[Reactivity of brain benzodiazepine receptors and individual sensitivity of rats to pentylenetetrazole]. / Reaktivnost' benzodiazepinovykh retseptorov mozga i individual'naia chuvstvitel'nost' krys k pentilentetrazolu.

The individual sensitivity of the male Wistar rats to acute pentylenetetrazole injection was studied, the density and the affinity of benzodiazepine receptors in the cerebellar cortex for 3H-diazepam was measured. It was demonstrated that the reactivity of benzodiazepine receptors underlies the individual sensitivity to pentylenetetrazole. The animals with higher sensitivity were characterized by more intensive reaction than the control and resistant animals, i.e., by an decrease in the receptors density (the initial receptors density being equal in the sensitive, resistant, and control animals). Daily injections of a subconvulsive dose of pentylenetetrazole during 24 days increase the animal sensitivity to this substance, and this was accompanied by an increase in the reactivity of benzodiasepine receptors. Later on, the produced high sensitivity became somewhat lower but persisted for 6 months. The receptors density in this period reduced almost by half. In sensitive rats, a single low dose of pentylenetetrazole injected 6 months after treatment increased the density of benzodiazepine receptors. The age-matched controls, the same acute dose of pentylenetetrazole decreased both the receptor density and affinity of their binding. It is suggested that the increase in reactivity of benzodiazepine receptors is actualized via the intracellular metabotropic feedback mechanism.

Synaptic vesicle acidification and exocytosis studied with acridine orange fluorescence in rat brain synaptosomes.

The acidification of synaptic vesicles (SV) in rat brain synaptosomes was studied using acridine orange (AO) as a fluorescent probe. In synaptosomal suspensions the AO fluorescence was partially quenched, indicating the presence of an acidic compartment. In permeabilized synaptosomes, the quenching was augmented by MgATP and was sensitive to concanamycin A, a specific inhibitor of the V-type H(+)-ATPase known to be present in synaptic vesicles. Some ATP-dependent acidification was also observed without permeabilization, suggesting that a fraction of synaptosomes (ca. 15%) was unsealed, irrespective of the method used to prepare the synaptosomes (sucrose or Ficoll density gradient, sedimentation or flotation). Depolarization of synaptosomes with 30 mM KCl resulted in an immediate, albeit small, rise in AO fluorescence that was prevented by the removal of Ca(2+) or by substituting NaCl for KCl. This response is consistent with depolarization-evoked release of the acidic contents of an exocytosis-competent pool of synaptic vesicles, representing ca. 5% of the total. No further AO release subsequent to the immediate phase was observed in depolarized synaptosomes, which indicates an extremely rapid reacidification. The results demonstrate that AO fluorescence is suitable for monitoring SV acidification within synaptosomes, and may be used to derive an independent estimate of the relative size of the immediately releasable SV pool. In addition, the use of AO might be advantageous for the assessment of synaptosomal integrity by comparing the ATP-dependent acidification in intact and permeabilized synaptosomes.

[Participation of the genetic apparatus of the hippocampal and neocortical cells in the mechanisms of action of desglycine-arginine vasopressin on learning and memory processes in rats]. / Uchastie geneticheskogo apparata kletok gippokampa i neokorteksa v mekhanizmakh deistviia dezglitsil-argininvazopressina na protsessy obucheniia i pamiati u krys.

The paper deals with the influence of synthetic vasopressin analogue--desglycine-arginine vasopressin (DG-AVP) on the content of RNA and fractional composition of chromatin proteins in the tissue of neocortex and hippocampus of intact white rats and after establishing of two-way avoidance reflex. Administration of the peptide alone significantly increased RNA content in hippocampal tissue, injection of the peptide 10 min before conditioning did not lead to significant changes in RNA quantity as compared to that in animals in which the conditioned reflex was established against the background of saline administration. In neocortical tissue neither learning itself nor administration of DG-AVP alone was accompanied by significant changes in RNA content, while learning against the background of peptide injection significantly increased RNA in that structure. In hippocampal and neocortical tissues quantitative changes were observed in certain fractions of chromatin proteins in all animal groups studied.

[DNA synthesis in various sections of the brain and in the liver of the rat in early postnatal ontogeny]. / Sintez DNK v razlichnykh otdelakh mozga i v pecheni krysy v rannem postnatal'nom ontogeneze.

The intensity of 3H-thymidine incorporation in DNA, as well as DNA content of the liver, brain stem, cerebellum, and neocortical tissues have been investigated in 1-32 days old rats. It was shown that the kinetics of the studied parameters is principally different in the tissues investigated.

[Patterns of the changes in the chromatin proteins of rabbit and human brain in ontogeny]. / Nekotorye zakonomernosti izmenenii belkov khromatina mozga krolika i cheloveka v ontogeneze.

The fractional composition of chromatin proteins of various morphological structures and areas in the rabbit and human brain was studied by means of electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel with sodium dodecyl sulphate at different stages of pre- and postnatal ontogenesis. Both the species are characterized by differences in the set of chromatin proteins between different brain structures (regional heterogeneity) arising and increasing during ontogenesis. The heterochronism was found in the appearance of a number of high molecular weight fractions of chromatin proteins suggesting the advanced development of genetic apparatus of the phylogenetically ancient brain structures. The human brain, unlike the rabbit one, is characterized by individual differences augmenting during ontogenesis.