Dietary -6/-3 Ratio Influences Brain Fatty Acid Composition in Adult Rats.

There is mounting evidence that diets supplemented with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) can impact brain biology and functions. This study investigated whether moderately high-fat diets differing in -6/-3 fatty acid ratio could impact fatty acid composition in regions of the brain linked to various psychopathologies. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats consumed isocaloric diets (35% kcal from fat) containing different ratios of linoleic acid (-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (-3) for 2 months.

Safflower (n-6) and flaxseed (n-3) high-fat diets differentially regulate hypothalamic fatty acid profiles, gene expression, and insulin signalling.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have important signalling roles in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain that regulates whole-body energy homeostasis. While evidence suggests that high PUFA intake can impact hypothalamic activity, the underlying molecular mechanisms regulated by essential dietary n-6 and n-3 PUFA (i.e.

Drosophila muller f elements maintain a distinct set of genomic properties over 40 million years of evolution.

The Muller F element (4.2 Mb, ~80 protein-coding genes) is an unusual autosome of Drosophila melanogaster; it is mostly heterochromatic with a low recombination rate. To investigate how these properties impact the evolution of repeats and genes, we manually improved the sequence and annotated the genes on the D.

Modification of the zone of polarizing activity signal by trypsin.

Patterning of the developing vertebrate limb along the anterior-posterior axis is controlled by the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA) via the expression of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) and along the proximal-distal axis by the apical ectodermal ridge (AER) through the production of fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). ZPA grafting, as well as ectopic application of SHH to the anterior chick limb bud, demonstrate that digit patterning is largely influenced by these secreted factors. Although signal transduction pathways have been well characterized for SHH and for FGFs, little is known of how these signals are regulated extracellularly in the limb.