High levels of alcohol intake alter brain gene expression and can produce long-lasting effects. FK506-binding protein 51 (FKBP51) encoded by is a physical and cellular stress response gene and has been associated with alcohol consumption and withdrawal severity. has been previously linked to neurite outgrowth and hippocampal morphology, sex differences in stress response, and epigenetic modification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroRNA-29a (miR-29a) is a well characterized fibro-inflammatory molecule and its aberrant expression is linked to a variety of pathological liver conditions. The long-term effects of a high-fat diet (HFD) in combination with different levels of EtOH consumption on miR-29a expression and liver pathobiology are unknown. Mice at 8 weeks of age were divided into five groups (calorie-matched diet plus water (CMD) as a control group, HFD plus water (HFD) as a liver disease group, HFD plus 2% EtOH (HFD + 2% E), HFD + 10% E, and HFD + 20% E as intervention groups) and fed for 4, 13, 26, or 39 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFK506-binding protein 51 (encoded by Fkpb51, also known as Fkbp5) has been associated with stress-related mental illness. To investigate its function, we studied the morphological consequences of Fkbp51 deletion. Artificial Intelligence-assisted morphological analysis revealed that male Fkbp51 knock-out (KO) mice possess more elongated dentate gyrus (DG) but shorter hippocampal height in coronal sections when compared to WT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Paternal alcohol abuse is a well-recognized risk factor for the development of an alcohol use disorder (AUD). In addition to genetic and environmental risk factors, heritable epigenetic factors also have been proposed to play a key role in the development of AUD. However, it is not clear whether epigenetic factors contribute to the genetic inheritance in families affected by AUD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFKBP5 (FKBP51) is a glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binding protein, which acts as a co-chaperone of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and negatively regulates GR. Its association with mental disorders has been identified, but its function in disease development is largely unknown. Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a functional measurement of neuronal connection and communication, and is considered one of the major cellular mechanisms that underlies learning and memory, and is disrupted in many mental diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHumans show sex differences related to alcohol use disorders (AUD). Animal model research has the potential to provide important insight into how sex differences affect alcohol consumption, particularly because female animals frequently drink more than males. In previous work, inbred strains of the selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) and non-preferring (NP) rat lines revealed a highly significant quantitative trait locus (QTL) on rat chromosome 4, with a logarithm of the odds score of 9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlial cells in the central nervous system (CNS) contribute to formation of the extracellular matrix, which provides adhesive sites, signaling molecules, and a diffusion barrier to enhance efficient neurotransmission and axon potential propagation. In the normal adult CNS the extracellular matrix (ECM) is relatively stable except in select regions characterized by dynamic remodeling. However, after trauma such as a spinal cord injury or cortical contusion, the lesion epicenter becomes a focus of acute neuroinflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Microenviron
November 2010
Matrikines are important components of tumor microenvironments that integrate communication between extracellular matricies and membrane-bound receptors thereby regulating cellular behaviors. One such matrikine that is differentially expressed in cancer microenvironments is the extracellular matrix protein lumican; however its precise role in cancer remains ambiguous. To study the effects of lumican on cancer cells, we created lumican-overexpressing cell lines from murine fibrosarcoma (MCA102) and pancreatic adenocarcinoma (Pan02) cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe research reported herein presents the results of an empirical evaluation that focused on the accuracy and reliability of cognitive models created using a computerized tool: the cognitive analysis tool for human-computer interaction (CAT-HCI). A sample of participants, expert in interacting with a newly developed tactical display for the U.S.
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