母爱剥夺损害大鼠的情绪记忆

为了探究母爱剥夺对大鼠认知和记忆能力的影响,将新生SD大鼠分为对照组和母爱剥夺组,成年后进行记忆能力测试.结果表明,母爱剥夺组大鼠在开场实验中的活动量和探索行为正常;新异物体识别实验中,母爱剥夺组鼠在新物体上探究的时间也与对照组相当;而在明暗箱被动回避实验中,母爱剥夺组大鼠的逃避潜伏期显著短于对照组,表现出恐惧记忆能力...     

A new area in the brain associated with learning and memory

A new subdivision, named marginal division (MrD)> consisting of spindle-shaped neurons, has been identified at the caudomedial margin of the neostriatum in the brains of the rat, cat, monkey and human. It is distinguishable from the rest of striatum by special neural connections and many intensely expressed neuropeptides and some monoamines in the fibers, terminals and neuronal somata. Three-dimensional reconstruction of the rat brain reveals that the MrD is a flat pan-shaped area between the neostriatum and globus pal-lidus. Chemical lesions of bilateral MrD in rats will result in severely impaired learning and memory functions, as was demonstrated by double blind Y-maze test. The function of MrD has been shown to be associated with learning and memory by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRl) technique in human brain in vivo . Functional neuronal connections are observed between the MrD and hippocampus, amygdala, as well as the basal nucleus of Meynert by chemically induced c-Fos immunohistochemical staining. MrD is a newly discovered part and a universal structure in the neostriatum of the mammalian brain. MrD might very possibly play an important role in processes of the learning and memory.     

Benzodiazepine impairs and beta-carboline enhances performance in learning and memory tasks

Benzodiazepines are widely used anxiolytics and anticonvulsants, and their potent sedative properties are routinely used in presurgical anaesthesia. However, they are also known to induce a strong anterograde amnesia in patients. Specific benzodiazepine antagonists have recently been described, some of which have intrinsic pharmacological properties that are opposite to those of benzodiazepines. These have been called inverse agonists and they have been shown to be proconvulsant or convulsant whereas benzodiazepines are anticonvulsants. Inverse agonists are also anxiogenic rather than anxiolytic. Since benzodiazepines induce anterograde amnesia, we have investigated the possibility that inverse agonists might also have an opposite effect for this property and so enhance acquisition (learning) and (or) retention (memory). We report here that, in three different animal models, an inverse agonist of the beta-carboline group, methyl beta-carboline-3-carboxylate (beta-CCM), enhances animal performance in three different tasks used to investigate learning and memory.     

Interactive memory systems in the human brain.

Learning and memory in humans rely upon several memory systems, which appear to have dissociable brain substrates. A fundamental question concerns whether, and how, these memory systems interact. Here we show using functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) that these memory systems may compete with each other during classification learning in humans. The medial temporal lobe and basal ganglia were differently engaged across subjects during classification learning depending upon whether the task emphasized declarative or nondeclarative memory, even when the to-be-learned material and the level of performance did not differ. Consistent with competition between memory systems suggested by animal studies and neuroimaging, activity in these regions was negatively correlated across individuals. Further examination of classification learning using event-related FMRI showed rapid modulation of activity in these regions at the beginning of learning, suggesting that subjects relied upon the medial temporal lobe early in learning. However, this dependence rapidly declined with training, as predicted by previous computational models of associative learning.     

Distinct memory traces for two visual features in the Drosophila brain

The fly Drosophila melanogaster can discriminate and remember visual landmarks. It analyses selected parts of its visual environment according to a small number of pattern parameters such as size, colour or contour orientation, and stores particular parameter values. Like humans, flies recognize patterns independently of the retinal position during acquisition of the pattern (translation invariance). Here we show that the central-most part of the fly brain, the fan-shaped body, contains parts of a network mediating visual pattern recognition. We have identified short-term memory traces of two pattern parameters--elevation in the panorama and contour orientation. These can be localized to two groups of neurons extending branches as parallel, horizontal strata in the fan-shaped body. The central location of this memory store is well suited to mediate translational invariance.     

Machinery for protein sorting and assembly in the mitochondrial outer membrane

Mitochondria contain translocases for the transport of precursor proteins across their outer and inner membranes. It has been assumed that the translocases also mediate the sorting of proteins to their submitochondrial destination. Here we show that the mitochondrial outer membrane contains a separate sorting and assembly machinery (SAM) that operates after the translocase of the outer membrane (TOM). Mas37 forms a constituent of the SAM complex. The central role of the SAM complex in the sorting and assembly pathway of outer membrane proteins explains the various pleiotropic functions that have been ascribed to Mas37 (refs 4, 11-15). These results suggest that the TOM complex, which can transport all kinds of mitochondrial precursor proteins, is not sufficient for the correct integration of outer membrane proteins with a complicated topology, and instead transfers precursor proteins to the SAM complex.     

