Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of senescence in repetitively infected memory cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

The immune system including antigen-specific CD8 T cells, which are cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), can acquire the potential for more effective elimination of the pathogen at re-infection. As memory CTLs could exert protective immunity after the next response, we aimed to elucidate the substantial change of repetitively infected memory CTLs. Currently, DNA methylation status in repetitively infected memory CTLs is unknown, so we performed next-generation sequencing to evaluate methylation status and transcriptional regulation of naive, primary and secondary memory CD8 T cells on the basis of transcription start sites (TSS).

Cooperative endocannabinoid production by neuronal depolarization and group I metabotropic glutamate receptor activation.

Endocannabinoids are retrograde messengers that are released from central neurons by depolarization-induced elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration [Ca2+]I or by activation of a group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR). We studied the interaction between these two pathways for endocannabinoid production in rat hippocampal neurons. We made a paired whole-cell recording from cultured hippocampal neurons with inhibitory synaptic connections.