Expression Profile of Genes Related to Drug Metabolism in Human Brain Tumors.

Background: Endogenous and exogenous compounds as well as carcinogens are metabolized and detoxified by phase I and II enzymes, the activity of which could be crucial to the inactivation and hence susceptibility to carcinogenic factors. The expression of these enzymes in human brain tumor tissue has not been investigated sufficiently. We studied the association between tumor pathology and the expression profile of seven phase I and II drug metabolizing genes (CYP1A1, CYP1B1, ALDH3A1, AOX1, GSTP1, GSTT1 and GSTM3) and some of their proteins.

Cortical cartography revisited: A frequency perspective on the functional architecture of visual cortex.

Viewed in the plane of the cortical surface, the visual cortex is composed of overlapping functional maps that represent stimulus features such as edge orientation, direction of motion, and spatial frequency. Spatial relationships between these maps are thought to ensure that all combinations of stimulus features are represented uniformly across the visual field. Implicit in this view is the assumption that feature combinations are represented in the form of a place code such that a given pattern of activity uniquely signifies a specific combination of stimulus features.