Diversity of visual inputs to Kenyon cells of the Drosophila mushroom body.

The arthropod mushroom body is well-studied as an expansion layer representing olfactory stimuli and linking them to contingent events. However, 8% of mushroom body Kenyon cells in Drosophila melanogaster receive predominantly visual input, and their function remains unclear. Here, we identify inputs to visual Kenyon cells using the FlyWire adult whole-brain connectome.

Hue selectivity from recurrent circuitry in Drosophila.

In the perception of color, wavelengths of light reflected off objects are transformed into the derived quantities of brightness, saturation and hue. Neurons responding selectively to hue have been reported in primate cortex, but it is unknown how their narrow tuning in color space is produced by upstream circuit mechanisms. We report the discovery of neurons in the Drosophila optic lobe with hue-selective properties, which enables circuit-level analysis of color processing.

Diversity of visual inputs to Kenyon cells of the mushroom body.

The arthropod mushroom body is well-studied as an expansion layer that represents olfactory stimuli and links them to contingent events. However, 8% of mushroom body Kenyon cells in receive predominantly visual input, and their tuning and function are poorly understood. Here, we use the FlyWire adult whole-brain connectome to identify inputs to visual Kenyon cells.

Hue selectivity from recurrent circuitry in .

A universal principle of sensory perception is the progressive transformation of sensory information from broad non-specific signals to stimulus-selective signals that form the basis of perception. To perceive color, our brains must transform the wavelengths of light reflected off objects into the derived quantities of brightness, saturation and hue. Neurons responding selectively to hue have been reported in primate cortex, but it is unknown how their narrow tuning in color space is produced by upstream circuit mechanisms.

Exploiting colour space geometry for visual stimulus design across animals.

Colour vision represents a vital aspect of perception that ultimately enables a wide variety of species to thrive in the natural world. However, unified methods for constructing chromatic visual stimuli in a laboratory setting are lacking. Here, we present stimulus design methods and an accompanying programming package to efficiently probe the colour space of any species in which the photoreceptor spectral sensitivities are known.

Flexible filtering by neural inputs supports motion computation across states and stimuli.

Sensory systems flexibly adapt their processing properties across a wide range of environmental and behavioral conditions. Such variable processing complicates attempts to extract a mechanistic understanding of sensory computations. This is evident in the highly constrained, canonical Drosophila motion detection circuit, where the core computation underlying direction selectivity is still debated despite extensive studies.

Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Chromatic Encoding in Drosophila Photoreceptors.

Spectral information is commonly processed in the brain through generation of antagonistic responses to different wavelengths. In many species, these color opponent signals arise as early as photoreceptor terminals. Here, we measure the spectral tuning of photoreceptors in Drosophila.

Heterogeneous Temporal Contrast Adaptation in Drosophila Direction-Selective Circuits.

In visual systems, neurons adapt both to the mean light level and to the range of light levels, or the contrast. Contrast adaptation has been studied extensively, but it remains unclear how it is distributed among neurons in connected circuits, and how early adaptation affects subsequent computations. Here, we investigated temporal contrast adaptation in neurons across Drosophila's visual motion circuitry.

Eyes Matched to the Prize: The State of Matched Filters in Insect Visual Circuits.

Confronted with an ever-changing visual landscape, animals must be able to detect relevant stimuli and translate this information into behavioral output. A visual scene contains an abundance of information: to interpret the entirety of it would be uneconomical. To optimally perform this task, neural mechanisms exist to enhance the detection of important features of the sensory environment while simultaneously filtering out irrelevant information.

Integration of temporal and spatial patterning generates neural diversity.

In the Drosophila optic lobes, 800 retinotopically organized columns in the medulla act as functional units for processing visual information. The medulla contains over 80 types of neuron, which belong to two classes: uni-columnar neurons have a stoichiometry of one per column, while multi-columnar neurons contact multiple columns. Here we show that combinatorial inputs from temporal and spatial axes generate this neuronal diversity: all neuroblasts switch fates over time to produce different neurons; the neuroepithelium that generates neuroblasts is also subdivided into six compartments by the expression of specific factors.

Visual circuits in flies: beginning to see the whole picture.

Sensory signals are processed in the brain by dedicated neuronal circuits to form perceptions used to guide behavior. Drosophila, with its compact brain, amenability to genetic manipulations and sophisticated behaviors has emerged as a powerful model for investigating the neuronal circuits responsible for sensory perception. Vision in particular has been examined in detail.

Processing properties of ON and OFF pathways for Drosophila motion detection.

The algorithms and neural circuits that process spatio-temporal changes in luminance to extract visual motion cues have been the focus of intense research. An influential model, the Hassenstein-Reichardt correlator, relies on differential temporal filtering of two spatially separated input channels, delaying one input signal with respect to the other. Motion in a particular direction causes these delayed and non-delayed luminance signals to arrive simultaneously at a subsequent processing step in the brain; these signals are then nonlinearly amplified to produce a direction-selective response.

Impact of subthreshold membrane potential on synaptic responses at dendritic spines of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the prefrontal cortex.

Glutamatergic inputs onto cortical pyramidal neurons are received and initially processed at dendritic spines. AMPA and NMDA receptors generate both synaptic potentials and calcium (Ca) signals in the spine head. These responses can in turn activate a variety of Ca, sodium (Na), and potassium (K) channels at spines.

