PACAP-PAC1 Receptor Activation Is Necessary for the Sympathetic Response to Acute Intermittent Hypoxia.

Repetitive hypoxia is a key feature of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), a condition characterized by intermittent airways obstruction. Patients with OSA present with persistent increases in sympathetic activity and commonly develop hypertension. The objectives of this study were to determine if the persistent increases in sympathetic nerve activity, known to be induced by acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH), are mediated through activation of the pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) signaling system.

Microglia in the RVLM of SHR have reduced P2Y12R and CX3CR1 expression, shorter processes, and lower cell density.

The RVLM of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) contains over-active C1 neurons, which model the pathology of essential hypertension. Hypertension involves chronic low-grade neuroinflammation. Inflammation in the brain is produced and maintained primarily by microglia.

Platelet-rich plasma injections: an emerging therapy for chronic discogenic low back pain.

Autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections have been investigated in recent years as an emerging therapy for various musculoskeletal conditions, including lumbar degenerative disc disease. Although PRP has received increasing attention from medical science experts, comprehensive clinical reports of its efficacy are limited to those treating knee osteoarthritis and epicondylitis. Use of PRP is gaining popularity in the area of degenerative disc disease, but there is a clear need for reliable clinical evidence of its applications and effectiveness.

Microglial number is related to the number of tyrosine hydroxylase neurons in SHR and normotensive rats.

Microglia are ubiquitously distributed throughout the central nervous system (CNS) and play a critical role in the maintenance of neuronal homeostasis. Recent advances have shown that microglia, never resting cells of the CNS, continuously monitor and influence neuronal/synaptic activity levels, by communicating with neurons with the aid of their dynamic processes. The brainstem contains many catecholaminergic nuclei that are key to many aspects of brain function.

Dynamic changes in the relationship of microglia to cardiovascular neurons in response to increases and decreases in blood pressure.

Microglia are present throughout the central nervous system (CNS) and express receptors for every known neurotransmitter. During inflammation, microglia change into a state that either promotes removal of debris (M1), or into a state that promotes soothing (M2). Caudal- and rostral- ventrolateral medullary regions (CVLM and RVLM, respectively) of the brainstem are key nuclei involved in all aspects of the cardiovascular system.

Gene Interference with Morpholinos in a Gold Nanoparticle-Based Delivery Platform in Rat PC12 Cells.

For the first time the efficiency of gene knockdown of the pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) receptor 1 (PAC1R) is demonstrated by employing gold nanocomplexes. This gene knockdown subsequently affects the action of PACAP on neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells. These nanocomplexes comprise cholera toxin B (CTB)-gold nanoparticle conjugates loaded with double-stranded morpholinos (MOs) (photo MO and antisense MO).

Antagonism of PACAP or microglia function worsens the cardiovascular consequences of kainic-acid-induced seizures in rats.

Seizures are accompanied by cardiovascular changes that are a major cause of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Seizures activate inflammatory responses in the cardiovascular nuclei of the medulla oblongata and increase neuronal excitability. Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a neuropeptide with autocrine and paracrine neuroprotective properties.

A gene encoding a new cold-active lipase from an Antarctic isolate of Penicillium expansum.

Cold-active lipases are of significant interest as biocatalysts in industrial processes. We have identified a lipase that displayed activity towards long carbon-chain-p-nitrophenyl substrates (C12-C18) at 25 °C from the culture supernatant of an Antarctic Penicillium expansum strain assigned P. expansum SM3.