Does oral experience terminate ingestion?

Using data from studies of ingestive behavior in developing rat pups we demonstrate how oral experience can contribute to the termination of ingestion. In rat pups, repeated oral stimulation with sweet solutions causes a decline in oral responsiveness. The diminished responsiveness is specific to the flavor of the stimulus experienced orally and can persist for several hours. We suggest that this experience-based decrement in responsiveness is best considered "oral habituation" and that oral habituation largely accounts for the onset of satiety. Post-ingestive feedback signals may have their influence through the oral habituation process or act in the context of oral habituation. Oral habituation is also shown to depend on the pattern of stimulus presentation, a phenomenon that adds considerable complexity to assessing the contributions of oral experience to satiety. The concept of oral habituation may be useful in understanding the immediate control of ingestion and the moment-to-moment expression of ingestive behavior in adult animals.     

The role of zinc in pre- and postnatal mammalian thymic immunohistogenesis

Histogenetically, the thymus is the primary lymphopoietic organ and provides an optimal microenvironment for the differentiation of T lymphocytes, independently of the influence of foreign antigens. Lymphocytes with diverse potential are produced in a protective microenvironment optimal for their maturation, whose dual cellular network is provided by endodermally derived RE cells and numerous ectomesenchymal cells derived from the neural crest. The full development of intrathymic hematopoiesis depends upon the successful completion of a series of well coordinated cellular interactions between widely divergent (in terms of origin) cells [epithelium (primitive pharynx); ectomesenchyrne (neural crest); and PHSCs (yolk sac, fetal liver)]. The cells of the thymic epithelial primordium do not proliferate in the absence of "inductive" interactions with the ectomesenchyme. Moreover, the nature of the mesenchyme determines the behavior of the thymic epithelial anlagen. The ectomesenchymal origin of chemotactic stem cell factor secretion, responsible for hemopoietic stem cell immigration, is a distinct possibility. The human thymus is a generalized hematopoietic tissue with between 7 to 9 weeks of ontogenesis. In human and dog fetuses various elements of mammalian hematopoiesis were identified intrathymically: B lymphocytes, plasma cells, erythropoietic and granulocytopoietic (neutrophils and eosinophils) cells, antigen presenting dendritic cells, and mast cells. Our light and ultrastructural (transmission and scanning), as well as immunocytochemical observations have established that during the embryonal and fetal period, the thymus is seeded by pluripotent, yolk sac derived PHSCs characterized by the following immunophenotype CD34+CD43+CD38-Lin-HLA-DR+CD69+. Stem cell c-kit tyrosine kinase (also referred to as mast cell growth factor, stem cell factor, or steel factor) in combination with autocrine and paracrine growth factors and cytokines (IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, G-CSF, etc.) stimulates myelopoiesis, including erythropoiesis, as well as lymphopoiesis. These hematopoietic growth factors are produced by activated lymphoblastic cells and stromal RE cells under the influence of immunoneuroendocrine regulation, supported by the finding that experimental or spontaneous, in vivo neural crest ablation during early mammalian ontogenesis always results in an abnormal development of the thymus, as well as the heart and great vessels, thyroid, and parathyroid glands.     

Influence of centrifugal pathways on forward masking of ventral cochlear nucleus neurons

When responses to one part of a sequence of auditory signals reduce the responses to a subsequent portion of the signal, "forward masking" results. Although forward masking occurs in the auditory nerve, that observed in the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) more closely resembles psychophysical forward masking. In contrast to the auditory nerve in which the amount of forward masking is proportional to the amount of excitation produced by the masker, most VCN neurons show a poor correlation between forward masking and excitation produced by the masker, indicating a more complex interaction between responses to adjacent signals. This study tested the hypothesis that one component of forward masking is produced by inputs from centrifugal neural connections to the VCN. The centrifugal pathways were interrupted with knife-cut lesions medial to the CN. Responses of single units obtained 60 minutes after the lesions were compared to those obtained before the lesions. In primarylike, sustained chopper and on units the lesions resulted in a reduction in forward masking and enhanced recovery. In contrast, lesions resulted in increased masking in primarylike-notch and low-intensity chopper units. The relationship between masker-elicited excitation and forward masking became more monotonic for transient choppers and on units, approaching that observed for auditory nerve fibers. These effects are probably the result of removal of both inhibitory and excitatory inputs, ultimately reflecting a balance of excitation and inhibition to each neural population in the VCN.     

