Intranasal Calcitriol Accelerates Improvement of Sinonasal Inflammation and Olfactory Impairment in Mice After Cessation of Chronic Cigarette-Smoke Exposure.

Rationale: Smoking has been shown to be associated with circulating deficiencies in 25(OH)D3 and reduced sinonasal tissue levels of the active form of vitamin D, 1,25(OH)2D3. Given vitamin D's ability to reduce inflammation, we sought to examine if intranasal (IN) delivery of calcitriol [clinical analog of 1,25(OH)2D3] could reduce inflammation and improve disease severity in a murine model of chronic cigarette smoke-induced sinonasal inflammation (CS-SI).

Methods: Mice were exposed to CS 5 h/day, 5 days/week for 9 months, and then began IN calcitriol three times per week for 4 weeks.

Sustained fentanyl exposure inhibits neuronal activity in dissociated striatal neuronal-glial cocultures through actions independent of opioid receptors.

Besides having high potency and efficacy at the µ-opioid (MOR) and other opioid receptor types, fentanyl has some affinity for some adrenergic receptor types, which may underlie its unique pathophysiological differences from typical opioids. To better understand the unique actions of fentanyl, we assessed the extent to which fentanyl alters striatal medium spiny neuron (MSN) activity via opioid receptors or α-adrenoceptors in dopamine type 1 or type 2 receptor (D1 or D2)-expressing MSNs. In neuronal and mixed-glial cocultures from the striatum, acute fentanyl (100 nM) exposure decreased the frequency of spontaneous action potentials.

Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from rat fibroblasts and optimization of its differentiation into mature functional neurons.

Background: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived neural stem cells (NSCs) provide a potential for autologous neural transplantation therapy following neurological insults. Thus far, in preclinical studies the donor iPSCs-NSCs are mostly of human or mouse origin with concerns centering around graft rejection when applied to rat brain injury models. For better survival and integration of transplanted cells in the injured brain in rat models, use of rat-iPSC-NSCs and in combination with biomaterials is of advantageous.

Yin Yang 1 controls cerebellar astrocyte maturation.

Diverse subpopulations of astrocytes tile different brain regions to accommodate local requirements of neurons and associated neuronal circuits. Nevertheless, molecular mechanisms governing astrocyte diversity remain mostly unknown. We explored the role of a zinc finger transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1) that is expressed in astrocytes.

Adult-onset depletion of sulfatide leads to axonal degeneration with relative myelin sparing.

3-O-sulfogalactosylceramide (sulfatide) constitutes a class of sphingolipids that comprise about 4% of myelin lipids in the central nervous system. Previously, our group characterized a mouse with sulfatide's synthesizing enzyme, cerebroside sulfotransferase (CST), constitutively disrupted. Using these mice, we demonstrated that sulfatide is required for establishment and maintenance of myelin, axoglial junctions, and axonal domains and that sulfatide depletion results in structural pathologies commonly observed in Multiple Sclerosis (MS).