In vitro and in vivo studies with tetra-hydro-jasmonic acid (LR2412) reveal its potential to correct signs of skin ageing.

BACKGROUND: LR2412, a synthetic derivative of jasmonic acid, improved the reconstruction and homeostasis of our organotypic skin models. OBJECTIVES: The need for efficient 'anti-ageing' treatments, in particular for the management of photoaged skin, prompted us to investigate this new ingredient for its potential to correct signs of skin ageing in vitro and in vivo and to identify its mode of action. RESULTS: In vitro, penetration of LR2412 was evaluated using a Franz diffusion cell on excised human skin. Its exfoliating properties and interactions with the stratum corneum were studied using electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Experiments were performed on a human reconstructed skin model. In vivo, the effects of LR2412 on steroid-induced skin atrophy, a clinical skin ageing model, were assessed vs. vehicle. A patch test study evaluated its effect on deposition of fibrillin-rich microfibrils in the papillary dermis in clinically photoaged volunteers. A clinical study on the appearance of crow's feet wrinkles was conducted over 3 months of daily application. Penetration studies revealed that LR2412 reaches viable epidermis and superficial dermis, which are skin targets of anti-ageing actives. Within the upper layers of the stratum corneum LR2412 accelerates desquamation and improves the mechanical properties. At the dermal-epidermal junction of reconstructed skin, collagen IV, laminin-5 and fibrillin were stimulated. In vivo, LR2412 reversed steroid-induced atrophy. The patch test model confirms the deposition of fibrillin-rich microfibrils, then an in use clinical study revealed that it reduced facial wrinkles. CONCLUSIONS: The in vitro and in vivo data demonstrate that based on its multiple interactions within human skin, LR2412 has potential to partially correct the signs of ageing in intrinsically and photoaged skin.

Utilidad de la autotransfusión postoperatoria en la cirugía protésica de rodilla / One the use of autotransfusion of shed blood in total knee replacement surgery

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Conserved synteny and gene order difference between human chromosome 12 and pig chromosome 5.

A comparative map of human chromosome 12 (HSA 12) and pig chromosome 5 (SSC 5) was constructed using ten pig expressed sequence tags (ESTs). These ESTs were isolated from primary granulosa cell cultures by differential display (EST b10b), or from a granulosa cDNA library (VIIIE1, DRIM, N*9, RIIID2 and RVIC1) or from a small intestine cDNA library (ATPSB, ITGB7, MYH9, and STAT2). Also used were two Traced Orthologous Amplified Sequence Tags (TOASTs) (LALBA, TRA1), one microsatellite-associated gene (IGF1) and finally five human YACs selected for their cytogenetic position, with a view to increasing the number of informative markers for the comparison. Large-insert clones were obtained by screening a pig bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library with specific primers for each EST and TOAST and for IGF1. These BACs were used as probes for fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) both on porcine and human metaphases. In addition, the human YACs were FISH mapped on pig chromosomes. This allowed us to refine and, in some cases, to correct the previous mapping obtained with a somatic cell hybrid panel. While these data confirm chromosome painting results showing that the distal part of SSC 5p arm is conserved on HSA 22, while the rest of the chromosome corresponds to HSA 12, they also demonstrate gene-order differences between human and pig. In addition, it was also possible to determine the position of the synteny breakpoint.

Elongation factor Tu and DnaK are transferred from the cytoplasm to the periplasm of Escherichia coli during osmotic downshock presumably via the mechanosensitive channel mscL.

Upon osmotic downshock, a few cytoplasmic proteins, including thioredoxin, elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), and DnaK, are released from Tris-EDTA-treated Escherichia coli cells by an unknown mechanism. We have shown previously that deletion of mscL, the gene coding for the mechanosensitive channel of the plasma membrane with the highest conductance, prevents the release of thioredoxin. We confirm and extend the implication of MscL in this process by showing that the release of EF-Tu and DnaK is severely impaired in MscL-deficient strains. Release of these proteins is not observed in the absence of a Tris-EDTA treatment which disrupts the outer membrane, indicating that, in intact cells, they are transferred to the periplasm upon shock, presumably through the MscL channel.

