Heterotrimeric Kinesin II is required for flagellar assembly and elongation of nuclear morphology during spermiogenesis in Schmidtea mediterranea.

Development of sperm requires microtubule-based movements that drive assembly of a compact head and flagellated tails. Much is known about how flagella are built given their shared molecular core with motile cilia, but less is known about the mechanisms that shape the sperm head. The Kinesin Superfamily Protein 3A (KIF3A) pairs off with a second motor protein (KIF3B) and the Kinesin Associated Protein 3 (KAP3) to form Heterotrimeric Kinesin II.

Is [1-11C]putrescine useful as a brain tumor marker?

Our experience with 11C-putrescine underscores the difficulty of finding a selective brain tumor tracer, uniquely incorporated by neoplastic glia or metastatic cells within brain, but not by the proliferating, nontransformed cells which constitute a normal pathophysiological reaction to various disease processes. Thirty-three patients with 36 lesions were studied with 11C-putrescine to determine the specificity of labeled putrescine for tumor tissue. The uptake of 11C-putrescine was correlated with local cerebral glucose metabolic rate in various lesions, including different types of tumors, to assess the relationship between 11C-putrescine uptake and tumor biology.

Effects of chronic cocaine abuse on postsynaptic dopamine receptors.

To assess the effects of chronic cocaine intoxication on dopamine receptors in human subjects, the authors evaluated [18F]N-methylspiroperidol binding using positron emission tomography in 10 cocaine abusers and 10 normal control subjects. Cocaine abusers who had been detoxified for 1 week or less showed significantly lower values for uptake of [18F]N-methylspiroperidol in striatum than the normal subjects, whereas the cocaine abusers who had been detoxified for 1 month showed values comparable to those obtained from normal subjects. The authors conclude that postsynaptic dopamine receptor availability decreases with chronic cocaine abuse but may recover after a drug-free interval.

Acute effects of ethanol on regional brain glucose metabolism and transport.

To evaluate the effects of ethanol in the human brain, we tested six normal subjects and six alcoholics using positron emission tomography and 2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) under baseline conditions and 24 hours later after ethanol administration (1 g/kg). Ethanol inhibited cortical and cerebellar glucose metabolism with relative sparing of the basal ganglia and corpus callosum. This inhibition was more pronounced in the alcoholics than in the controls.

Altered glucose metabolism in microvessels from patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Microvessels isolated from temporal cortex of patients with Alzheimer's disease showed decreased uptake of glucose when compared with vessels from age-matched or young control subjects. This was due to decreased hexokinase activity in the Alzheimer samples, as determined by ion exchange chromatography. This finding was confirmed independently by determination of the phosphorylation constant for hexokinase, K3, using positron emission tomography.

Reproducibility of cerebral glucose metabolic measurements in resting human subjects.

Positron emission tomography with 11C-2-deoxyglucose was used to determine the test-retest variability of regional cerebral glucose metabolism in 22 young normal right-handed men scanned twice in a 24-h period under baseline (resting) conditions. To assess the effects of scan order and time of day on variability, 12 subjects were scanned in the morning and afternoon of the same day (a.m.

Alteration of regional cerebral glucose metabolic rate in non-Korsakoff chronic alcoholism.

That chronic alcoholism yields devastating effects to the central nervous systems of its victims is well known, but the actual physiologic mechanisms underlying that deterioration have yet to be completely identified. What is also known is that many chronic alcoholics seem to recover brain function after a protracted period of abstinence, but the actual mechanisms of that restoration are also not well understood. Using positron emission tomography with the tracer 11C-2-deoxy-D-glucose as a probe to measure regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (RCMRGlu), we compared the magnitudes of glucose consumption in 44 brain regions between a group of newly abstinent chronic alcoholics without Korsakoff's psychosis and a control group of normal nonalcoholic subjects whose range of age was that of the alcoholic group.

Serial PET studies of human cerebral malignancy with [1-11C]putrescine and [1-11C]2-deoxy-D-glucose.

Serial PET measurements of [1-11C]putrescine ([11C]PUT) uptake and glucose metabolic rate (GMR) using [1-11C]2-deoxy-D-glucose ([11C]2DG) were made on eight human subjects with a radiological and, in most cases, pathological diagnosis of primary or metastatic brain tumor. Blood-to-brain influx constants (Ki) were calculated for [11C]PUT. Tumor uptake of 11C after [11C]PUT injection was unidirectional peaking at 15 min.

Positron emission tomography studies of normal aging: a replication of PET III and 18-FDG using PET VI and 11-CDG.

Using PET VI and 11-CDG we replicated our earlier PET III and 18-FDG normal aging findings. Examination of young and old normal volunteers revealed the absence of any absolute regional age-related changes in glucose utilization. For the combined sample (N = 81) we did find evidence to suggest a relative hypofrontal change with increasing age.

Improved delineation of human dopamine receptors using [18F]-N-methylspiroperidol and PET.

