Vasoactive intestinal peptide regulates mitosis, differentiation and survival of cultured sympathetic neuroblasts

Although acute, millisecond-to-millisecond actions of neurotransmitters are well documented, diverse longer-term effects have been discovered only recently. Emerging evidence indicates that these signals regulate a variety of neuronal processes, from phenotypic expression to neurite outgrowth. Here we show that a single putative transmitter, vasoactive intestinal peptide, can exert multiple, long-term effects simultaneously: it stimulates mitosis, promotes neurite outgrowth and enhances survival of sympathetic neuron precursors in culture. As the peptide seems to be a normal presynaptic transmitter in the sympathetic system, synaptic transmission may exert hitherto unexpected effects.     

c-Myc regulates mammalian body size by controlling cell number but not cell size.

Overexpression of the proto-oncogene c-myc has been implicated in the genesis of diverse human tumours. c-Myc seems to regulate diverse biological processes, but its role in tumorigenesis and normal physiology remains enigmatic. Here we report the generation of an allelic series of mice in which c-myc expression is incrementally reduced to zero. Fibroblasts from these mice show reduced proliferation and after complete loss of c-Myc function they exit the cell cycle. We show that Myc activity is not needed for cellular growth but does determine the percentage of activated T cells that re-enter the cell cycle. In vivo, reduction of c-Myc levels results in reduced body mass owing to multiorgan hypoplasia, in contrast to Drosophila c-myc mutants, which are smaller as a result of hypotrophy. We find that c-myc substitutes for c-myc in fibroblasts, indicating they have similar biological activities. This suggests there may be fundamental differences in the mechanisms by which mammals and insects control body size. We propose that in mammals c-Myc controls the decision to divide or not to divide and thereby functions as a crucial mediator of signals that determine organ and body size.     

Position-dependent properties of retinal axons and their growth cones

The formation of the very orderly neuronal projection from the retina to the optic tectum is not yet understood, but several mechanisms are thought to be involved in a coordinated fashion. These mechanisms may include mechanical or chemical guidance in channels, guidance by spatial gradients of positional markers, gradients of temporal (maturation) markers or specific inter-axon interactions (see ref. 1 for review). The last-mentioned mechanism could explain the fibre order found in optic nerve and tract. It requires that some or all growing retinal axons can distinguish between retinal axons of various origins and grow preferentially along retinal axons originating from the same area as themselves. The in vitro experiments described here show that growth cones from the temporal half of the chick retina grow preferentially along temporal axons, whereas growth cones from nasal retina do not distinguish between nasal and temporal axons.     

广义系统的靶点和靶路能控性

研究广义系统的经济能控性问题。将丁伯根(Tinbergen)经济系统能控性原理推广到广义系统,分别给出了广义系统靶点能控和靶路能控的充要条件。     

Oligodendroglia metabolically support axons and contribute to neurodegeneration

Oligodendroglia support axon survival and function through mechanisms independent of myelination, and their dysfunction leads to axon degeneration in several diseases. The cause of this degeneration has not been determined, but lack of energy metabolites such as glucose or lactate has been proposed. Lactate is transported exclusively by monocarboxylate transporters, and changes to these transporters alter lactate production and use. Here we show that the most abundant lactate transporter in the central nervous system, monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1, also known as SLC16A1), is highly enriched within oligodendroglia and that disruption of this transporter produces axon damage and neuron loss in animal and cell culture models. In addition, this same transporter is reduced in patients with, and in mouse models of, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, suggesting a role for oligodendroglial MCT1 in pathogenesis. The role of oligodendroglia in axon function and neuron survival has been elusive; this study defines a new fundamental mechanism by which oligodendroglia support neurons and axons.     

基于目标模型的红外弱小目标预检测

为解决高空背景中低信噪比运动点目标的检测问题,本文提出了一种利用红外弱小目标和背景的不同模型来实现检测小目标的预检测方法。根据在同一帧图像中红外弱小目标与噪声点在局部图像中特性的不同,提出检测局部图像中一个点与目标模型的相似程度来判断是否为红外弱小目标的预检测方法。实验表明,该方法可以有效提高单帧目标的信噪比,可用于噪声环境的红外弱小目标检测。     

Assembly of microtubules at the tip of growing axons

The growth of axons in the developing nervous system depends on the elongation of the microtubules that form their principal longitudinal structural element. It is not known whether individual microtubules in the axon elongate at their proximal ends, close to the cell body, and then move forward into the lengthening axon, or whether tubulin subunits are transported to the tip of the axon and assembled there onto the free ends of microtubules. The former possibility is supported by studies of slow axonal transport in mature nerves from which it has been deduced that microtubule assembly occurs principally at the neuronal cell body. By contrast, the polarity of microtubules in axons, which have their 'plus' or 'fast-growing' ends distal to the cell body, suggests that assembly occurs at the growing tip, or growth cone, of the axon. We have addressed this question by topically applying Colcemid (N-desacetyl-N-methylcolchicine), and other drugs which alter microtubule stability, to different regions of isolated nerve cells growing in tissue culture. We find that the sensitivity to these drugs is greatest at the growth cone by at least two orders of magnitude, suggesting that this is a major site of microtubule assembly during axonal growth.     

激光粒度仪测定阿霉素纳米颗粒的粒径及粒径分布

以阿霉素为模型药物、N-乙烯基吡咯烷酮为单体,通过反相乳液聚合法制备了聚乙烯吡咯烷酮为载体的阿霉素抗癌纳米颗粒.用激光粒度仪测量了纳米颗粒的粒径大小和粒径分布,同时研究了乳化剂浓度、引发剂浓度、体系水量和反应温度对纳米颗粒尺寸的影响.     

