Reciprocal changes in corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-like immunoreactivity and CRF receptors in cerebral cortex of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive degenerative disease of the nervous system characterized neuropathologically by the presence of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in amygdala, hippocampus and neocortex. Dysfunction and death of basal forebrain cholinergic neurones projecting to forebrain targets are associated with marked decreases in cholinergic markers, including the activity of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). Although cortical levels of somatostatin and somatostatin receptors are reduced in Alzheimer's, no consistent changes have been reported in other neuropeptide systems. We have now examined in control and Alzheimer's brain tissues pre- and postsynaptic markers of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), a hypothalamic peptide regulating pituitary-adrenocortical secretion which also seems to act as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS). We have found that in Alzheimer's, the concentrations of CRF-like immunoreactivity (CRF-IR) are reduced and that there are reciprocal increases in CRF receptor binding in affected cortical areas. These changes are significantly correlated with decrements in ChAT activity. Our results strongly support a neurotransmitter role for CRF in brain and demonstrate, for the first time, a modulation of CNS CRF receptors associated with altered CRF content. These observations further suggest a possible role for CRF in the pathophysiology of the dementia. Future therapies directed at increasing CRF levels in brain may prove useful for treatment.     

嗜甲基菌DM11菌株的二氯甲烷脱卤素酶是二聚体蛋白

经ＳＤＳ－聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳测定,嗜甲基菌ＤＭ１１菌株二氯甲烷脱卤素酶的亚基分子量为３１０００。通过沉降平衡超离心分析和凝胶过滤色谱分析证明,上述脱素酶的天然酶的分子量分别是６５８００和６３５００。这些结果表明,ＤＭ１１菌株的二氯甲烷脱卤素酶是二聚体蛋白。     

Copy-number variations associated with neuropsychiatric conditions

Neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism and schizophrenia have long been attributed to genetic alterations, but identifying the genes responsible has proved challenging. Microarray experiments have now revealed abundant copy-number variation--a type of variation in which stretches of DNA are duplicated, deleted and sometimes rearranged--in the human population. Genes affected by copy-number variation are good candidates for research into disease susceptibility. The complexity of neuropsychiatric genetics, however, dictates that assessment of the biomedical relevance of copy-number variants and the genes that they affect needs to be considered in an integrated context.     

Genomic screening and replication using the same data set in family-based association testing

The Human Genome Project and its spin-offs are making it increasingly feasible to determine the genetic basis of complex traits using genome-wide association studies. The statistical challenge of analyzing such studies stems from the severe multiple-comparison problem resulting from the analysis of thousands of SNPs. Our methodology for genome-wide family-based association studies, using single SNPs or haplotypes, can identify associations that achieve genome-wide significance. In relation to developing guidelines for our screening tools, we determined lower bounds for the estimated power to detect the gene underlying the disease-susceptibility locus, which hold regardless of the linkage disequilibrium structure present in the data. We also assessed the power of our approach in the presence of multiple disease-susceptibility loci. Our screening tools accommodate genomic control and use the concept of haplotype-tagging SNPs. Our methods use the entire sample and do not require separate screening and validation samples to establish genome-wide significance, as population-based designs do.     

Are baclofen-sensitive GABAB receptors present on primary afferent terminals of the spinal cord?

The site of action of the antispastic drug baclofen has long been considered to reside in the spinal cord although supraspinal effects have also been reported. This beta-chlorophenyl derivative of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) depresses both monosynaptic and polysynaptic transmission in the cord possibly through a decrease in transmitter release rather than by any antagonism at postsynaptic receptors. Recently, baclofen has been shown to be a selective ligand for a bicuculline-insensitive GABA receptor (GABAB) site that occurs widely in the mammalian central nervous system including the spinal cord. The apparent importance of the cord in the therapeutic effects of this drug prompted us to ask whether they involve GABAB site activation. As an initial step we have located these receptors by autoradiography, comparing them with classical GABAA sites. We report here that GABAB sites, unlike GABAA sites, are present in high concentrations in laminae I, II, III and IV of the dorsal horn and that after the neonatal administration of capsaicin this binding is reduced by 40-50%.     

Close genetic linkage between X-linked retinitis pigmentosa and a restriction fragment length polymorphism identified by recombinant DNA probe L1.28

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of retinal degeneration characterized by progressive visual field loss, night blindness and pigmentary retinopathy. Its prevalence is in the region of 1-2 in 5,000 of the general population, making it one of the commoner causes of blindness in early and middle life. Although 36-48% of RP patients are isolated cases, the remainder show autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive or X-linked modes of inheritance. The X-linked variety ( XLRP ) is found in 14-22% of RP families in the UK. In the present study, X chromosome-specific recombinant DNA probes which can detect restriction fragment length polymorphisms have been used to localize the XLRP gene(s) to a subregion of the X chromosome using linkage analysis. One of the probes, L1.28, has been shown to be closely linked to XLRP in five kindreds, with 95% confidence limits of 0-15 centimorgans (maximum LOD score of 7.89 at a distance of 3 centimorgans). This suggests that the XLRP locus lies on the proximal part of the short arm of the X chromosome. This probe is potentially useful for carrier detection and early diagnosis in about 40% of cases, provided that genetic heterogeneity can be excluded by analysis of further families.