Publications by authors named "Y Ago"
The opioid system plays crucial roles in modulating social behaviors in both humans and animals. However, the pharmacological profiles of opioids regarding social behavior and their therapeutic potential remain unclear. Multiple pharmacological, behavioral, and immunohistological c-Fos mapping approaches were used to characterize the effects of μ-opioid receptor agonists on social behavior and investigate the mechanisms in naive mice and autism spectrum disorder-like (ASD-like) mouse models, such as prenatally valproic acid-treated mice and Fmr1-KO mice.
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- - The study investigates how periodontal disease impacts cognitive function in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity, focusing on the role of microglia, which are immune cells in the brain.
- - Male C57BL/6 J mice were fed a high-fat diet for 18 weeks to induce obesity and then exposed to a periodontal pathogen to mimic periodontitis over a 6-week period.
- - Results showed that the obese mice with periodontal infection had cognitive impairments and activated microglia in the brain, and reducing microglia improved their cognitive function, suggesting that microglia play a key role in this link.
Article Synopsis
- The research focuses on creating drug delivery systems (DDSs) to transport medications effectively to the brain, targeting central nervous system diseases like schizophrenia.* -
- It describes the development of a new strategy using two peptides, KS-487 for targeting the brain and KS-133 as the actual drug, which were combined to enhance drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier.* -
- The study shows that administering nanoparticles containing these peptides leads to improved cognitive functions in mouse models of schizophrenia, marking a significant advancement in potential therapies for this condition.*
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are sulfated polysaccharides comprising repeating disaccharides, uronic acid (or galactose) and hexosamines, including chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, heparan sulfate, and keratan sulfate. Hyaluronan is an exception in the GAG family because it is a non-sulfated polysaccharide. Lysosomal enzymes are crucial for the stepwise degradation of GAGs to provide a normal function of tissues and extracellular matrix (ECM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransfer RNA (tRNA) modification is essential for proper protein translation, as these modifications play important roles in several biological functions and disease pathophysiologies. AlkB homolog 8 (ALKBH8) is one of the nine mammalian ALKBH family molecules known to regulate selenoprotein translation through the modification of the wobble uridine (U34) in tRNA; however, its specific biological roles remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of ALKBH8 using -knockout () mice, which were observed to have reduced 5-methoxycarbonylmethyluridine (mcm5U) and (S)-5-methoxycarbonylhydroxymethyluridine levels; notably, the mcm5U level was partially compensated only in the brain.
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