Subcellular Compartmentalization of Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate in Heart Failure and Inotropic Pharmacology.

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is a second messenger downstream of many G-protein coupled receptors, including the β1-adrenoceptor, which is the target of many clinically used inotropic agents. When the Gαs subunit of a heterotrimeric G-protein is activated, it causes a localized elevation of cAMP. The significance of the spatial distribution of the elevation in cAMP is increasingly recognized, as is the disturbance of these microdomains in diseased states.

A case of Bartonellosis presenting as a puzzling multisystem disorder complicated by nosocomial COVID-19 infection.

The most commonly considered infection with a species is cat-scratch disease caused by Here, we discuss a unique case of a 60-year-old man who presented with infection complicated by nosocomial COVID-19. He was admitted with a history of chest pain, persistent fever, rash and influenza-like symptoms. Positive serology confirmed diagnosis and the patient developed complications of pericardial effusion in addition to COVID-19 infection, requiring non-invasive ventilation and admission to the intensive care unit.

Biased Agonism: The Future (and Present) of Inotropic Support.

Biased agonism, which is the concept that different ligands activate different downstream signalling partners in different ratios to cause different functional effects, is yet to gain appropriate appreciation in the field of inotropic pharmacology. Biased agonism has already proven to be a clinically translatable technology in analgesic pharmacology, but this development is yet to be translated into inotropes. A better appreciation of bias in clinically used inotropes and a focus on bias when developing novel inotropes has the potential to lead to more targeted, personalized, and cleaner inotropes.

Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits.

Background: Previous studies have measured whisker movements and locomotion to characterise mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. However, these studies have always been completed in isolation, and do not involve standardized procedures for comparisons across multiple mouse models and background strains.

New Method: We present a standard method for conducting whisker movement and locomotion studies, by carrying out qualitative scoring and quantitative measurement of whisker movements from high-speed video footage of mouse models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Cerebellar Ataxia, Somatosensory Cortex Development and Ischemic stroke.

Characterisation of progressive motor deficits in whisker movements in R6/2, Q175 and Hdh knock-in mouse models of Huntington's disease.

Background: Motor dysfunction is a major component of the Huntington's disease (HD) phenotype, both in patients and animal models. Motor function in mice is usually measured using tests that involve a novel environment, or require a degree of learning, which creates potential confounds in animals, such as anxiety and/or learning.

New Method: We propose that studying whisker control provides a more naturalistic way to measure motor function in HD mice.