Dopamine in the nucleus accumbens shell controls systemic glucose metabolism via the lateral hypothalamus and hepatic vagal innervation in rodents.

Background: Growing evidence demonstrates the role of the striatal dopamine system in the regulation of glucose metabolism. Treatment with dopamine antagonists is associated with insulin resistance and hyperglycemia, while dopamine agonists are used in treatment of type 2 diabetes. The mechanism underlying striatal dopamine effects in glucose metabolism, however is not fully understood.

New target genes in endometrial tumors show a role for the estrogen-receptor pathway in microsatellite-unstable cancers.

Microsatellite instability (MSI) in tumors results in an accumulation of mutations in (target) genes. Previous studies suggest that the profile of target genes differs according to tumor type. This paper describes the first genome-wide search for target genes for mismatch repair-deficient endometrial cancers.

A verification protocol for the probe sequences of Affymetrix genome arrays reveals high probe accuracy for studies in mouse, human and rat.

Background: The Affymetrix GeneChip technology uses multiple probes per gene to measure its expression level. Individual probe signals can vary widely, which hampers proper interpretation. This variation can be caused by probes that do not properly match their target gene or that match multiple genes.

Dephosphorylation of endotoxin by alkaline phosphatase in vivo.

Natural substrates for alkaline phosphatase (AP) are at present not identified despite extensive investigations. Difficulties in imagining a possible physiological function involve its extremely high pH optimum for the usual exogenous substrates and its localization as an ecto-enzyme. As endotoxin is a substance that contains phosphate groups and is usually present in the extracellular space, we studied whether AP is able to dephosphorylate this bacterial product at physiological pH levels.

A physiologic function for alkaline phosphatase: endotoxin detoxification.

Alkaline phosphatase (AP), a common enzyme present in many species including humans, has been studied extensively. Although the enzyme is routinely applied as a marker for liver function, its biologic relevance is poorly understood. The reason for this is obvious: the pH optimum of AP in vitro, as measured with the usual test substrates (+/-10.