Interlocked feedforward loops control cell-type-specific Rhodopsin expression in the Drosophila eye.

How complex networks of activators and repressors lead to exquisitely specific cell-type determination during development is poorly understood. In the Drosophila eye, expression patterns of Rhodopsins define at least eight functionally distinct though related subtypes of photoreceptors. Here, we describe a role for the transcription factor gene defective proventriculus (dve) as a critical node in the network regulating Rhodopsin expression.

Optical activation of lateral amygdala pyramidal cells instructs associative fear learning.

Humans and animals can learn that specific sensory cues in the environment predict aversive events through a form of associative learning termed fear conditioning. This learning occurs when the sensory cues are paired with an aversive event occurring in close temporal proximity. Activation of lateral amygdala (LA) pyramidal neurons by aversive stimuli is thought to drive the formation of these associative fear memories; yet, there have been no direct tests of this hypothesis.

Role of renin angiotensin system inhibitors in cardiovascular and renal protection: a lesson from clinical trials.

Beneficial effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin type 1 receptor (AT1) blockers in patients with cardiovascular and renal diseases have been clearly demonstrated in numerous large outcomes studies. In patients with heart failure (HF), ACEI have been shown to reduce overall mortality, mortality from cardiovascular causes, to increase life expectancy, as well as to preserve the renal function (CONSENSUS, SAVE, TRACE, AIRE, AIREX, CATS trials). In addition, in the PROGRESS study ACEI substantially decreased the risk of stroke and transient ischemic attacks in patients with cerebrovascular disorders.

Pharmacological, immunological, and gene targeting of the renin-angiotensin system for treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Effective blood pressure control with a large arsenal of conventional antihypertensive drugs, such as diuretics, beta-adrenergic blockers, and calcium channel blockers, significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with cardiovascular disease. However, blood pressure control with these drugs does not reduce cardiovascular disease risks to the levels in normotensive persons. Only two drug classes that inhibit or antagonize portions of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor type-1 (AT(1) receptor) blockers, have protective and beneficial effects unrelated to the degree of blood pressure reduction.

The yeast orthologue of GRASP65 forms a complex with a coiled-coil protein that contributes to ER to Golgi traffic.

The mammalian Golgi protein GRASP65 is required in assays that reconstitute cisternal stacking and vesicle tethering. Attached to membranes by an N-terminal myristoyl group, it recruits the coiled-coil protein GM130. The relevance of this system to budding yeasts has been unclear, as they lack an obvious orthologue of GM130, and their only GRASP65 relative (Grh1) lacks a myristoylation site and has even been suggested to act in a mitotic checkpoint.

Organelle identity and the signposts for membrane traffic.

Eukaryotic cells have systems of internal organelles to synthesize lipids and membrane proteins, to release secreted proteins, to take up nutrients and to degrade membrane-bound and internalized molecules. Proteins and lipids move from organelle to organelle using transport vesicles. The accuracy of this traffic depends upon organelles being correctly recognized.

Targeting of the Arf-like GTPase Arl3p to the Golgi requires N-terminal acetylation and the membrane protein Sys1p.

The GTPase Arl3p is required to recruit a second GTPase, Arl1p, to the Golgi in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Arl1p binds to the GRIP domain, which is present in a number of long coiled-coil proteins or 'golgins'. Here we show that Arl3p is not myristoylated like most members of the Arf family, but is instead amino-terminally acetylated by the NatC complex.

Localization of carboxypeptidase A-like enzyme in rat kidney.

In this study we demonstrate that carboxypeptidase A (CPA)-like enzyme is expressed in rat kidney. The major metabolites of angiotensin (Ang) I by the rat renal mesangial cell extract at 37 degrees C, pH 7.4, were Ang 1-9 and Ang II.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors: mechanisms of action and implications in anesthesia practice.

This review summarizes physiology of circulating and local renin-angiotensin system (RAS), enzymatic properties and mechanism of action of angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) on RAS, and implications of ACEIs in anesthetic management of patients treated with these drugs. ACEIs, through their effect on RAS, may improve cardiovascular functions, pulmonary dynamics, and body fluid homeostasis. Thus, ACEIs have become an integral part of management of patients with hypertension, congestive heart failure (CHF) and chronic renal disease.

Properties and distribution of angiotensin I converting enzyme.

This review summarizes some basic properties and distribution of angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE). ACE is one of several biologically important ectoproteins that exists in both membrane-bound and soluble forms. Localized on the surface of various cells, ACE is inserted at the cell membrane via its carboxyl terminus.

Successful early intervention in air embolism during hysteroscopy.

Hysteroscopy is used as a diagnostic tool for intrauterine pathology. Gas embolism with air or carbon dioxide is a rare but sometimes fatal complication of laparoscopy or hysteroscopy. We present a patient who developed pulmonary air embolism during hysteroscopy that caused a noncardiogenic pulmonary edema in the recovery room.

Pressure-heart rate relationship in intact and after stepwise elimination of three major baroreflex loops in dogs.

Systemic arterial blood pressure (BP)-heart rate (HR) relationship (the pressor test) is often used as an index of baroreflex. We evaluated this index by simultaneously comparing BP-HR, right carotid sinus pressure (CSP)-nerve action potentials (NAP), and NAP-HR relationship in dogs anesthetized with pentobarbital. BP was increased or decreased stepwise by intravenous (IV) infusions of phenylephrine or sodium nitroprusside, respectively.