Single cell optogenetic stimulation by two-photon excitation fluorescence transfer.

Optogenetic manipulation with single-cell resolution can be achieved by two-photon excitation. However, this frequently requires relatively high laser powers. Here, we developed a novel strategy that can improve the efficiency of current two-photon stimulation technologies by positioning fluorescent proteins or small fluorescent molecules with high two-photon cross-sections in the vicinity of opsins.

Selective glycinergic input from vGluT3 amacrine cells confers a suppressed-by-contrast trigger feature in a subtype of M1 ipRGCs in the mouse retina.

Key Points: M1 intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) are known to encode absolute light intensity (irradiance) for non-image-forming visual functions (subconscious vision), such as circadian photoentrainment and the pupillary light reflex. It remains unclear how M1 cells respond to relative light intensity (contrast) and patterned visual signals. The present study identified a special form of contrast sensitivity (suppressed-by-contrast) in M1 cells, suggesting a role of patterned visual signals in regulating non-image-forming vision and a potential role of M1 ipRGCs in encoding image-forming visual cues.

Pharmacological and immunological effects of praziquantel against Schistosoma japonicum: a scoping review of experimental studies.

Background: Chemotherapy for schistosomiasis has been around for 100 years. During the past century, great efforts have been made to develop new antischistosomal drugs from antimonials to nonantimonials, and some of these have been used extensively in clinical treatment. With the exception of a few drugs, such as oxamniquine and metrifonate, most of the antischistosomals developed in the pre-praziquantel period have variable limitations with respect to safety and efficacy.

Silencing Rab14 represses the proliferation and migration of oral squamous cell carcinoma, and enhances cisplatin sensitivity.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a subtype of head and neck cancer with a relatively poor prognosis. The mechanisms underlying the initiation and progression of OSCC are complex and not yet fully understood; however, this information is critical for developing novel therapeutic targets and improving patient outcome. Rab14, a Ras related protein, has been implicated in multiple forms of cancer.

Local synaptic integration enables ON-OFF asymmetric and layer-specific visual information processing in vGluT3 amacrine cell dendrites.

A basic scheme of neuronal organization in the mammalian retina is the segregation of ON and OFF pathways in the inner plexiform layer (IPL), where glutamate is released from ON and OFF bipolar cell terminals in separate inner (ON) and outer (OFF) sublayers in response to light intensity increments and decrements, respectively. However, recent studies have found that vGluT3-expressing glutamatergic amacrine cells (GACs) generate ON-OFF somatic responses and release glutamate onto both ON and OFF ganglion cell types, raising the possibility of crossover excitation in violation of the canonical ON-OFF segregation scheme. To test this possibility, we recorded light-evoked Ca responses from dendrites of individual GACs infected with GCaMP6s in mouse.

Galectin-3 contributes to vascular fibrosis in monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension rat model.

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) plays a critical role in vascular inflammation and fibrosis. The role of TGF-β1 in mediating pulmonary vascular fibrosis is well documented; thus, we suspected that Gal-3 could be an important factor in TGF-β1-induced fibrosis in pulmonary adventitial fibroblasts (PAFs). We treated rats with monocrotaline (MCT) and cultured PAFs with TGF-β1 to stimulate fibrosis.

Retinal Wave Patterns Are Governed by Mutual Excitation among Starburst Amacrine Cells and Drive the Refinement and Maintenance of Visual Circuits.

Unlabelled: Retinal waves are correlated bursts of spontaneous activity whose spatiotemporal patterns are critical for early activity-dependent circuit elaboration and refinement in the mammalian visual system. Three separate developmental wave epochs or stages have been described, but the mechanism(s) of pattern generation of each and their distinct roles in visual circuit development remain incompletely understood. We used neuroanatomical,in vitroandin vivoelectrophysiological, and optical imaging techniques in genetically manipulated mice to examine the mechanisms of wave initiation and propagation and the role of wave patterns in visual circuit development.

Segregated Glycine-Glutamate Co-transmission from vGluT3 Amacrine Cells to Contrast-Suppressed and Contrast-Enhanced Retinal Circuits.

Since the introduction of Dale's principle of "one neuron releases one transmitter at all its synapses," a growing number of exceptions to this principle have been identified. While the concept of neurotransmitter co-release by a single neuron is now well accepted, the specific synaptic circuitry and functional advantage of co-neurotransmission remain poorly understood in general. Here we report Ca(2+)-dependent co-release of a new combination of inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters, namely, glycine and glutamate, by the vGluT3-expressing amacrine cell (GAC) in the mouse retina.

TGF-β1/FGF-2 signaling mediates the 15-HETE-induced differentiation of adventitial fibroblasts into myofibroblasts.

Background: Pulmonary adventitial fibroblasts (PAFs) are activated under stress stimuli leading to their differentiation into myofibroblasts, which is involved in vessel remodeling. 15-HETE is known as an important factor in vessel remodeling under hypoxia; however, the role of 15-HETE in PAF phenotypic alteration is not clear.

Results: The effect of 15-HETE on PAF phenotypic alterations was investigated in the present study.

Spatial pattern of spontaneous retinal waves instructs retinotopic map refinement more than activity frequency.

Spontaneous activity during early development is necessary for the formation of precise neural connections, but it remains uncertain whether activity plays an instructive or permissive role in brain wiring. In the visual system, retinal ganglion cell (RGC) projections to the brain form two prominent sensory maps, one reflecting eye of origin and the other retinotopic location. Recent studies provide compelling evidence supporting an instructive role for spontaneous retinal activity in the development of eye-specific projections, but evidence for a similarly instructive role in the development of retinotopy is more equivocal.

