentrations, halothane significantly increased both the amplitude and frequency of spontaneous postsynaptic inhibitory currents (sIPSCs) mediated by synaptic GABA(A) receptors. The relative amplitude of evoked IPSCs (eIPSCs) was also increased, concurrent with a decrease in failure rate and a significantly decreased eIPSC paired-pulse ratio. Halothane concentration dependently decreased the extrasynaptic glutamate-receptor induced postsynaptic responses but had no effects on spontaneous or evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents. These results suggest that halothane acts predominantly at presynaptic sites at GABAergic synapses to enhance inhibitory transmission at CA3 synapses, although it also increases extra-synaptic GABA responses. At excitatory synapses on to CA3 neurons, halothane has no presynaptic action-effecting only extrasynaptic receptors. Our results have clarified the locus of effects of the volatile anesthetic halothane at excitatory and inhibitory synapses, drawing somewhat different conclusions from those deduced from slices and culture systems.

Volatile anesthetic effects on isolated GABA synapses and extrasynaptic receptors.

The volatile anesthetics enhance GABAergic inhibitory transmission at synaptic and extrasynaptic sites at central neurons. In the present study, we investigated the effects of three volatile anesthetics (isoflurane, enflurane and sevoflurane) on synaptic and extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptor responses using mechanically dissociated rat hippocampal CA1 neurons in which functional native nerve endings (boutons) were retained. The extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptors were activated by exogenous GABA application while synaptic ones were assessed by miniature and evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs and eIPSCs, respectively). All volatile anesthetics concentration-dependently enhanced the exogenous GABA-induced postsynaptic responses. The structural isomers, isoflurane and enflurane, increased mIPSC frequency while sevoflurane had no effect. None of these anesthetics altered mIPSC amplitudes at their clinically relevant concentrations. Sevoflurane prolonged event kinetics by increasing decay time of mIPSCs and eIPSCs at clinically relevant concentration. On the other hand, both isoflurane and enflurane only prolonged the kinetics of these events at 1 mM of high concentration. For GABAergic eIPSCs, both isoflurane and enflurane decreased the evoked response amplitude and increased the failure rate (Rf), while sevoflurane decreased the amplitude without affecting Rf. These results suggest that isoflurane and enflurane at the clinically relevant concentrations predominantly act on GABAergic presynaptic nerve endings to decrease action potential dependent GABA release. It was concluded that these anesthetics have heterogeneous effects on mIPSCs and eIPSCs with different modulation of synaptic and extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptors.

Comparative study on calretinin immunoreactivity in gerbil and rat retina.

Expression of calretinin in retina has been ascribed to multiple biological and functional aspects in the visual system. In this study, we examined the distribution patterns of calretinin immunoreactivity in gerbil and rat retina. In the gerbil, calretinin immunoreactivity was present in bipolar and amacrine cells of the inner nuclear layer and in neurones of the ganglion cell layer. In the rat, amacrine and ganglion cells showed calretinin immunoreactivity, but bipolar cells did not contain calretinin immunoreactivity. In both species, calretinin immunoreactivity was absent in cones, cone bipolars, and horizontal cells. In conclusion, gerbil as well as rat has a rod-dominant retina. The differences in calretinin expression between rat and gerbil require further investigations under various functional and developmental conditions.

Protective effects of puerariaeflos against ethanol-induced apoptosis on human neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-MC.

Puerariaeflos (PF) is an oriental medical herb for alcohol abuse. To investigate whether PF possesses protective effects against ethanol (EtOH)-induced cytotoxicity in the central nervous system, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, flow cytometric analysis, DNA fragmentation assay, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction were performed on SK-N-MC human neuroblastoma cells. Cells treated with EtOH exhibited several apoptotic features, while those pre-treated with PF prior to EtOH exposure showed a decreased occurrence of apoptotic features. In addition, PF pre-treatment inhibited the EtOH-induced increase in caspase-3 mRNA expression. These results suggest that PF may exert protective effects against EtOH-induced apoptosis in human neuroblastoma cells.