Publications by authors named "Kumiko Dojo"
Ceramides in the stratum corneum (SC) are important for epidermal barrier function. We previously developed a synthetic pseudo-ceramide for medical (SPCM)-containing steroid cream [SPCM (+)]. This cream forms films on the skin surface and exerts anti-inflammatory effects through steroids.
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- The circadian clock is a system that helps regulate biological processes in a roughly 24-hour cycle, primarily influenced by light and other environmental cues.
- In mammals, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain acts as the central clock, coordinating the timing of various peripheral clocks in the body for better control of behavior, metabolism, and physiology.
- The study investigates how quickly these clocks adjust to sudden changes in the light-dark cycle, finding that arginine vasopressin pathways are crucial for maintaining clock stability both in the SCN and the anterior pituitary gland.
Among nonphotic stimulants, a classic cholinergic agonist, carbachol, is known to have a strong and unique phase-resetting effect on the circadian clock: Intracerebroventricular carbachol treatment causes phase delays during the subjective early night and phase advances in the subjective late night, but the effects of this drug on the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in vivo and in vitro are still controversial. In the present study, we succeeded in reproducing the biphasic phase-shifting effect of carbachol on clock gene expression in organotypic SCN slices prepared from mice carrying a Per1-promoter fused luciferase gene ( Per1-luc). Since this biphasic effect of carbachol in Per1-luc SCN was prevented by atropine but not by mecamylamine, we concluded that these phase shifts were muscarinic receptor-dependent.
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