STAT3-mediated MMP-2 expression is required for 15-HETE-induced vascular adventitial fibroblast migration.

Objective: Vascular adventitial fibroblasts (VAFs) migration was involved in neointima formation, and increased 15-HETE levels contributed to vascular remodeling. However, how 15-HETE-induced VAF migration was not clear.

Methods And Results: 15-HETE-stimulated VAF phenotypic changes and migration as measured by the wound healing assay required STAT3 phosphorylation.

An unconventional glutamatergic circuit in the retina formed by vGluT3 amacrine cells.

In the vertebrate retina, glutamate is traditionally thought to be released only by photoreceptors and bipolar cells to transmit visual signals radially along parallel ON and OFF channels. Lateral interactions in the inner retina are mediated by amacrine cells, which are thought to be inhibitory neurons. Here, we report calcium-dependent glutamate release from vGluT3-expressing amacrine cells (GACs) in the mouse retina.

Receptive field properties of bipolar cell axon terminals in direction-selective sublaminas of the mouse retina.

Retinal bipolar cells (BCs) transmit visual signals in parallel channels from the outer to the inner retina, where they provide glutamatergic inputs to specific networks of amacrine and ganglion cells. Intricate network computation at BC axon terminals has been proposed as a mechanism for complex network computation, such as direction selectivity, but direct knowledge of the receptive field property and the synaptic connectivity of the axon terminals of various BC types is required in order to understand the role of axonal computation by BCs. The present study tested the essential assumptions of the presynaptic model of direction selectivity at axon terminals of three functionally distinct BC types that ramify in the direction-selective strata of the mouse retina.

Tanshinone IIA promotes pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell apoptosis in vitro by inhibiting the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Background: Tanshinone IIA inhibits the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), but the potential mechanisms of its effects on PASMCs apoptosis remain unclear.

Methods: Rat were subjected to hypoxia for 9 days with or without Tanshinone IIA treatment. PASMCs were exposed to the conditions of 2% O2 and 93% N2 for 24 h in vitro.

Assessment of morbidity due to Schistosoma japonicum infection in China.

This paper presents a historical assessment of morbidity due to the Schistosoma japonicum infection in China. Due to the socio-economic situation, which did not allow for a control program to be implemented until the early 1950s, morbidity was serious and mortality was high before this. Based on a few investigations and published papers, it can be said that the disease caused millions of deaths, and destroyed numerous families and villages.

15-LO/15-HETE mediated vascular adventitia fibrosis via p38 MAPK-dependent TGF-β.

15-Lipoxygenase/15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-LO/15-HETE) is known to modulate pulmonary vascular medial hypertrophy and intimal endothelial cells migration and angiogenesis after hypoxia. However, it is unclear whether 15-HETE affects the adventitia of the pulmonary arterial wall. We performed immunohistochemistry, adventitia fibrosis, pulmonary artery fibroblasts phenotype and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition to determine the role of 15-HETE in hypoxia-induced pulmonary vascular adventitia remodeling.

Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) from flowers of Carthamus tinctorius L. and its vasodilatation effects on pulmonary artery.

Flowers of Carthamus tinctorius L. are traditionally used in China to treat cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), the main constituent of Carthamus tinctorius L.

Research and development of antischistosomal drugs in the People's Republic of China a 60-year review.

A comprehensive 60-year review of antischistosomal drug discovery and development research in the People's Republic of China (P.R. China) is presented.

Conquering schistosomiasis in China: the long march.

The last half-century of schistosomiasis control activities in China have brought down the overall prevalence of human infection with Schistosoma japonicum to less than 10% of the level initially documented in the mid 1950s. Importantly, this reduction is not only, or even mainly, due to the advent of praziquantel in the 1970s and its subsequent dramatic fall in price. Instead, it is the result of a sustained, multifaceted national strategy, adapted to different eco-epidemiological settings, which has been versatile enough to permit subtle adjustments over time as the nature of the challenge changed.

Surveillance of schistosomiasis in five provinces of China which have reached the national criteria for elimination of the disease.

Surveillance of schistosomiasis consists mainly of surveys carried out in formerly endemic areas to observe infection and re-infection of resident and mobile human populations, and domestic animals (e.g. bovines) plus snail monitoring.

An economic evaluation of the national schistosomiasis control programme in China from 1992 to 2000.

The World Bank Loan Project, by far the largest effort in China for schistosomiasis control since control activities were initiated in the mid 1950s, was carried out for a 9-year period commencing in 1992 in the 8 provinces where Schistosoma japonicum remained endemic when the project started. To evaluate its impact, a retrospective economic evaluation was done in 2001. Six representative counties, i.

A geographic information and remote sensing based model for prediction of Oncomelania hupensis habitats in the Poyang Lake area, China.

A model was developed using remote sensing and geographic information system technologies for habitat identification of Oncomelania hupensis, the intermediate host snail of Schistosoma japonicum, in the Poyang Lake area, China. In a first step, two multi-temporal Landsat TM 5 satellite images, one from the wet and the second from the dry season, were visually classified into different land-use types. Next, the normalized difference vegetation index was extracted from the images and the tasseled-cap transformation was employed to derive the wetness feature.

The National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention: a new administrative structure for schistosomiasis control.

Since more than 5 decades, the overall responsibility for the national programme on schistosomiasis control in China resides at the government level, i.e. Ministry of Health.