Palindromic assembly of the giant muscle protein titin in the sarcomeric Z-disk

The Z-disk of striated and cardiac muscle sarcomeres is one of the most densely packed cellular structures in eukaryotic cells. It provides the architectural framework for assembling and anchoring the largest known muscle filament systems by an extensive network of protein-protein interactions, requiring an extraordinary level of mechanical stability. Here we show, using X-ray crystallography, how the amino terminus of the longest filament component, the giant muscle protein titin, is assembled into an antiparallel (2:1) sandwich complex by the Z-disk ligand telethonin. The pseudosymmetric structure of telethonin mediates a unique palindromic arrangement of two titin filaments, a type of molecular assembly previously found only in protein-DNA complexes. We have confirmed its unique architecture in vivo by protein complementation assays, and in vitro by experiments using fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The model proposed may provide a molecular paradigm of how major sarcomeric filaments are crosslinked, anchored and aligned within complex cytoskeletal networks.     

A mammalian protein with specific demethylase activity for mCpG DNA

DNA-methylation patterns are important for regulating genome functions, and are determined by the enzymatic processes of methylation and demethylation. The demethylating enzyme has now been identified: a mammalian complementary DNA encodes a methyl-CpG-binding domain, bears a demethylase activity that transforms methylated cytosine bases to cytosine, and demethylates a plasmid when the cDNA is translated or transiently transfected into human embryonal kidney cells in vitro. The discovery of this DNA demethylase should provide a basis for the molecular and developmental analysis of the role of DNA methylation and demethylation.     

Spatial Memory Deficit and Tau Hyperphosphorylation Induced by Inhibiting PP2A in Rat Brain

Hyperphosphorylation of Tau in Alzheimer＇s disease （AD） brain appears to be caused by a down-regulation of protein phospbatase 2A （PP2A）. In this study, we selectively inhibited PP2A by injection of okadaic acid （OA） into the Meynert nucleus basalis of rats and found that 0.4 pmol of OA injeetion induced approximately 60% inhibition of PP2A 24 h after injection, 13% inhibition 48 h after injection and no obvious inhibition 72 h after injection. Hyperphosphorylation of Tau at Ser-198/ Ser-199/Ser-202 and Ser-396/Ser-404 and spatial memory deficit of rats were induced 24 h after 0. d prnol of OA injection. This study suggests that a dowreregulation of PP2A may underlie almormal hyperphosphorylation of cytoskeletal proteins leading to neurofibrillary degeneration in AD.     

A naturally immunogenic virion-associated protein specific for HIV-2 and SIV

The genomic organization of HIV-1 and the family of HIV-2 and SIV viruses is similar. However, there is an open reading frame, orf-x, that is present in HIV-2 and SIV, but not in HIV-1. The extent of protein sequence conservation in orf-x between HIV-2ROD and SIVMAC suggests that this open reading frame encodes a gene that may be important for infectivity or replication. Here, we show that the orf-x products of SIVMAC and HIV-2SBL-6669 are virion-associated and that the introduction of a premature stop codon into orf-x, did not abrogate virus infectivity and replication in vitro. Antibody reactivity to the orf-x product was detected in 35 of 42 HIV-2 positive serum samples and 11 of 52 SIV seropositive monkeys. No such antibodies were detected in HIV-1 positive donors, blood donors seronegative for both HIV-2 and HIV-1, or SIV seronegative monkeys. This suggests that orf-x is dispensable for in vitro replication of SIVMAC and that the orf-x gene product of HIV-2 or its antibody can be used to distinguish HIV-2 from HIV-1 infection.     

蛋白质结构中氨基酸残基聚集体的识别与分析

在蛋白质结构中，氨基酸残基并不是单独行使其功能．几个残基通常聚集在一起，共同承担生物学角色．本文通过对蛋白质结构内残基的空间分布进行分析，提取出从两个残基到五个残基的组合，并统计出它们出现的频率和频率分布．二元组在维系蛋白质三级结构中起重要作用，而三元组、四元组和五元组与蛋白质的功能有着密切的关系．这些多元组可为蛋白质结构及功能的研究提供必要的信息．     

Immunization with amyloid-beta attenuates Alzheimer-disease-like pathology in the PDAPP mouse.

Amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) seems to have a central role in the neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Familial forms of the disease have been linked to mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the presenilin genes. Disease-linked mutations in these genes result in increased production of the 42-amino-acid form of the peptide (Abeta42), which is the predominant form found in the amyloid plaques of Alzheimer's disease. The PDAPP transgenic mouse, which overexpresses mutant human APP (in which the amino acid at position 717 is phenylalanine instead of the normal valine), progressively develops many of the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease in an age- and brain-region-dependent manner. In the present study, transgenic animals were immunized with Abeta42, either before the onset of AD-type neuropathologies (at 6 weeks of age) or at an older age (11 months), when amyloid-beta deposition and several of the subsequent neuropathological changes were well established. We report that immunization of the young animals essentially prevented the development of beta-amyloid-plaque formation, neuritic dystrophy and astrogliosis. Treatment of the older animals also markedly reduced the extent and progression of these AD-like neuropathologies. Our results raise the possibility that immunization with amyloid-beta may be effective in preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease.     

Variability and memory of protein levels in human cells

Protein expression is a stochastic process that leads to phenotypic variation among cells. The cell-cell distribution of protein levels in microorganisms has been well characterized but little is known about such variability in human cells. Here, we studied the variability of protein levels in human cells, as well as the temporal dynamics of this variability, and addressed whether cells with higher than average protein levels eventually have lower than average levels, and if so, over what timescale does this mixing occur. We measured fluctuations over time in the levels of 20 endogenous proteins in living human cells, tagged by the gene for yellow fluorescent protein at their chromosomal loci. We found variability with a standard deviation that ranged, for different proteins, from about 15% to 30% of the mean. Mixing between high and low levels occurred for all proteins, but the mixing time was longer than two cell generations (more than 40 h) for many proteins. We also tagged pairs of proteins with two colours, and found that the levels of proteins in the same biological pathway were far more correlated than those of proteins in different pathways. The persistent memory for protein levels that we found might underlie individuality in cell behaviour and could set a timescale needed for signals to affect fully every member of a cell population.     

Ras regulates assembly of mitogenic signalling complexes through the effector protein IMP

The signal transduction cascade comprising Raf, mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase (MEK) and MAP kinase is a Ras effector pathway that mediates diverse cellular responses to environmental cues and contributes to Ras-dependent oncogenic transformation. Here we report that the Ras effector protein Impedes Mitogenic signal Propagation (IMP) modulates sensitivity of the MAP kinase cascade to stimulus-dependent activation by limiting functional assembly of the core enzymatic components through the inactivation of KSR, a scaffold/adaptor protein that couples activated Raf to its substrate MEK. IMP is a Ras-responsive E3 ubiquitin ligase that, on activation of Ras, is modified by auto-polyubiquitination, which releases the inhibition of Raf-MEK complex formation. Thus, Ras activates the MAP kinase cascade through simultaneous dual effector interactions: induction of Raf kinase activity and derepression of Raf-MEK complex formation. IMP depletion results in increased stimulus-dependent MEK activation without alterations in the timing or duration of the response. These observations suggest that IMP functions as a threshold modulator, controlling sensitivity of the cascade to stimulus and providing a mechanism to allow adaptive behaviour of the cascade in chronic or complex signalling environments.     

莱茵衣藻鞭毛内运输蛋白IFT81调控鞭毛组装

利用插入突变的方式获得了一株衣藻不运动突变体ift81,该突变体表现出鞭毛缺失或者短鞭毛的性状。基因序列分析表明,外源基因aphⅧ插入了突变体中IFT81( intraflagellar transport, IFT)基因的第五个外显子内,并导致该外显子原有的52个碱基对被替换。把含有完整IFT81基因的重组质粒导入突变体ift81后,其鞭毛恢复为野生型且可以检测到IFT81-HA融合蛋白的表达,这证明突变体的鞭毛缺陷确实是由于IFT81基因突变所导致。电镜观察显示突变体中鞭毛的显微结构发生改变,免疫荧光实验证实IFT81蛋白主要定位于基体和鞭毛部位。上述结果表明：IFT81蛋白缺失会导致衣藻鞭毛组装缺陷,在鞭毛组装所需蛋白的运输过程中,IFT81蛋白是必不可少的。     

High-affinity binding site for a specific nuclear protein in the human IgM gene

Proteins binding to specific regions of DNA with high affinity frequently govern or regulate reactions at the gene level. We have identified a high-affinity binding site in the immunoglobulin mu gene that binds a specific nuclear protein, and have now characterized it fully using nuclear factor 1 (NF-1), a protein purified from the nuclei of HeLa cells and required for the in vitro replication of adenovirus (Ad) DNA. NF-1 protects a 25-base pair (bp) double-stranded segment of DNA which shares a consensus sequence, 5' TGGA/CNNNNNGCCAA 3', with similar binding sites in the Ad-5 terminal repeat and the human c-myc gene. Although this site differs from the enhancer region, a biological function is suggested by the fact that it is DNase I hypersensitive in immunoglobulin-producing lymphoblastoid cells. The binding site for the NF-1 protein in the mu gene, by analogy with the site in the Ad-5 terminal repeat, may represent one component of a cellular origin of replication; alternatively, it may be responsible for the activation of the chromatin in this region.