Consumption of solutions containing sodium chloride is enhanced in female oxytocin-deficient mice.

Intact and ovariectomized oxytocin (OT)-deficient (OT-/-) and wild-type (OT+/+) mice were tested for consumption of 0.5 M NaCl solution or tap water in a 2-bottle choice test. During 3 days of acclimation, voluntary ingestion of NaCl was equal between genotypes. After overnight fluid deprivation, intact OT-/- mice ingested 2 times more NaCl solution than OT+/+ mice in the 6th hr, but not the 1 st hr, after reintroduction of fluid. Ovariectomized mice consumed less than intact mice after overnight fluid deprivation. When a 0.2 M NaCl solution was administered for 6 days in ovariectomized mice, OT-/- mice voluntarily consumed greater amounts than OT+/+ mice. After overnight fluid deprivation, consumption by OT-/- mice was 3 times that of OT+/+ mice at 1 hr and 2-fold greater after 6 hr. Enhanced intake of NaCl-containing solutions in female OT-/- mice suggests that central OT may be an important inhibitor of sodium consumption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biological Effects of Flammulina Velutipes Richin RE on Chinese Kunming Mice

ＢｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌＥｆｆｅｃｔｓｏｆＦｌａｍｍｕｌｉｎａＶｅｌｕｔｉｐｅｓＲｉｃｈｉｎＲＥｏｎＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＫｕｎｍｉｎｇＭｉｃｅＬｉａｎｇＤｉｎｇｂａｎｇ（梁定邦）；ＣｕｉＤｅｆａｎｇ（崔德芳）；ＺｈａｎｇＪｉｎｔｏｎｇ（张金桐）（Ｄｅｐａｒｔｍ...     

Effectiveness of cardenolides as feeding deterrents toPeromyscus mice

I compared the feeding responses of five species ofPeromyscus mice (aztecus, polionotus, melanotis, leucopus, andmaniculatus) to three bitter-tasting cardenolides (ouabain, digoxin, and digitoxin) that differ greatly in lipophilic character.Peromyscus, like other muroid rodents, are unusual in that they can ingest relatively large amounts of cardenolides without adverse physiologic effects. In experiment 1, I determined avoidance thresholds for the three cardenolides with 48 hr, two-choice tests. Mice exhibited large interspecific differences in avoidance threshold, and the interspecific ranking of the thresholds (maniculatus=leucopus >melanotis >polionotus >aztecus) was the same for each of the cardenolides. In experiment 2, I reevaluated the avoidance thresholds, but this time monitored the pattern of intake (i.e., bout lengths) during initial feeding encounters with cardenolidelaced diets. For each cardenolide, mice were subjected to three tests. In test 1, they received a control diet; in test 2, a diet containing the cardenolide at a concentration 1 log, unit below the avoidance threshold (as determined in experiment 1); and in test 3, a diet containing the cardenolide at the avoidance threshold concentration. Results were similar across all species and cardenolide types: Bout lengths in tests 1 and 2 were statistically equal, whereas those in test 3 were significantly shorter than those in test 1. The rapid rejection of cardenolide-laced diets in test 3 is consistent with a preingestive (i.e., gustatory) mechanism underlying the avoidance thresholds. I conclude (1) thatPeromyscus species differ substantially in taste sensitivity to cardenolides and that these differences may influence each species' respective ability to eat cardenolide-laced insects; and (2) that a species' relative taste sensitivity to one cardenolide predicts its sensitivity to other cardenolides.     

Construction of human monoclonal single-chain Fv antibodies against small-cell lung cancer by phage display libraries derived from cell-immunized SCID mice engrafted with human peripheral blood lymphocytes

In this study, we describe a phage display strategy to obtain human monoclonal single-chain Fv (scFv) antibodies binding target cancer cell surface proteins. By developing a cancer cell immunization protocol for SCID mice engrafted with human peripheral blood lymphocytes in combination with an antibody phage display method, we have isolated phage antibodies binding small-cell lung cancer cell line H889 by subtractive selection. One of the isolated scFv antibodies, 12EAb, recognized the E2 component of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC-E2) by immunoprecipitation according to MALDI-TOF MS analysis. Furthermore, we have confirmed the plasma membrane localization of PDC-E2 in small-cell lung cancer cells by immunocytochemistry and cell surface protein biotinylation, although PDC-E2 is usually located in the mitochondrial matrix. These results, including unique localization of identified antigens, were obtained by proteomic approaches. The present methods can be applied to generate human monoclonal scFv antibodies against tumor cells and to identify new molecular targets for immunotherapy and markers for diagnosis.     

Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy via Transporting Endogenous Tumor Antigens to Lymph Nodes Mediated by Nano Fe3O4

While immunotherapy has a tremendous clinical potential to combat cancer, immune responses generated by conventional cancer immunotherapy remain not enough to completely eliminate tumors, mainly due to the tumor's immunosuppressive microenvironment and heterogeneity of tumor immunogenicity. To improve antitumor immune responses and realize personalized immunotherapy, in this report, endogenous tumor antigens (ETAs) that dynamically present on tumor cells are transported to lymph nodes (LNs). Based on the hypothesis that nano Fe₃O₄ (≈10 nm) could serve as the nanocarrier for transporting ETAs from the tumor to LNs, we wondrously find that Fe₃O₄ has a tremendous potential to improve cancer immunotherapy, because of its excellent protein‐captured efficiency and LNs‐targeted ability. To ensure the optimal ETAs‐bound efficiency of Fe₃O₄, a core–shell formulation (denoted as Ce6/Fe₃O₄‐L) is developed and specific release of Fe₃O₄ in tumor is enabled. These findings provide a simple and general strategy for boosting cytotoxic T‐cell response and realizing personalized cancer immunotherapy simultaneously.     

Avoidance of bird repellents by mice (Mus musculus)

It is believed that mammalian chemosensory irritants are not aversive to birds and vice versa. Nevertheless, few avian repellents have been tested against mammals. For that reason, we evaluated the efficacy of 1.0% w/v methyl anthranilate, orthoaminoacetophenone, 2-amino-4,5-methoxyacetophenone, 2-methoxyacetophenone, and veratryl amine as mouse repellents in 3-hr no-choice drinking tests. Relative to ingestion of plain water, all test substances significantly reduced (P < 0.05) intake. Orthoaminoaceto-phenone was the most effective repellent, with intake reduced to levels statistically indistinguishable from zero.     

Espresso Reward Learning, Hold the Dopamine: Theoretical Comment on Robinson et al. (2005).

Question: Is dopamine needed for reward learning? Answer: No--at least, not in the brain of a caffeinated dopamine-deficient (DD) mutant mouse. That is the conclusion of an important paper in this issue by S. Robinson, S. M. Sandstrom, V. H. Denenberg, and R. D. Palmiter (see record 2005-01705-001). Those authors demonstrate that reward learning can proceed normally in the brains of DD mice, even though they contain no dopamine at the time of learning, if the mice are given caffeine just before learning. Caffeine activates the DD mice by a nondopaminergic mechanism, allowing them to learn where to obtain food reward in a T-maze runway. Their reward-learning-without-dopamine is revealed on a subsequent test day, when dopamine function is restored by L-dopa administration. Robinson et al. conclude that dopamine is not needed for normal learning about rewards, or for hedonic "liking" of rewards during learning, but rather specifically for a motivational "wanting" component of reward, such as incentive salience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discriminative Stimulus, Reinforcing, Physical Dependence, and Antinociceptive Effects of Oxycodone in Mice, Rats, and Rhesus Monkeys.

Despite oxycodone's (4,5-epoxy-14-hydroxy-3-methoxy-17-methylmorphinan-6-one) history of clinical use and the attention it has received as a drug of abuse, few reports have documented its pharmacology's relevance to its abuse or its mechanism of action. The purposes of the present study were to further characterize the analgesic effects of oxycodone, its mechanism of action, and its effects in terms of its relevance to its abuse liability. The results indicate that oxycodone had potent antinociceptive effects in the mouse paraphenylquinone writhing, hot-plate, and tail-flick assays, in which it appeared to be acting as a μ-opioid receptor agonist. It generalized to the heroin discriminative stimulus and served as a positive reinforcer in rats and completely suppressed withdrawal signs in morphinedependent rhesus monkeys. These results suggest that the analgesic and abuse liability effects of oxycodone are likely mediated through μ-opioid receptors and provide the first laboratory report of its discriminative stimulus, reinforcing, and morphine cross-dependency effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SOD对肿瘤细胞凋亡影响和抗氧化损伤的研究:Ⅳ.SOD对荷瘤小鼠正常组织氧化损伤的保护效应

探讨超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)对电离辐射和肿瘤化疗药物对荷瘤机体正常组织损伤的保护效应及机制,测定荷瘤鼠肝脏、脾脏、肾脏、心脏、肺、脑和骨髓组织的活性氧(ROS)、氧化产物丙二醛(MDA)水平和谷胱苷肽过氧化物酶(GSH-Px)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性,并观察SOD对荷瘤小鼠肝脏超微结构的影响。结果表明,荷瘤小鼠受照射和化疗药物后其骨髓、肝脏、肾脏、脾脏、组织匀浆中ROS、MDA含量明显升高,而GSH-Px和CAT活性明显降低,其机制是电离辐射和化疗药物造成抗氧化酶的损伤及机体内ROS含量上升。加入SOD与对照组相比,显著降低荷瘤小鼠骨髓、肝脏、脾脏组织匀浆中ROS、MDA含量,略微升高GSH-Px和CAT活性,而对肾脏组织匀浆中ROS、MDA含量和GSH-Px和CAT活性无明显影响,同时SOD可明显减轻电离辐射对荷瘤小鼠肝细胞超微结构破坏,SOD通过直接清除自由基和保护抗氧化酶的损伤起辐射保护作用。