[Use of the laryngeal mask airway prevents gas leak around a tracheal tube].

A 59-year-old man with cervical spondylosis was scheduled for a posterior spine surgery. After induction of anaesthesia with propofol and fentanyl, and neuromuscular blockade with vecuronium, the trachea was intubated using an 8.0-mm ID refinforced tube, without difficulty.

The small GTPase ADP-ribosylation factor 6 negatively regulates dendritic spine formation.

Actin cytoskeletal reorganization and membrane trafficking are important for spine morphogenesis. Here we investigated whether the small GTPase, ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6), which regulates actin dynamics and peripheral vesicular trafficking, is involved in the regulation of spine formation. The developmental expression pattern of ARF6 in mouse hippocampus was similar to that of the post-synaptic density protein-95, and these molecules colocalized in mouse hippocampal neurons.

Regulation of anaphylactic responses by phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase type I {alpha}.

The membrane phospholipid phosphatidylinositol 4, 5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P(2)] is a critical signal transducer in eukaryotic cells. However, the physiological roles of the type I phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinases (PIPKIs) that synthesize PI(4,5)P(2) are largely unknown. Here, we show that the alpha isozyme of PIPKI (PIPKIalpha) negatively regulates mast cell functions and anaphylactic responses.

Essential role for phospholipase D2 activation downstream of ERK MAP kinase in nerve growth factor-stimulated neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells.

The signaling pathway that triggers morphological differentiation of PC12 cells is mediated by extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), the classic mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. However, mediators of the pathway downstream of ERK have not been identified. We show here that phospholipase D2 (PLD2), which generates the pleiotropic signaling lipid phosphatidic acid (PA), links ERK activation to neurite outgrowth in nerve growth factor (NGF)-stimulated PC12 cells.

Phospholipase D2 functions as a downstream signaling molecule of MAP kinase pathway in L1-stimulated neurite outgrowth of cerebellar granule neurons.

Stimulation of the neuronal cell adhesion molecule L1 in cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) enhances neurite outgrowth and this response is inhibited by the primary alcohol ethanol. Because primary alcohols suppress the formation of the signaling lipid phosphatidic acid (PA) by phospholipase D (PLD), this observation prompted us to investigate whether PLD plays a role in the L1-mediated neurite outgrowth in CGNs. In the cerebellum of postnatal day 8 mice, PLD2 protein was abundantly expressed, while PLD1 expression was not detected.

Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase is essential for ROCK-mediated neurite remodeling.

Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase (PIP-5kin) regulates actin cytoskeletal reorganization through its product phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. In the present study we demonstrate that PIP-5kin is essential for neurite remodeling, which is regulated by actin cytoskeletal reorganization in neuroblastoma N1E-115 cells. Overexpression of wild-type mouse PIP-5kin-alpha inhibits the neurite formation that is normally stimulated by serum depletion, whereas a lipid kinase-defective mutant of PIP-5kin-alpha, D266A, triggers neurite extension even in the presence of serum and blocks lysophosphatidic acid-induced neurite retraction.