Release of thioredoxin via the mechanosensitive channel MscL during osmotic downshock of Escherichia coli cells.

Escherichia coli cells possess several mechanosensitive ion channels but only MscL, the channel with the highest conductance, which is activated at the highest membrane tension, has been cloned. We investigated the putative involvement of MscL in the effluxes caused by osmotic downshock. Osmotic shock caused the release of potassium glutamate, trehalose, and glycine betaine from wild type cells and cells lacking MscL. There was no difference between the two strains, but the extreme rapidity of the efflux process, as shown herein for glycine betaine, suggests that it is channel-mediated. Osmotic downshock also induces the release of some cytosolic proteins from EDTA-treated cells. We investigated the release of thioredoxin. This protein was totally released from wild type cells but was retained by MscL- cells. Release was restored by expression of the gene coding for MscL. Thus MscL is not necessary for the excretion of osmoprotectants, but it does open in vivo during shock and catalyzes the efflux of thioredoxin and possibly other small cytosolic proteins. It follows that the other mechanosensitive channels, which are known to be activated at lower tension, must also open during osmotic shock. Their opening and that of MscL could account for the rapid release of osmolytes.

Active cyclin B-cdc2 kinase does not inhibit DNA replication and cannot drive prematurely fertilized sea urchin eggs into mitosis.

Feedback mechanisms preventing M phase occurrence before S phase completion are assumed to depend on inhibition of cyclin B-cdc2 kinase activation by unreplicated DNA. In sea urchin, fertilization stimulates protein synthesis and releases eggs from G1 arrest. We found that in the one-cell sea urchin embryo cyclin B-cdc2 kinase undergoes partial activation before S phase, reaching in S phase a level that is sufficient for G2-M phase transition. S phase entry is not inhibited by this level of cyclin B-dependent kinase activity. Inhibition of DNA replication by aphidicolin suppresses nuclear envelope breakdown, yet it does not prevent the microtubule array from being converted from its interphasic to its mitotic state. Moreover, mitotic cytoplasmic events occur at the same time in control and aphidicolin-treated embryos. Thus unreplicated DNA only prevents mitotic nuclear, not cytoplasmic, events from occurring prematurely. These results together show that the inhibition of cyclin B-cdc2 kinase activation is probably not the only mechanism that prevents mitotic nuclear events from occurring as long as DNA replication has not been completed. In contrast, cytoplasmic mitotic events seem to be controlled by a timing mechanism independent of DNA replication, set up at fertilization, that prevents premature opening of a window for mitotic events.

Cyclin A potentiates maturation-promoting factor activation in the early Xenopus embryo via inhibition of the tyrosine kinase that phosphorylates cdc2.

We have produced human cyclin A in Escherichia coli and investigated how it generates H1 kistone kinase activity when added to cyclin-free extracts prepared from parthenogenetically activated Xenopus eggs. Cyclin A was found to form a major complex with cdc2, and to bind cdk2/Eg1 only poorly. No lag phase was detected between the time when cyclin A was added and the time when H1 histone kinase activity was produced in frog extracts, even in the presence of 2 mM vanadate, which blocks cdc25 activity. Essentially identical results were obtained using extracts prepared from starfish oocytes. We conclude that formation of an active cyclin A-cdc2 kinase during early development escapes an inhibitory mechanism that delays formation of an active cyclin B-cdc2 kinase. This inhibitory mechanism involves phosphorylation of cdc2 on tyrosine 15. Okadaic acid (OA) activated cyclin B-cdc2 kinase and strongly reduced tyrosine phosphorylation of cyclin B-associated cdc2, even in the presence of vanadate. 6-dimethylamino-purine, a reported inhibitor of serine-threonine kinases, suppressed OA-dependent activation of cyclin B-cdc2 complexes. This indicates that the kinase(s) which phosphorylate(s) cdc2 on inhibitory sites can be inactivated by a phosphorylation event, itself antagonized by an OA-sensitive, most likely type 2A phosphatase. We also found that cyclin B- or cyclin A-cdc2 kinases can induce or accelerate conversion of the cyclin B-cdc2 complex from an inactive into an active kinase. Cyclin B-associated cdc2 does not undergo detectable phosphorylation on tyrosine in egg extracts containing active cyclin A-cdc2 kinase, even in the presence of vanadate. We propose that the active cyclin A-cdc2 kinase generated without a lag phase from neo-synthesized cyclin A and cdc2 may cause a rapid switch in the equilibrium of cyclin B-cdc2 complexes to the tyrosine-dephosphorylated and active form of cdc2 during early development, owing to strong inhibition of the cdc2-specific tyrosine kinase(s). This may explain why early cell cycles are so rapid in many species.

Properties of the kainate channel in rat brain mRNA injected Xenopus oocytes: ionic selectivity and blockage.

The properties of kainate receptor/channels were studied in Xenopus oocytes injected with mRNA that was isolated from adult rat striatum and cerebellum and partially purified by sucrose gradient fractionation. Kainate (3-1000 microM) induced a smooth inward current that was competitively inhibited by gamma-D-glutamyl-aminomethanesulfonate (GAMS, 300 microM). In striatal mRNA-injected oocytes, the kainate current displayed nearly linear voltage-dependence and mean reversal potential (Er) of -6.1 +/- 0.5 mV. In cerebellar mRNA-injected oocytes; Er was nearly identical (-5.1 +/- 1.2 mV) but there was marked inward rectification of the kainate current. Ion replacement studies reveal that the kainate channel is selective for cations over anions, but relatively non-selective among small monovalent cations. Large monovalent cations such as tetrabutylammonium are impermeant and induce a non-competitive block of kainate current that is strongly voltage-dependent. Divalent cations are relatively impermeant in the kainate channel and Cd++ and other polyvalent metals were shown to block kainate current by a mechanism that is only weakly voltage-dependent. A model of the kainate channel is proposed based upon these observations.

Haloperidol-succinylglycyl[125I]iodotyrosine, a novel iodinated ligand for dopamine D2 receptors.

A novel radioiodinated ligand of the butyrophenone type has been synthesized for the quantification and characterization of dopamine D2 receptors. This haloperidol-derived ligand, haloperidol-succinylglycyl[125I]iodotyrosine ([125I]HSGTI), binds rapidly (equilibrium is reached within 30 min, at 10 pM and 37 degrees C) and with high affinity (Kd = 0.3 nM) to bovine striatal membranes. Its pharmacology, determined by competitive displacement with dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic drugs, is characteristic of binding to dopamine D2 receptors.

Bovine serum albumin--haloperidol as a tool for the study of dopaminergic transmission: behavioural and neurochemical effects following a single injection in the nucleus accumbens.

Bovine serum albumin haloperidol (BSA-Hal) is a macromolecular complex with 14 molecules of haloperidol immobilized on the BSA protein backbone. This compound produces a selective, long lasting and reversible blockade of dopamine receptor activity. Its action was demonstrated by the ability to trigger a high rate of ipsilateral amphetamine-induced rotation up to 6 days after a single unilateral injection of the conjugate into the striatum. In the present study, the effect of the blockade of dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens (n.Acc) on spontaneous and learned behaviors was tested. The results indicate that the specific and long lasting blockade of dopamine receptors by bilateral injection of BSA-Hal in the n.Acc (1.6 micrograms/2 microliters) induced deficits in spontaneous alternation in a Y-maze on the 2nd and 5th days after the injection but not on the 11th day of the experiment, impaired acquisition but not retention in a radial 8-arm maze, increased latency to escape during learning in the place navigation task. These findings confirm the involvement of the n.Acc system in processes that have been generally attributed to the limbic system.

A novel long-lasting dopamine receptor blocker: haloperidol-bovine serum albumin conjugate.

The present study was undertaken in order to develop a long-lasting antagonist of dopamine receptors with a technique applicable to other molecules. Haloperidol was immobilized on a macromolecular backbone (bovine serum albumin) with a coupling ratio of 14 molecules haloperidol per molecule of bovine serum albumin. The long-lasting blockade of dopamine receptor activity was evaluated with the d-amphetamine-induced rotation model in rats. Unilateral intracerebral infusion of the conjugate into the caudate nucleus induced a blockade of dopamine receptors which lasted more than six days. The conjugate was able to trigger a greater amphetamine-induced rotation rate then haloperidol alone. This ipsilateral rotation appeared after doses of conjugate lower than those needed for unilateral haloperidol intracaudate infusion. This compound will enable the reversible blockade of dopaminergic transmission in a restricted area of the brain (diffusion of the conjugate was studied in detail) over a period of time needed for a behavioural study without the drawbacks of chemical or mechanical lesions.

Central catecholamine metabolism and hypothalamic self-stimulation behaviour in two inbred strains of mice.

These experiments were conducted in order to better understand the role of catecholaminergic neurons in intracranial self-stimulation behaviour (ICSS) elicited from the lateral hypothalamus (LH). Two strains of mice which differ in their ICSS rate and their thresholds were studied. In a first time, we compared the catecholamine (CA) content and activity in various parts of the brain including cell bodies and nerve terminals of the man CA bundle. We used for this determination a high performance liquid chromatographic separation and an electrochemical detection. We observed that the BALB/c strain is distinguished by a higher CA activity than the DBA/2 strain. This correlates with a higher ICSS response rate in the BALB/c strain. The effects of stimulation on CA metabolism were then investigated, the electrodes being implanted specifically either in the dorsal or the ventral part of the LH and the biochemical data obtained analysed separately. Significant enhances of CA turn-over (TO) were noted in nerve terminals as hippocampus, cortex and accumbens. These results provide further evidence for the involvement of dorsal noradrenergic bundle and mesolimbic dopaminergic bundle in LH ICSS. Stimulation in the dorsal part of the LH produced the higher ICSS rate and seemed to induce a large variation of the CA TO. We noted also that the CA metabolism was always more altered in the DBA/2 than in the BALB/c strain, which is surprising in regard to the behaviour and remains unclearly explained.

Effects of apomorphine, clonidine or 5-methoxy-NN-dimethyltryptamine on approach and escape components of lateral hypothalamic and mesencephalic central gray stimulation in two inbred strains of mice.

The effects of intraperitoneal injections of increasing doses of apomorphine, clonidine or 5-methoxy-NN-dimethyltryptamine (5-m-DMT) on approach and escape reactions induced by lateral hypothalamic (LH) or mesencephalic central gray (CG) stimulation were compared in BALB/c and DBA/2 mice. Apomorphine increased both the approach latency for LH stimulation and the escape latency for CG stimulation; the BALB/c strain was more reactive than DBA/2 animals. Clonidine reduced the approach latency for LH stimulation only in the BALB/c strain. 5-m-DMT increased escape latency both for LH and CG stimulation only in the DBA/2 strain. These results suggest that the neurochemical regulation of escape reactions respectively generated by LH or CG activation is partially different: dopamine seems to be involved only in CG aversion, whereas serotonin (5-HT) modulates both LH and CG escape reactions. Moreover, our results demonstrate a noradrenergic influence on the appetitive component of LH stimulation. Finally, they confirm that approach and escape reactions, particularly when induced from lateral hypothalamus, depend on distinct neuronal populations.