Modification of internal temperature regulation for cutaneous vasodilation and sweating by bright light exposure at night.

Bright light (BL) exposure at night leads to suppressed secretion of melatonin and an attenuated fall in internal temperature at rest from the night to the early morning. However, it is unknown at the present whether typical diurnal variations in reflex responses to thermal challenges are similarly affected by BL exposure at night. We investigated the control of cutaneous vasodilator and sweating responses to hyperthermia in the early morning after artificial BL exposure at night, compare with dim light (DL) exposure.

Bax gene expression alters Ca(2+) signal transduction without affecting apoptosis in an epithelial cell line.

Bax is an oncogene that has proapoptotic properties but not all cells that express Bax undergo apoptosis. Bax may have a function unrelated to apoptosis. To elucidate the role of Bax in cell signaling, an epithelial cell line called SMG-C6 was transfected with the human bax gene.

Fas-mediated apoptosis in a rat acinar cell line is dependent on caspase-1 activity.

Apoptosis plays an important role in the dysfunction of exocrine glands. Fas is a death-inducing receptor found on many types of cells including epithelial acinar cells. To elucidate the intracellular mechanism of Fas-mediated cell death in exocrine glands, an epithelial acinar cell line, SMG-C6, was studied.

The effects of hedonic properties of odors and attentional modulation on the olfactory event-related potentials.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the hedonic properties of odors and the attention of subjects on components of the olfactory event-related potentials (OERP). The subjects were seven healthy male students. Two odors (orange and eugenol) of different hedonic properties were presented to the subjects via a constant-flow olfactometer during an oddball paradigm under ignore and attend conditions, and the OERP were then established.

Elevated proapoptotic Bax and caspase 3 activation in the NOD.scid model of Sjögren's syndrome.

Objective: Salivary gland epithelial cells in patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and in NOD and NODscid mice express Fas and Fas ligand, and these cells die from apoptosis. To elucidate the intracellular molecular mechanisms responsible for this salivary gland epithelial cell apoptosis, expression of the Bcl-2 family of proteins (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bax) and caspase (caspases 3 and 8) was studied in young (ages 8-10 weeks) and old (ages 17-28 weeks) NOD and NOD.scid mice.