Interactions of amylinergic and melanocortinergic systems in the control of food intake and body weight in rodents.

Aims: Amylinergic and melanocortinergic systems have each been implicated in energy balance regulation. We examined the interactive effects of both systems using gene knockout and pharmacological approaches.

Methods: Acute food consumption was measured in overnight fasted male wild-type (WT) and melanocortin-4 receptor (MC-4R) deficient rats and in male and female WT and amylin knockout mice (AmyKO).

Ectopic expression of the human adenine nucleotide translocase, isoform 3 (ANT-3). Characterization of ligand binding properties.

The adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) is a key component in maintaining cellular energy homeostasis, and has also been implicated in formation of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore. Human ANT-3 was cloned from a human heart cDNA library and expressed as a histidine-tagged fusion protein in the mitochondria of the Trichoplusia ni. cell line.

Efficient syntheses of benzothiazepines as antagonists for the mitochondrial sodium-calcium exchanger: potential therapeutics for type II diabetes.

Type II diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder that can lead to serious cardiovascular, renal, neurologic, and retinal complications. While several drugs are currently prescribed to treat type II diabetes, their efficacy is limited by mechanism-related side effects (weight gain, hypoglycemia, gastrointestinal distress), inadequate efficacy for use as monotherapy, and the development of tolerance to the agents. Consequently, combination therapies are frequently employed to effectively regulate blood glucose levels.

Multiplex fluorescence-based primer extension method for quantitative mutation analysis of mitochondrial DNA and its diagnostic application for Alzheimer's disease.

A sensitive and highly reproducible multiplexed primer extension assay is described for quantitative mutation analysis of heterogeneous DNA populations. Wild-type and mutant target DNA are simultaneously probed in competitive primer extension reactions using fluorophor-labeled primers and high fidelity, thermostable DNA polymerases in the presence of defined mixtures of deoxy- and dideoxynucleotides. Primers are differentially extended and the resulting products are distinguished by size and dye label.