K7 channel opener retigabine reduces self-administration of cocaine but not sucrose in rats.

The increasing rates of drug misuse highlight the urgency of identifying improved therapeutics for treatment. Most drug-seeking behaviours that can be modelled in rodents utilize the repeated intravenous self-administration (SA) of drugs. Recent studies examining the mesolimbic pathway suggest that K7/KCNQ channels may contribute to the transition from recreational to chronic drug use.

Chromatic bleaching and fractionation effects on optically stimulated luminescent dosimeter reuse.

Background: Optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLDs) can be bleached and reused, but questions remain about the effects of repeated bleaching and fractionation schedules on OSLD performance.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate how light sources with different wavelengths and different fractionation schemes affect the performance of reused OSLDs.

Methods: OSLDs (N = 240) were irradiated on a cobalt-60 beam in different step sizes until they reached an accumulated dose of 50 Gy.

Circulating, cell-free methylated DNA indicates cellular sources of allograft injury after liver transplant.

Post-transplant complications reduce allograft and recipient survival. Current approaches for detecting allograft injury non-invasively are limited and do not differentiate between cellular mechanisms. Here, we monitor cellular damages after liver transplants from cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragments released from dying cells into the circulation.

The Role of Ryanodine Receptor 2 in Drug-Associated Learning.

Type-2 ryanodine receptor (RyR2) ion channels facilitate the release of Ca from stores and serve an important function in neuroplasticity. The role for RyR2 in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory is well established and chronic hyperphosphorylation of RyR2 (RyR2P) is associated with pathological calcium leakage and cognitive disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. By comparison, little is known about the role of RyR2 in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) circuitry important for working memory, decision making, and reward seeking.