Evidences suggest that dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation may have pleiotropic beneficial effects on health. However, the underlying mechanisms and crucial targets that are involved in achieving these benefits remain to be clarified. In this study, we employed biochemical analysis and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based untargeted metabolomics coupled with multivariate statistical analysis to identify potential metabolic targets of DHA in adult rats at 48 h post-feeding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvest Ophthalmol Vis Sci
October 2018
Purpose: To define the functional roles of Grk1 and Grk7 in zebrafish cones in vivo.
Methods: Genome editing was used to generate grk7a and grk1b knockout zebrafish. Electroretinogram (ERG) analyses of the isolated cone mass receptor potential and the b-wave were performed in dark-adapted zebrafish using a paired flash paradigm to determine recovery of cone photoreceptors and the inner retina after an initial flash.
Purpose: The mechanisms that trigger retinal degeneration are not well understood, despite the availability of several animal models with different mutations. In the present report, the mouse, a model for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) that contains a mutation in the gene for PDE6β (), is used to evaluate gliosis, as a marker for retinal stress, and cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation, which may be important early in retinal degeneration.
Methods: Wild-type C57Bl6J and mice raised under cyclic light were examined for changes in gliosis and CREB phosphorylation for approximately 3 weeks beginning at P14 to P17 using immunocytochemistry.
Systemic administration of the Group II metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptor agonist, LY379268 (LY37), dose-dependently suppresses rapid eye movement sleep (REM) whereas systemic administration of the mGlu II receptor antagonist, LY341495 (LY34), increases arousal. Group II mGlu receptors are highly expressed in the amygdala, a brain region involved in the regulation of sleep and arousal. To determine whether the amygdala is involved in mediating the effects of Group II mGlu agents on sleep, we microinjected LY37 and LY34 into the basal amygdala (BA) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CNA) and recorded sleep and wakefulness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF