CNTNAP2 is a direct FoxP2 target in vitro and in vivo in zebra finches: complex regulation by age and activity.

Mutations of FOXP2 are associated with altered brain structure, including the striatal part of the basal ganglia, and cause a severe speech and language disorder. Songbirds serve as a tractable neurobiological model for speech and language research. Experimental downregulation of FoxP2 in zebra finch Area X, a nucleus of the striatal song control circuitry, affects synaptic transmission and spine densities.

FoxP2 directly regulates the reelin receptor VLDLR developmentally and by singing.

Mutations of the transcription factor FOXP2 cause a severe speech and language disorder. In songbirds, FoxP2 is expressed in the medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the avian basal ganglia song nucleus, Area X, which is crucial for song learning and adult song performance. Experimental downregulation of FoxP2 in Area X affects spine formation, prevents neuronal plasticity induced by social context and impairs song learning.

The porcine chloride channel calcium-activated family member pCLCA4a mirrors lung expression of the human hCLCA4.

Pig models of cystic fibrosis (CF) have recently been established that are expected to mimic the human disease closer than mouse models do. The human CLCA (originally named chloride channels, calcium-activated) member hCLCA4 is considered a potential modifier of disease severity in CF, but its murine ortholog, mCLCA6, is not expressed in the mouse lung. Here, we have characterized the genomic structure, protein processing, and tissue expression patterns of the porcine ortholog to hCLCA4, pCLCA4a.

Arc/Arg3.1 is essential for the consolidation of synaptic plasticity and memories.

Arc/Arg3.1 is robustly induced by plasticity-producing stimulation and specifically targeted to stimulated synaptic areas. To investigate the role of Arc/Arg3.

Collagen degradation in a murine myocarditis model: relevance of matrix metalloproteinase in association with inflammatory induction.

Objective: Myocardial collagen degradation is regulated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMPs). The possible relevance of MMPs in association with the inflammatory induction was investigated in a murine coxsackievirus B3 myocarditis model.

Methods: Hearts from viral infected and sham-infected BALB/c mice were analyzed by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, picrosirius red staining, Western blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry.

De novo expression of the Muc2 gene in pancreas carcinoma cells is triggered by promoter demethylation.

It has been established that mucin-producing variants of different subtypes of pancreatic carcinomas, including the intraductal papillary and ductal mucinous tumors, have usually a more favorable prognosis. Intraductal papillary and ductal mucinous tumors have also been shown to ectopically express the intestinal mucin gene MUC2. The mechanism of the de novo expression of this gene in tumors may have potential implications for the modulation of its behavior.

Regulation of the intestinal mucin MUC2 gene expression in vivo: evidence for the role of promoter methylation.

In the present work we investigated the in vivo regulation of the mucin gene MUC2, which is overexpressed in all mucinous colorectal carcinomas. The inhibition of methylation by 5-azadeoxycytidine induces de novo expression of MUC2 in the colon carcinoma cell line COLO 205. The expression is retained in xenograft tissue and the cells give rise to MUC2-expressing tumours in nude mice.

Differential gene expression in colon carcinoma cells and tissues detected with a cDNA array.

Expression of selected genes coding for proteins with defined cellular functions was analysed in human cell lines derived from normal colonic mucosa, non-mucinous colonic carcinomas and mucinous colonic carcinomas. Altered expression of 10 genes in colon carcinoma cells was found by using a cDNA array; 6 of these alterations (60%) were confirmed by Northern blotting or semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Among these 6 genes, 3 transcription factors as well as the topoisomerase II alpha and the mitosis inhibitor WEE1Hu gene were significantly suppressed in the tumour cell lines.

Two-dimensional electrophoresis of proteins: an updated protocol and implications for a functional analysis of the genome.

The two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) technique developed by Klose in 1975 (Humangenetik 1975, 26, 211-234), independently of the technique developed by O'Farrell (J. Biol. Chem.