Effects of an NO synthase inhibitor on aggressive and sexual behavior in male crickets.

The mechanisms of the effects of some types of behavior on others have received little study. The present investigation addresses the phenomenon present in male crickets of the species Gryllus bimaculatus, consisting of the powerful activation by transient flight (3 min) of aggression to another male and of the female courtship program. We found that flight did not evoke these behavioral changes in males injected with the NO synthase inhibitor LNNA.

The responses of vasopressin- and tyrosine hydroxylase-expressing neurons of the supraoptic nucleus in rats to chronic osmotic stimulation.

The dynamics of intracellular contents of vasopressin and tyrosine hydroxylase in neuron bodies were studied in the supraoptic nucleus and the distant segments of their axons in the posterior lobe of the hypophysis in rats in conditions of salt loading lasting one, two, and three weeks. The number of vasopressin-immununoreactive neurons increased by the end of the second week of osmotic stimulation, due to the onset of vasopressin synthesis in neurons not synthesizing this hormone in normal physiological conditions. The vasopressin concentration decreased in cell bodies and axons during the first two weeks of salt loading, apparently because vasopressin release occurred at a greater level than vasopressin synthesis.

Cholinoreceptors of early (preneural) sea urchin embryos.

Agonists of nicotinic cholinoreceptors (n-AChR) and 1-acetyl-4-methylpiperazine (100 microM) had no effect on early embryogenesis in sea urchins, while in the presence of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) and various other protein kinase C activators, these agents induced rapid lysis of oocytes or early embryos, as a result of calcium shock. Many n-AChR ligands which do not penetrate into the cytoplasm (not being antagonists of muscarinic cholinoreceptors) protected against this cytotoxic effect. In the presence of PMA, acetylcholine and carbachol had actions which were much weaker than those of nicotine, while muscarine was completely inactive in these conditions.

The differentiation of dopaminergic neurons in situ, in vivo, and in transplants.

This article summarizes results obtained from studies on the differentiation of dopaminergic neurons in animal hypothalamus and human substantia nigra in situ, in vitro, and in transplants, as well as the role of the microenvironment in regulating this process. Four stages were identified in the differentiation of dopaminergic neurons from rat hypothalamus: a) formation of neurons from neuroepithelial precursor cells, b) expression of specific synthetic products (enzymes and dopamine itself) and mechanisms for transmembrane dopamine transport (reuptake and secretion in response to membrane depolarization), c) formation of permanent and transient efferent connections, and d) formation of afferent innervation and synaptogenesis. Along with dopaminergic neurons, rat fetuses contained neurons expressing only one of the dopamine-synthesizing enzymes and probably taking part in in situ dopamine synthesis.

Extraembryonic motor activity during the embryogenesis of higher vertebrates.

Extraembryonic rhythmic motor activity in higher vertebrates, along with the intrinsic motor activity of the embryo, is important for the normal development of the embryo. This can have different natures in different classes of amniotes (i.e.