AJAP1 expression modulates glioma cell motility and correlates with tumor growth and survival.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most common primary malignant brain tumors. Unraveling the molecular and genetic complexity that determines GBM's pronounced migratory property could provide new options for therapeutic targeting that may significantly complement current surgical and chemoradiation therapy and alter the current poor outcome. In this study, we establish stable AJAP1 overexpressing glioma cells in order to examine in vivo tumor growth.

Convergent transcriptional specializations in the brains of humans and song-learning birds.

Song-learning birds and humans share independently evolved similarities in brain pathways for vocal learning that are essential for song and speech and are not found in most other species. Comparisons of brain transcriptomes of song-learning birds and humans relative to vocal nonlearners identified convergent gene expression specializations in specific song and speech brain regions of avian vocal learners and humans. The strongest shared profiles relate bird motor and striatal song-learning nuclei, respectively, with human laryngeal motor cortex and parts of the striatum that control speech production and learning.

Comparative genomics reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation.

Birds are the most species-rich class of tetrapod vertebrates and have wide relevance across many research fields. We explored bird macroevolution using full genomes from 48 avian species representing all major extant clades. The avian genome is principally characterized by its constrained size, which predominantly arose because of lineage-specific erosion of repetitive elements, large segmental deletions, and gene loss.

Convergent differential regulation of SLIT-ROBO axon guidance genes in the brains of vocal learners.

Only a few distantly related mammals and birds have the trait of complex vocal learning, which is the ability to imitate novel sounds. This ability is critical for speech acquisition and production in humans, and is attributed to specialized forebrain vocal control circuits that have several unique connections relative to adjacent brain circuits. As a result, it has been hypothesized that there could exist convergent changes in genes involved in neural connectivity of vocal learning circuits.

Adherens junctional associated protein-1: a novel 1p36 tumor suppressor candidate in gliomas (Review).

In a broad range of human cancers 1p36 has been a mutational hotspot which strongly suggests that the loss of tumor suppressor activity maps to this genomic region during tumorigenesis. Adherens junctional associated protein-1 (AJAP1; also known as Shrew1) was initially discovered as a novel transmembrane protein of adherent junctions in epithelial cells. Gene profiling showed AJAP1 on 1p36 is frequently lost or epigenetically silenced.

AJAP1 is dysregulated at an early stage of gliomagenesis and suppresses invasion through cytoskeleton reorganization.

Aims: Down-regulation of AJAP1 in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has been reported. However, the expression profiles of AJAP1 in gliomas and the underlying mechanisms of AJAP1 function on invasion are still poorly understood.

Methods: The gene profiles of AJAP1 in glioma patients were studied among four independent cohorts.

The adherens junction-associated protein 1 is a negative transcriptional regulator of MAGEA2, which potentiates temozolomide-induced apoptosis in GBM.

Previous studies identified the frequent loss of adherens junction-associated protein 1 (AJAP1) expression in glioblastoma (GBM) and its correlation with worse survival. AJAP1 may suppress glioma cell migration, which plays an important role in tumor progression in malignant gliomas such as GBM. However, the role of AJAP1 in cell cycle arrest or apoptosis and resistance to chemotherapy remains unclear.

Global view of the functional molecular organization of the avian cerebrum: mirror images and functional columns.

Based on quantitative cluster analyses of 52 constitutively expressed or behaviorally regulated genes in 23 brain regions, we present a global view of telencephalic organization of birds. The patterns of constitutively expressed genes revealed a partial mirror image organization of three major cell populations that wrap above, around, and below the ventricle and adjacent lamina through the mesopallium. The patterns of behaviorally regulated genes revealed functional columns of activation across boundaries of these cell populations, reminiscent of columns through layers of the mammalian cortex.

Convergent differential regulation of parvalbumin in the brains of vocal learners.

Spoken language and learned song are complex communication behaviors found in only a few species, including humans and three groups of distantly related birds--songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds. Despite their large phylogenetic distances, these vocal learners show convergent behaviors and associated brain pathways for vocal communication. However, it is not clear whether this behavioral and anatomical convergence is associated with molecular convergence.

[Oxidative stress in soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles of spontaneously hypertensive rats].

Systemic diseases affect skeletal muscle, and inflammation and oxidative stress are some of the involved mechanisms. There is scarce information about the effects of essential hypertension on skeletal muscle. The soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were studied compared to control Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats.

The dusp1 immediate early gene is regulated by natural stimuli predominantly in sensory input neurons.

Many immediate early genes (IEGs) have activity-dependent induction in a subset of brain subdivisions or neuron types. However, none have been reported yet with regulation specific to thalamic-recipient sensory neurons of the telencephalon or in the thalamic sensory input neurons themselves. Here, we report the first such gene, dual specificity phosphatase 1 (dusp1).

Molecular mapping of movement-associated areas in the avian brain: a motor theory for vocal learning origin.

Vocal learning is a critical behavioral substrate for spoken human language. It is a rare trait found in three distantly related groups of birds-songbirds, hummingbirds, and parrots. These avian groups have remarkably similar systems of cerebral vocal nuclei for the control of learned vocalizations that are not found in their more closely related vocal non-learning relatives.

A molecular neuroethological approach for identifying and characterizing a cascade of behaviorally regulated genes.

Songbirds have one of the most accessible neural systems for the study of brain mechanisms of behavior. However, neuroethological studies in songbirds have been limited by the lack of high-throughput molecular resources and gene-manipulation tools. To overcome these limitations, we constructed 21 regular, normalized, and subtracted full-length cDNA libraries from brains of zebra finches in 57 developmental and behavioral conditions in an attempt to clone as much of the brain transcriptome as possible.

Muscle damage and autoantibody fixation in an experimental model of autoimmune myopathy.

An experimental model of autoimmune myopathy was designed using parental antigens (muscle mitochondrial fraction) in F1 hybrid rats (male Wistar x female Sprague-Dawley). The immune response was modulated by spleen fragment transplant from either Wistar (W) or F1. Antibody fixation and inflammatory reaction were studied in Extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscles.