Altered Protein Dynamics and a More Reactive Catalytic Cysteine in a Neurodegeneration-associated UCHL1 Mutant.

A mutant of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1) detected in early-onset neurodegenerative patients, UCHL1, showed higher catalytic activity than wild-type UCHL1 (UCHL1). Lying within the active-site pocket, the arginine is part of an interaction network that holds the catalytic histidine in an inactive arrangement. However, the structural basis and mechanism of enzymatic activation upon glutamine substitution was not understood.

Luminescence, absorption, and Stern-Volmer studies of cerium chloride and nitrate compounds in acidic and neutral aqueous, and non-aqueous solutions.

Complexation of cerium chloride and nitrate in neutral and acidic aqueous solutions as well as in anhydrous alcohol solutions were investigated using emission, excitation, and absorption spectroscopic techniques. In aqueous solution cerium chloride shows a strong, and broad emission centering at 365 nm. The excitation spectra are observed at 266 and 296 nm with the shorter wavelength showing the highest intensity.

Influence of posture and stimulus parameters on post-activation depression of the soleus H-reflex in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury.

In non-disabled (ND) individuals, reflexes are modulated by influences related to physiologic state (e.g., posture, joint position, load) and activation history.

Rapid functional recovery after spinal cord injury in young rats.

Responses to traumatic injury in the immature spinal cord may be different from those in adults. We modified an adult model of weight-drop injury to characterize the histopathology and functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) in rat pups at postnatal day 14-15. A 10-g weight was dropped from 2.

Glutamate receptor subunit expression after spinal cord injury in young rats.

To investigate the possibility that glutamate receptor levels in the spinal cord are altered following injury to young rats, we used a previously characterized model of spinal cord contusion that produces a reliable injury in rats at postnatal day 14-15. Quantitative Western blot analysis was used to measure relative amounts of protein for several glutamate receptor subunits acutely (24 h) and chronically (28 days) after spinal cord injury (SCI). Acutely after injury significant decreases were observed in the GluR1, GluR2, and GluR4 subunits of the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole proprionate (AMPA) receptor, and the NR2A and NR2B subunits, but not the NR1 subunit, of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor.

Quantitative measurement of glutamate receptor subunit protein expression in the postnatal rat spinal cord.

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS and its effects on neurons are dependent on the type and composition of glutamate receptors with which it interacts. In this study, the protein expression levels of several ionotropic glutamate receptor subunits (N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subunits NR1, NR2A, NR2B, and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazoleproprionic acid (AMPA) receptor subunits GluR1, GluR2, GluR4) were quantified in particulate preparations from rat spinal cord at various ages after birth. We found that all six subunits showed high expression in the early postnatal period, followed by a subsequent decline as the rats matured to adults.