SMAC mimetics induce human macrophages to phagocytose live cancer cells.

Macrophages engulf apoptotic bodies and cellular debris as part of homeostasis, but they can also phagocytose live cells such as aged red blood cells. Pharmacologic reprogramming with the SMAC mimetic LCL161 in combination with T cell-derived cytokines can induce macrophages to phagocytose live cancer cells in mouse models. Here we extend these findings to encompass a wide range of monovalent and bivalent SMAC mimetic compounds, demonstrating that live cell phagocytosis is a class effect of these agents.

Changes in sensitivity of response distributions to changing reinforcement ratios during exposure to ephedrine, caffeine, and ephedrine-caffeine combinations.

Changes in the sensitivity of response distributions to changes in reward distribution (reinforcer distribution sensitivity) were examined when rats were exposed to low and moderate doses of caffeine, ephedrine, and caffeine-ephedrine combinations. The data show significant decreases in sensitivity in response distributions to changes in reward schedule values during exposure to caffeine and ephedrine/caffeine combinations, whereas ephedrine alone resulted in overmatching comparable with baseline and NaCl conditions. Rats treated either with 3.

The role of dopamine in reinforcement: changes in reinforcement sensitivity induced by D1-type, D2-type, and nonselective dopamine receptor agonists.

Dose-dependent changes in sensitivity to reinforcement were found when rats were treated with low, moderate, and high doses of the partial dopamine D1-type receptor agonist SKF38393 and with the nonselective dopamine agonist apomorphine, but did not change when rats were treated with similar doses of the selective dopamine D2-type receptor agonist quinpirole. Estimates of bias did not differ significantly across exposure to SKF38393 or quinpirole, but did change significantly at the high dose of apomorphine. Estimates of goodness of fit (r2) did not change significantly during quinpirole exposure.

Fox urine as an aversive stimulus: modification of a passive avoidance task.

Predator urine, specifically fox urine, is a noxious but harmless olfactory stimulus. The results of previous studies have shown that fox urine is aversive to rats, and that rats react to fox urine in a similar manner as to other psychostressors. In the present study, the authors further investigated the use of fox urine as an aversive or stressful stimulus, specifically examining behavior change in open-field place-preference task.

Locomotion induced by non-contingent intracranial stimulation: comparison to psychomotor stimulant.

Non-contingent experimenter-applied stimulation (nEAS) to the ventral mesencephalon, unlike contingent intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS), elicits high rates of general locomotion. This locomotion may be due to the nature of the presentation of stimulation, in that nEAS is non-contingent, while ICSS depends on a specific and focused response (e.g.

Locomotion induced by non-contingent intracranial electrical stimulation: Dopamine dependence and general characteristics.

Intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) is induced by delivery of electrical stimulation contingent upon a response such as bar pressing. This procedure has been widely used to investigate the brain reward system. Recent investigations, however, have noted that non-contingent electrical stimulation, also called experimenter applied stimulation (EAS), produces a unique set of locomotion behaviors that appear to be related to ICSS, and that these behaviors resemble locomotion similar to those elicited by dopamine enhancing drugs.