The brain uptake of [18F]-N-methylspiroperidol, a butyrophenone neuroleptic with high selectivity for the dopamine receptor, has been measured in three normal human volunteers using positron emission tomography for times up to 12 hr postinjection. These studies demonstrated two unique findings concerning the in vivo distribution of this neuroleptic: (a) it is tightly bound to dopamine D-2 receptors in the caudate-putamen brain regions, and (b) these regions are the only large brain structures which exhibit appreciable long-term retention. In addition, radioactivity clears rapidly from plasma, and the percentage of unchanged [18F]-N-methylspiroperidol in plasma declines rapidly.

Effect of reserpine on regional cerebral glucose metabolism in control and migraine subjects.

The regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose metabolism (RCMRGlu) in five headache and six control subjects was measured with positron emission tomography (PET) using the tracer 2-deoxy-D-[1-11C] glucose before and after the administration of reserpine. The short half-life of the carbon 11 tracer made possible a test-retest paradigm wherein each subject served as his own control in assessing the effect of reserpine on RCMRGlu. Thus, measurements were first performed with subjects at rest and subsequently at 1 1/2 hours after the parenteral administration of reserpine (rest-reserpine).

Positron emission tomography of hydrocephalus. Metabolic effects of shunt procedures.

Five patients with hydrocephalus were studied with carbon-11-2-deoxyglucose or 2-deoxy-2-(18F) fluoro-D-glucose and positron emission tomography both prior to and following ventricular shunting. Four subjects had communicating hydrocephalus; the fifth had aqueductal stenosis, two patients had hydrocephalus for three months or less. The three chronic patients were felt to have hydrocephalus for three years or more.

Human primary visual cortex topography imaged via positron tomography.

The visuotopic structure of primary visual cortex was studied in a group of 7 human volunteers using positron emission transaxial tomography (PETT) and 18F-labeled 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose ( [18F]DG). A computer animation was constructed with a spatial structure which was matched to estimates of human cortical magnification factor and to striate cortex stimulus preferences. A lateralized cortical 'checker-board' pattern of [18F]DG was stimulated in primary visual cortex by having subjects view this computer animation following i.

Regional brain glucose metabolism in chronic schizophrenia. A positron emission transaxial tomographic study.

Thirteen diagnosed schizophrenics and 11 normal controls were studied with a method using the PETT III positron emission tomograph (PET) and fluorodeoxyglucose labeled with fluorine 18. Each subject also had a computed tomographic (CT) scan. For each subject, two brain levels, one through the basal ganglia and one through the semioval center, were analyzed for the mean regional metabolic glucose rate.

Positron emission tomography and computed tomography assessments of the aging human brain.

The relationship between alterations in brain structure and brain function was studied in vivo in both young and elderly human subjects. Computed tomography revealed significant age-related ventricular and cortical sulcal dilatation. The cortical changes were most closely related to age.

Patterns of metabolic activity in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Six patients with chronic schizophrenia were studied with positron emission tomography (PET) before and after neuroleptic treatment, using fluorine-18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose. After treatment, the mean whole-slice glucose metabolic rate at the level of the basal ganglia showed a 25% increase. However, patterns of frontal hypometabolism observed with the schizophrenic patients were not altered by medication.

Cyclotron isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals--XXXIII. Synthesis and structural effect of selective biliary excretion of halogenated indotricarbocyanines.

Five indotricarbocyanines of structure I were synthesized and labeled with 131I in the 5 position. The substituent, R, was varied [formula: see text] R = H, F, Cl, Br and I. The dynamics of hepatic uptake and blood clearance of the labeled compounds were determined in mice.

Computed tomography and positron emission transaxial tomography evaluations of normal aging and Alzheimer's disease.

Young normal subjects, old normal subjects, and patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT) were studied with both computed tomography (CT) and positron emission transaxial tomography (PETT). Increases in ventricular size with both aging and disease were measured. Regional glucose metabolic rate was not affected by age, but was markedly reduced in SDAT patients.

Positron emission tomographic studies of aging and Alzheimer disease.

In this study the positron emission tomographic (PET)-18F-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) technique was used to study both normal aging and senile dementia. The results derived from 15 young normal subjects (mean age, 26 +/- 5 years) and 22 elderly normal subjects (mean age, 66 +/- 7 years) failed to indicate significant metabolic changes associated with age. A group of 24 patients with senile dementia (mean age, 73 +/- 7 years) showed consistent diminutions in regional glucose use relative to the elderly normals.

Regional correlation of PET and CT in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Alzheimer disease is manifested by both widespread and regionally restricted brain changes, some of which have recently been identified in vivo with computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET). This is a report of the regional correlation of CT and PET measurements in 19 carefully diagnosed subjects comprising 11 controls and eight patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Regional CT attenuation values did not discriminate between the two groups, but PET using 18F-2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose demonstrated significant regional reductions (range, 21%-28%) in glucose utilization in the Alzheimer group.