Unique clockwork in photoreceptor of rat.

In mammals, the retina contains a clock system that oscillates independently of the master clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and allows the retina to anticipate and to adapt to the sustained daily changes in ambient illumination. Using a combination of laser capture micro-dissection and quantitative PCR in the present study, the clockwork of mammalian photoreceptors has been recorded. The transcript amounts of the core clock genes Clock, Bmal1, Period1 (Per1), Per3, Cryptochrome2, and Casein kinase Iε in photoreceptors of rat retina have been found to undergo daily changes.

Synaptic tetraspan vesicle membrane proteins are conserved but not needed for synaptogenesis and neuronal function in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Tetraspan vesicle membrane proteins (TVPs) comprise a major portion of synaptic vesicle proteins, yet their contribution to the synaptic vesicle cycle is poorly understood. TVPs are grouped in three mammalian gene families: physins, gyrins, and secretory carrier-associated membrane proteins (SCAMPs). In Caenorhabditis elegans, only a single member of each of these families exists.

Postnatal dendritic morphogenesis of cerebellar basket and stellate cells in vitro.

Inhibitory interneurons in the molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex play an essential role in cerebellar physiology by providing feed-forward inhibition to efferent Purkinje cells. Morphologic characteristics have been utilized to classify these cells as either basket cells or stellate cells. Conflicting evidence exists as to whether these cells are of distinct lineage and develop by employing discrete genetic programs, or whether their characteristic morphologic differences result from external cues that they encounter only after they have settled in their final territory in the molecular layer.

Large-scale isolation of sinusoidal endothelial cells from pig and human liver.

Objective: Hepatic in vitro studies, like those on hypoxia/reperfusion injury in liver transplants, demand large numbers of cultivated sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs). In this article, we present and evaluate a new method for the isolation of SECs from porcine and human livers.

Methods: SECs were isolated employing a four-step collagenase perfusion.

Local liberation of cytokines during liver preservation.

In order to investigate locally produced mediators during the process of organ storage in liver transplantation, we collected the liver preservation solution effluent of 15 transplanted livers and compared it with serum samples taken preoperatively from donor and recipient, as well as 60 min after reperfusion. The mean ischemia time +/- SEM was 10 h 10 min +/- 53 min. Mean concentrations in University of Wisconsin preservation solution effluent were: interleukin-(IL-)1beta 154 +/- 77 pg/ml; IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra) 1281 +/- 309 pg/ml; IL-6 412 +/- 90 pg/ml; and for tumor necrosis factor-(TNF-)alpha 74 +/- 21 pg/ml.

Cell detachment during sinusoidal reperfusion after liver preservation: an in vitro model.

Background: Sinusoidal endothelial cells (SEC) are significantly more vulnerable to cold storage and reperfusion than hepatocytes. Swelling and disruption of the sinusoidal lining induce the microcirculatory disturbances seen after reperfusion. In this article, the investigation of a method to assess the adhesion and morphology of SEC in vitro during reperfusion after preservation is described.

Visualization of liver sinusoidal endothelial cell repair behavior after preservation by in vitro time-lapse video microscopy.

Sinusoidal endothelial cells are significantly more vulnerable to cold storage and reperfusion than hepatocytes. In this study, a method for assessing the repair behavior of sinusoidal endothelial cells in vitro, after preservation, was investigated. Time-lapse video microscopy analysis was performed and migration rates, division rates, and cell detachment rates were determined.

Systemic liberation of interleukin-8 in the perioperative phase of liver transplantation.

Serum levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) were investigated in the perioperative phase of liver transplantation (LTx) in order to help determine whether this cytokine might serve as a parameter for preservation injury. In a study of 45 patients undergoing LTx, systemic IL-8 was estimated at the end of the anhepatic phase, at 30, 60, and 120 min after reperfusion of the graft, and 24 h and 7 days after LTx. A maximum mean concentration of 665 +/- 135 pg/ml was seen 60 min after LTx.