Ca2+ oscillations, Ca2+ sensitization, and contraction activated by protein kinase C in small airway smooth muscle.

Protein kinase C (PKC) has been implicated in the regulation of smooth muscle cell (SMC) contraction and may contribute to airway hyperresponsiveness. Here, we combined optical and biochemical analyses of mouse lung slices to determine the effects of PKC activation on Ca(2+) signaling, Ca(2+) sensitivity, protein phosphorylation, and contraction in SMCs of small intrapulmonary airways. We found that 10 µM phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate or 1 µM phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate induced repetitive, unsynchronized, and transient contractions of the SMCs lining the airway lumen.

Chloride channel blockers promote relaxation of TEA-induced contraction in airway smooth muscle.

Enhanced airway smooth muscle (ASM) contraction is an important component in the pathophysiology of asthma. We have shown that ligand gated chloride channels modulate ASM contractile tone during the maintenance phase of an induced contraction, however the role of chloride flux in depolarization-induced contraction remains incompletely understood. To better understand the role of chloride flux under these conditions, muscle force (human ASM, guinea pig ASM), peripheral small airway luminal area (rat ASM) and airway smooth muscle plasma membrane electrical potentials (human cultured ASM) were measured.

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) augments AMPA-induced Purkinje neuron toxicity.

It is well recognized that exposure of neurons to excessive levels of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, termed glutamate excitotoxicity, contributes to the damage and degeneration seen in many acute and chronic neurological diseases. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that inflammation also can play a role in certain neurodegenerative diseases and inflammatory mediators, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), may directly interact with excitotoxic processes. In a postnatal rat cerebellar slice model, we found that TNF-α exacerbated AMPA-induced excitotoxicity in Purkinje neurons in a dose-dependent manner beyond the toxicity caused by AMPA alone.

Novel self-organization mechanism in ultrathin liquid films: theory and experiment.

When an ultrathin metal film of thickness h (<20 nm) is melted by a nanosecond pulsed laser, the film temperature is a nonmonotonic function of h and achieves its maximum at a certain thickness h*. This is a consequence of the h and time dependence of energy absorption and heat flow. Linear stability analysis and nonlinear dynamical simulations that incorporate such intrinsic interfacial thermal gradients predict a characteristic pattern length scale Lambda that decreases for h>h*, in contrast to the classical spinodal dewetting behavior where Lambda increases monotonically as h2.

Evidence that granule cells generated in the dentate gyrus of adult rats extend axonal projections.

Fully mature rats were injected intraperitoneally with 3H-TdR on postnatal day (P) 100. After an additional 28-32 days, a retrograde fluorescent tracer, either FB or DY, was injected into the regio inferior of the hippocampal formation to label granule cells of the dentate gyrus through their mossy fiber axons. Examination of autoradiographs from these brains reveals that 3H-TdR labeled cells within the granule cell layer of the dentate gyrus are often labeled with the retrograde tracer as well.

Focal necrosis of the white matter (periventricular leukomalacia): sonographic, pathologic, and electroencephalographic features.

Eleven preterm infants (gestational ages 27-35 weeks) with echogenic paraventricular white matter identified shortly after birth were studied with serial echoencephalograms to fully delineate the sonographic findings characterizing the pathologic stages of white-matter necrosis. Echoencephalograms were compared with autopsy findings and CT scans. Cerebral function was assessed by electroencephalograms and later by neurodevelopmental evaluations.

Alterations in serum glucose and hepatic glycogen concentrations during octanoate administration in rabbits.

During continuous administration of sodium octanoate (0.2 M) into weanling and mature rabbits, a significant decrease in serum glucose concentration was observed within 15 minutes after onset of the infusion. This relative hypoglycemia persisted for as long as one hour, after which there was a rebound to normoglycemia.

Multiple cerebral defects in an infant exposed in utero to anticonvulsants.

A female infant exposed in utero to anticonvulsant therapy had bilateral encephaloceles, ventricular abnormalities, and defective neuronal migration. This is one of a few articles with pathologic data available that discusses central nervous system involvement in infants exposed to anticonvulsants.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura during penicillamine therapy in rheumatoid arthritis.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) developed in a patient with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after 2 1/2 months of treatment with penicillamine. After discontinuation of the drug, plasmapheresis and steroid therapy led to a sustained remission. To our knowledge, no prior cases of penicillamine-induced TTP in RA have been reported.

Infantile osteopetrosis and neuronal storage disease.

Infantile osteopetrosis often presents with neurologic symptoms that cannot always be attributed to primary bone disease of the skull. We studied an infant with osteopetrosis and pathologic evidence of neuronal and axonal changes. This is the third case in which primary parenchymal disease of the brain was associated with infantile osteopetrosis and the first in which neuronal cytoplasmic storage was documented by light and electronmicroscopy.

Enlarged cerebrospinal fluid spaces in infants with subdural hematomas.

Computed tomography in 16 infants with subdural hematomas showed enlarged basal cisterns, a wide interhemispheric fissure, prominent cortical sulci, and varying degrees of ventricular enlargement. Radionuclide cisternography in eight of the 16 patients showed findings consistent with enlargement of the subarachnoid space rather than those of communicating hydrocephalus. Clinical findings and brief follow-up showed no convincing evidence for cerebral atrophy in 13 patients.

Pineoblastoma with ganglionic and glial differentiation: report of two cases.

Two cases of pineoblastoma in infants are reported. Both cases exhibited ganglionic and astrocytic differentiation, and one case also showed retinoblastomatous features. Divergent differentiation has been frequently reported in pineocytomas, but ganglionic and glial features in the highly malignant primitive pineoblastoma are unusual.