Protein topology of presenilin 1

Mutations in a gene encoding a multitransmembrane protein, termed presenilin 1 (PS1), are causative in the majority of early-onset cases of AD. To determine the topology of PS1, we utilized two strategies: first, we tested whether putative transmembranes are sufficient to export a protease-sensitive substrate across a lipid bilayer; and second, we examined the binding of antibodies to specific PS1 epitopes in cultured cells selectively permeabilized with the pore-forming toxin, streptolysin-O. We document that the "loop," N-terminal, and C-terminal domains of PS1 are oriented toward the cytoplasm.     

Conformations and folding of lysozyme ions in vacuo

Proton transfer reactivity of isolated charge states of the protein hen egg-white lysozyme shows that multiple distinct conformations of this protein are stable in the gas phase. The reactivities of the 9+ and 10+ charge state ions, formed by electrospray ionization of "native" (disulfide-intact) and "denatured" (disulfide-reduced) solutions, are consistent with values calculated for ions in their crystal structure and fully denatured conformations, respectively. Charge states below 8+ of both forms, formed by proton stripping, have similar or indistinguishable reactivities, indicating that the disulfide-reduced ions fold in the gas phase to a more compact conformation.     

Perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies in patients with Crohn's disease define a clinical subgroup

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) have been consistently detected in a subgroup of patients with Crohn's disease (CD). This study was designed to determine whether serum ANCA expression in patients with CD characterizes an identifiable clinical subgroup. METHODS: The study population consisted of 69 consecutive patients with an established diagnosis of CD as determined by a combination of characteristic clinical, radiographic, endoscopic, and histopathologic criteria. Sera from the patients were analyzed for the presence of ANCAs using the fixed neutrophil enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) assay. Perinuclear ANCA (pANCA)-positive and cytoplasmic ANCA (cANCA)-positive results by ELISA were confirmed by indirect immunofluorescence staining. Clinical profiles of the ANCA-positive patients with CD were compared with those of patients with CD not expressing ANCA (ANCA-negative). RESULTS: pANCA-positive patients with CD have endoscopically and/or histopathologically documented left-sided colitis and symptoms of left-sided colonic inflammation, clinically reflected by rectal bleeding and mucus discharge, urgency, and treatment with topical agents. One hundred percent of patients with CD expressing pANCA had "UC-like" features. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with CD, serum pANCA expression characterizes a UC-like clinical phenotype. Stratification of CD by serum pANCA provides evidence of heterogeneity within CD and suggests a common intestinal mucosal inflammatory process among a definable subgroup of patients with CD and UC expressing this marker.     

The role of enterocytes in gut dysfunction

Stem cells in the intestinal epithelium give rise to enterocytes, goblet cells, enteroendocrine cells, and Paneth cells. Each of these cell lines plays a role in cytoprotection of the intestinal mucosa. In particular, it has been demonstrated that mature enterocytes can act as antigen presenting cells. Parenteral and enteral nutrition are used to nourish critically ill patients. However, these regimens are unfortunately associated with gut atrophy. Glutamine, the preferred intestinal nutrient, reverses this gut atrophy and plays a key role in maintaining the barrier function of the gut. Specific nutrients (putrescine, spermidine, spermine) have been used to modulate intestinal adaption. In addition, ornithine has been shown to act as a regulator of intestinal adaption. In this review, we discuss the relationship between the biology of enterocytes and failure of the gut barrier.