Specialized structure of neural population codes in parietal cortex outputs.

Do cortical neurons that send axonal projections to the same target area form specialized population codes for transmitting information? We used calcium imaging in mouse posterior parietal cortex (PPC), retrograde labeling, and statistical multivariate models to address this question during a delayed match-to-sample task. We found that PPC broadcasts sensory, choice, and locomotion signals widely, but sensory information is enriched in the output to anterior cingulate cortex. Neurons projecting to the same area have elevated pairwise activity correlations.

What makes a histone variant a variant: Changing H2A to become H2A.Z.

Chromatin structure and underlying DNA accessibility is modulated by the incorporation of histone variants. H2A.Z, a variant of the H2A core histone family, plays a distinct and essential role in a diverse set of biological functions including gene regulation and maintenance of heterochromatin-euchromatin boundaries.

The effect of sexual dysfunction on health-related quality of life in men following traumatic pelvic fractures.

Background: Pelvic trauma disproportionately affects a younger population and has the potential to cause long-term sexual dysfunction. We hypothesized that the presence of sexual dysfunction after traumatic pelvic fracture negatively impacts health-related quality of life (HrQOL) in men.

Methods: A total of 228 patients with traumatic pelvic fractures treated at a level 1 trauma center between 2012 and 2017 completed a survey that evaluated postinjury HrQOL and sexual function.

Recent Advances in the Management of High-Risk Localized Prostate Cancer: Local Therapy, Systemic Therapy, and Biomarkers to Guide Treatment Decisions.

High-risk prostate cancer accounts for approximately 15% of all prostate cancer diagnoses. Patients with high-risk disease have an increased risk of developing biochemical recurrence, metastases, and death from prostate cancer. As the optimal management of high-risk disease in patients with prostate cancer continues to evolve, the contemporary treatment paradigm is moving toward a multidisciplinary integrated approach of systemic and local therapy for patients with high-risk disease.

SLUG Directs the Precursor State of Human Brain Tumor Stem Cells.

In glioblastoma (GBM), brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs) encompass heterogenous populations of multipotent, self-renewing, and tumorigenic cells, which have been proposed to be at the root of therapeutic resistance and recurrence. While the functional significance of BTSC heterogeneity remains to be fully determined, we previously distinguished relatively quiescent stem-like precursor state from the more aggressive progenitor-like precursor state. In the present study, we hypothesized that progenitor-like BTSCs arise from stem-like precursors through a mesenchymal transition and drive post-treatment recurrence.

Technical Considerations and Clinical Outcomes in the Endovascular Management of Celiac Arterial Aneurysms.

This retrospective case series details a single-center experience of 8 patients (mean age, 54.4 years) with celiac artery aneurysms (CAAs) who underwent 1 parent vessel-sparing, 5 partial parent vessel-sparing, and 2 non-parent vessel-sparing procedures. Technical success was achieved in 6 of 8 (75%) patients.

Comprehensive genomic profiling of glioblastoma tumors, BTICs, and xenografts reveals stability and adaptation to growth environments.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most deadly brain tumor, and currently lacks effective treatment options. Brain tumor-initiating cells (BTICs) and orthotopic xenografts are widely used in investigating GBM biology and new therapies for this aggressive disease. However, the genomic characteristics and molecular resemblance of these models to GBM tumors remain undetermined.

Lean non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background & Aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), with its increasing prevalence and association with various co-morbidities, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, is a growing concern. Previously thought to predominantly affect obese individuals, NAFLD has been shown to occur in non-obese subjects. This subset of individuals, known to have 'lean NAFLD' or 'non-obese NAFLD', is also growing increasingly prevalent.

Estrogens and prostate cancer.

Background: Hormonal influences such as androgens and estrogens are known contributors in the development and progression of prostate cancer (CaP). While much of the research to the hormonal nature of CaP has focused on androgens, estrogens also have critical roles in CaP development, physiology as well as a potential therapeutic intervention.

Methods: In this review, we provide a critical literature review of the current basic science and clinical evidence for the interaction between estrogens and CaP.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation affects distractor interference in auditory working memory.

Computational and theoretical accounts hypothesize the basal ganglia play a supramodal "gating" role in the maintenance of working memory representations, especially in preservation from distractor interference. There are currently two major limitations to this account. The first is that supporting experiments have focused exclusively on the visuospatial domain, leaving questions as to whether such "gating" is domain-specific.

Role of Nanotechnology in Erectile Dysfunction Treatment.

Introduction: The biological importance of nanotechnology-based delivery vehicles for in vivo tissue regeneration is gaining acceptance by the medical community; however, its relevance and incorporation into the treatment of sexual dysfunction are evolving and have not been well evaluated.

Aim: To provide scientific evidence examining the use of state-of-the-art nanotechnology-based delivery methodology in the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) in animal models and in patients.

Methods: This review assessed the current basic science literature examining the role of nanotechnology-based delivery vehicles in the development of potential ED therapies.

Fecal microbial transplant for the treatment of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.

The role of fecal microbial transplant (FMT) in the treatment of pediatric gastrointestinal disease has become increasingly popular among pediatric practitioners, patients, and parents. The success of FMT for the treatment of recurrent infection (RCDI) has bolstered interest in its potential application to other disease states, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). FMT has particular interest in pediatrics, given the concerns of patients and parents about rates of adverse events with existing therapeutic options, and the greater cumulative medication burden associated with childhood-onset disease.

Bile Acids and Dysbiosis in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Background & Aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by dysbiosis. The bidirectional effects between intestinal microbiota (IM) and bile acids (BA) suggest that dysbiosis may be accompanied by an altered bile acid (BA) homeostasis, which in turn can contribute to the metabolic dysregulation seen in NAFLD. This study sought to examine BA homeostasis in patients with NAFLD and to relate that with IM data.

Eaf5/7/3 form a functionally independent NuA4 submodule linked to RNA polymerase II-coupled nucleosome recycling.

The NuA4 histone acetyltransferase complex is required for gene regulation, cell cycle progression, and DNA repair. Dissection of the 13-subunit complex reveals that the Eaf7 subunit bridges Eaf5 with Eaf3, a H3K36me3-binding chromodomain protein, and this Eaf5/7/3 trimer is anchored to NuA4 through Eaf5. This trimeric subcomplex represents a functional module, and a large portion exists in a native form outside the NuA4 complex.

The dorsomedial striatum encodes net expected return, critical for energizing performance vigor.

Decision making requires an actor to not only steer behavior toward specific goals but also determine the optimal vigor of performance. Current research and models have largely focused on the former problem of how actions are directed while overlooking the latter problem of how they are energized. Here we designed a self-paced decision-making paradigm, which showed that rats' performance vigor globally fluctuates with the net value of their options, suggesting that they maintain long-term estimates of the value of their current state.

EMBO Conference Series on the Assembly and Function of Neuronal Circuits.

The 2011 EMBO Conference Series on the Assembly and Function of Neuronal Circuits was held from 25 to 30 September 2011 at Monte Verità in Ascona, Switzerland. Approximately 100 participants explored current challenges and approaches to studying neural circuit function and organization.

Bipolar disorder type 1 and schizophrenia are accompanied by decreased density of parvalbumin- and somatostatin-positive interneurons in the parahippocampal region.

GABAergic interneurons synchronize network activities and monitor information flow. Post-mortem studies have reported decreased densities of cortical interneurons in schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BPD). The entorhinal cortex (EC) and the adjacent subicular regions are a hub for integration of hippocampal and cortical information, a process that is disrupted in SZ.

Key functional regions in the histone variant H2A.Z C-terminal docking domain.

The incorporation of histone variants into nucleosomes represents one way of altering the chromatin structure to accommodate diverse functions. Histone variant H2A.Z has specific roles in gene regulation, heterochromatin boundary formation, and genomic integrity.

Reading chromatin: insights from yeast into YEATS domain structure and function.

Chromatin-modifying complexes typically contain signature domains that either have catalytic activity or recognize and bind to specific histone modifications such as acetylation, methylation, and phosphorylation. Despite tremendous progress in this area, much remains to be learned in particular about the mechanistic functions of less well characterized signature domains. One such module is the evolutionary conserved YEATS domain, found in a variety of chromatin-modifying and transcription complexes from yeast to human.

Roles for H2A.Z and its acetylation in GAL1 transcription and gene induction, but not GAL1-transcriptional memory.

H2A.Z is a histone H2A variant conserved from yeast to humans, and is found at 63% of promoters in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This pattern of localization suggests that H2A.

Asf1-like structure of the conserved Yaf9 YEATS domain and role in H2A.Z deposition and acetylation.

Chromatin can be modified by posttranslational modifications of histones, ATP-dependent remodeling, and incorporation of histone variants. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein Yaf9 is a subunit of both the essential histone acetyltransferase complex NuA4 and the ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex SWR1-C, which deposits histone variant H2A.Z into euchromatin.

Colocalization of connexin 36 and corticotropin-releasing hormone in the mouse brain.

Background: Gap junction proteins, connexins, are expressed in most endocrine and exocrine glands in the body and are at least in some glands crucial for the hormonal secretion. To what extent connexins are expressed in neurons releasing hormones or neuropeptides from or within the central nervous system is, however, unknown. Previous studies provide indirect evidence for gap junction coupling between subsets of neuropeptide-containing neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus.

YEATS domain proteins: a diverse family with many links to chromatin modification and transcription.

Chromatin modifications play crucial roles in various biological processes. An increasing number of conserved protein domains, often found in multisubunit protein complexes, are involved in establishing and recognizing different chromatin modifications. The YEATS domain is one of these domains, and its role in chromatin modifications and transcription is just beginning to be appreciated.