实行大类招生后如何保证专业(方向)的教学质量

介绍了实行大类招生后,保证专业(方向)教学质量的几点做法.实践证明,大类招生后,虽然专业(方向)课时大幅度减少了,但只要我们采取积极的措施,专业(方向)的教学质量是完全可以保证的.     

Homing behaviour of axons in the embryonic vertebrate brain

In embryonic nervous systems, growing axons must often travel long distances through diverse extracellular terrains to reach their postsynaptic partners. In most embryos, axons grow to their appropriate targets along particular tracts or nerves, as though they were following guidance cues confined to specific pathways. For example, in all vertebrates, axons from the retina invariably grow to the tectum along the well-defined optic tract. Yet, transplant experiments demonstrate that retinal axons make tectal projections even though they enter the brain at locations which are distinctly off the optic tract. Only recently has it become possible to label discreet growing projections in the embryonic vertebrate brain. Thus, it is not yet known whether displaced retinal axons grow directly towards the tectum or find it accidently, through random extension. To resolve this question, pioneering axons from normal and transplanted eyes in embryonic Xenopus were labelled using a short-survival horseradish peroxidase (HRP) method, and their orientation during growth was quantitatively assessed. The finding that the ectopic fibres head towards their distant targets implies that guidance cues are not restricted to specific pathways but are distributed throughout the embryonic brain. The significance of this result is discussed with respect to the ontogeny and evolution of the visual pathway.     

两栖类交感神经节的突触传递

两栖类交感神经节广泛地用于神经生物学研究,包括突触和膜生物物理学研究．交感神经节细胞体积大,细胞的形状简单,无树突,突触位于细胞体上,神经节结构简单,但同时又具有中间神经元,在体外易于长时间存活．两栖动物交感神经节表现出多种突触后电位,包括快兴奋性突触后电位（ｆＥＰＳＰ）,慢抑制性突触后电位（ｓＩＰＳＰ）,慢兴奋性突触后电位（ｓＥＰＳＰ）,晚期慢兴奋性突触后电位（ｌｓＥＰＳＰ）,同时还表现多种突触塑性,说明该神经节具有信息存储功能,因此,两栖动物交感神经节可作为研究学习与记忆的模型系统．     

Rapid transport of foreign particles microinjected into crab axons

The rapid transport of optically detectable organelles in axons has been well documented, although its molecular mechanism remains unknown. Here we report that synthetic particles microinjected into the giant axons of the shore crab, Carcinus maenas, are also transported, moving as though they were endogenous organelles. Polystyrene beads, polyacrolein beads, paraffin droplets and glass fragments, of sizes up to 0.5 micron in diameter, have been tested. Many of these foreign particles move rapidly and for long distances along the axon in the anterograde direction, travelling in a saltatory fashion, within a well defined velocity range. In many respects the movements are indistinguishable from those of anterogradely moving endogenous organelles seen by phase-contrast in these axons. Our results indicate that there is a transport system in axons capable of carrying almost any particle of suitable physical properties in an anterograde direction.     

The sodium channel and intracellular H+ blockage in squid axons

Sodium channels in plasma membranes can be blocked by a large variety of toxins and local anaesthetics. This property, however, is not confined to relatively large molecules. For instance, extracellularly applied small ions like hydrogen may also prevent the passive transport of permeant cations across open Na+ channels. A typical feature of this phenomenon is that the blocking action of hydrogen is gradually relieved by increasing the voltage applied across the membrane. Although in the frog skeletal muscle there is no clear evidence for a similar intracellular action, we report here for the squid giant axon remarkable effects on the ionic permeability of Na+ channels when the internal perfusate contains an excess of protons. Analysing the action of low pH inside and outside the fibre in terms of a kinetic model, we could conclude that Na+ channels in squid axons are controlled by two independent groups: one with an apparent pKa of 4.6 and the other with pKa 5.8, the former feeling one-fifth of the applied membrane potential, the latter three-quarters. As with pharmacological agents, we also show that the voltage-dependence of the H+ blockage is not affected by the presence of the inactivation gate.     

目标探测基本属性与广义目标探测方程

基于探测学基本原理,以目标探测为对象分别讨论了目标探测的基本哲学属性、一般工程属性及现代目标探测的特殊性;从系统出发讨论了目标探测的系统性内涵,提出了广义目标探测方程,并分别以多普勒无线电、激光、电容3个典型的目标探测体制为例进行了应用分析。     

Segregation of functionally distinct axons in the monkey's optic tract

The classical neuro-ophthalmologic literature describes the organization of the primate's optic tract as containing a single topographic representation of the complete contralateral visual hemifield. In contrast, cats have separate visual field representations for the optic axons of the functionally distinct retinal ganglion cell classes. As the line of decussation for each ganglion cell class in the cat occupies a different location on the retinal surface, whereas in primates they are all superimposed, such a species difference might be expected. We report that implants of horseradish peroxidase placed in either the deep or superficial extremes of the monkey's optic tract produce retrograde labelling of distinct retinal ganglion cell classes, and produce anterograde labelling confined to distinct laminae of the lateral geniculate nucleus. Hence, the optic tract of the primate cannot contain a single representation of the contralateral visual hemifield; rather, independent visual field representations for the functionally distinct optic axons must exist. Their anatomical segregation may account for the clinical observation of selective impairments of distinct visual abilities following partial interruption of the optic tract in man.