Characterization of dp6troglycan-laminin interaction in peripheral nerve

Dystoroglycan is encoded by a single gene and cleaved into two proteins, alpha and beta-dystroglycan, by posttranslational processing. The 120kDa peripheral nerve isoform of alpha-dystroglycan binds laminin-2 comprised of the alpha 2, beta 1, and gamma 1 chains. In congenital muscular dystrophy and dy mice deficient in laminin alpha 2 chain, peripheral myelination is disturbed, suggesting a role for the dystroglycan- laminin interaction in peripheral myelinogenesis. To begin to test this hypothesis, we have characterized the dystroglycan-laminin interaction in peripheral nerve. We demonstrate that (1) alpha-dystroglycan is an extracellular peripheral membrane glycoprotein that links beta-dystroglycan in the Schwann cell outer membrane with laminin-2 in the endoneurial basal lamina, and (2) dystrophin homologues Dp116 and utrophin are cytoskeletal proteins of the Schwann cell cytoplasm. We also present data that suggest a role for glycosylation of alpha-dystroglycan in the interaction with laminin.     

Head-portion exposure to low-level X-rays reduces isolation-induced aggression of mouse, and involvement of the olfactory carnosine in modulation of the radiation effects

Social isolation has been widely described to induce a compulsive aggressive behavior. The aggressiveness due to isolation in mice has often been used as a means for the better understanding of disturbed behavior in human beings. In the course of a study of the behavioral effects, we have noticed that fighting injuries, usually observed among male ICR mice, tend to decrease in mice irradiated with low-dose X-rays. We, therefore, quantitatively examined the effects of low-dose X-irradiation on aggressive behavior using a resident-intruder paradigm in which a resident mouse attacks an intruder that entered its territory. Male ICR white Swiss mice became gradually calm, and showed remarkably quiet behavior 7-10 days after whole-head 5 or 15 cGy X-irradiation. Only exposure of the anterior part of the head (olfactory system including orbits) also induced the remarkable suppression of the aggressive behavior. The olfactory system has direct access to the limbic system, a central part of the brain concerned with emotion. The calm behavior induced by low-dose X-irradiation might be related to the changes in the olfactory function. We also obtained data on brain biochemistry giving further support for the above low-dose effects on mouse behavior. The carnosine content and its synthetase activity in the olfactory bulbs decreased significantly after only the anterior part of the head had been exposed. Higher doses (25-35 cGy), however, did not induce such effects. The results suggest that the depression of aggressive behavior is limited to animals irradiated with the smaller doses.     

Changes of lymphocyte subpopulations in pigs infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus

Abnormal changes of T-cell subpopulation were observed in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of pigs infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus. Pigs with naturally occurring PRRS revealed increases in CD2+ and CD8+ cells, and decreases in CD4+ cells and the ratios of CD4+/CD8+ cells. Specific-pathogen-free pigs inoculated with PRRS virus showed remarkable decreases in total lymphocytes, CD4+ and CD2+ cells on Postinoculation Day (PID) 3. The decline of CD4+ cells continued for at least 14 days, while CD2+ cells showed a tendency to increase thereafter. On the other hand,CD8+ cells slightly decreased in number on PID 3, and then increased remarkably; their number was significantly larger on PIDs 28 and 35 than on PID 0. The ratios of CD4+/CD8+ cells were significantly low between PIDs 3 and 28 as compared with PID 0. However, there were no differences in thymocyte subpopulations between infected and non-infected pigs, suggesting that the PRRS virus does not modulate intrathymic T-cell differentiation. In an experiment with peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures, PRRS virus caused neither alteration of T-cell subpopulations nor cell proliferation, suggesting that the virus is not cytotoxic for CD4+ cells and not mitogenic for CD8+ cells.     

High‐luminous‐efficacy structure for plasma tubes

Abstract— The plasma‐tube‐array display is expected to become a wall‐sized display with very high luminous efficacy. The cell design for high luminous efficacy was investigated. Also, discharging in the plasma tube was observed in order to investigate the structure for high luminous efficacy. As the result, a high luminous efficacy of 5.4 lm/W was achieved.