Wnt-beta-catenin signaling initiates taste papilla development

Fungiform taste papillae form a regular array on the dorsal tongue. Taste buds arise from papilla epithelium and, unusually for epithelial derivatives, synapse with neurons, release neurotransmitters and generate receptor and action potentials. Despite the importance of taste as one of our five senses, genetic analyses of taste papilla and bud development are lacking. We demonstrate that Wnt-beta-catenin signaling is activated in developing fungiform placodes and taste bud cells. A dominant stabilizing mutation of epithelial beta-catenin causes massive overproduction of enlarged fungiform papillae and taste buds. Likewise, genetic deletion of epithelial beta-catenin or inhibition of Wnt-beta-catenin signaling by ectopic dickkopf1 (Dkk1) blocks initiation of fungiform papilla morphogenesis. Ectopic papillae are innervated in the stabilizing beta-catenin mutant, whereas ectopic Dkk1 causes absence of lingual epithelial innervation. Thus, Wnt-beta-catenin signaling is critical for fungiform papilla and taste bud development. Altered regulation of this pathway may underlie evolutionary changes in taste papilla patterning.     

Signaling in the Chemosensory Systems

The mammalian olfactory system is not uniformly organized but consists of several subsystems each of which probably serves distinct functions. Not only are the two major nasal chemosensory systems, the vomeronasal organ and the main olfactory epithelium, structurally and functionally separate entities, but the latter is further subcompartimentalized into overlapping expression zones and projection-related subzones. Moreover, the populations of ‘OR37’ neurons not only express a unique type of olfactory receptors but also are segregated in a cluster-like manner and generally project to only one receptor-specific glomerulus. The septal organ is an island of sensory epithelium on the nasal septum positioned at the nasoplatine duct; it is considered as a ‘mini-nose’ with dual function. A specific chemosensory function of the most recently discovered subsystem, the so-called Grueneberg ganglion, is based on the expression of olfactory marker protein and the axonal projections to defined glomeruli within the olfactory bulb. This complexity of distinct olfactory subsystems may be one of the features determining the enormous chemosensory capacity of the sense of smell.     

Effect of ethanol on toxicity and metabolism of amphetamine in the mouse.

Ethanol, 3 g/kg i.p., did not significantly alter the acute toxicity of amphetamine in the mouse. However, the urinary metabolite pattern was changed, suggesting that ethanol suppressed metabolism of the stimulant during the initial 6 h period. After 24 h, the mouse metabolized the same fraction of a given dose of amphetamine, whether it was given as amphetamine alone or amphetamine mixed with 2,3 or 4 g/kg ethanol.     

地球内核的地震波速各向异性与其自转有关

地球内核相对于外部地球存在差异的转动,固体内核表面相对于液态外核运动的线速度在赤道上最大,在两极为零,因此内核生长速度在赤道附近比两极处快,引力作用将驱动某内部的物质内赤道向两极流动使其保持近似球形,与这一流动相应的轴对称应力场使得六方紧密堆积（ｈｃＰ）铁晶体的ｃ轴沿内核自转轴方向排列,导致地震波速度各向异性。     

Wolves in sheep’s clothing: three new cases of aggressive mimicry in Red Sea coral reef fishes

ABSTRACT

Here we document three cases of mimicry in coral reef fishes not previously reported in the literature involving two groupers (Epinephelus leucogrammicus and Plectropomus marisrubri) and a soapfish (Diploprion drachi) as mimics, and two wrasses (Larabicus quadrilineatus and Cheilinus quinquecinctus) and a blenny (Meiacanthus nigrolineatus) as models. All three cases are of aggressive mimicry, with a predatory species mimicking a harmless one, and in one of the cases, the mimicry is also Müllerian, where both the predator and harmless species are unpalatable.     

Evolutionary genetics. Clonal inheritance of avian mitochondrial DNA.

We have taken a new approach to test the commonly accepted, but recently questioned, principle of clonal inheritance of vertebrate mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) by relating its inheritance to a female-specific marker of nuclear DNA. Whereas this is impossible in organisms with male heterogamy (such as mammals), we show here that genealogies of mtDNA and the female-specific W chromosome of a bird species are completely concordant. Our results indicate that inheritance of mtDNA is free of detectable recombination effects over an evolutionary timescale.     

Superconductivity in CaCuO2 as a result of field-effect doping.

Understanding the doping mechanisms in the simplest superconducting copper oxide-the infinite-layer compound ACuO2 (where A is an alkaline earth metal)-is an excellent way of investigating the pairing mechanism in high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors more generally. Gate-induced modulation of the carrier concentration to obtain superconductivity is a powerful means of achieving such understanding: it minimizes the effects of potential scattering by impurities, and of structural modifications arising from chemical dopants. Here we report the transport properties of thin films of the infinite-layer compound CaCuO2 using field-effect doping. At high hole- and electron-doping levels, superconductivity is induced in the nominally insulating material. Maximum values of Tc of 89 K and 34 K are observed respectively for hole- and electron-type doping of around 0.15 charge carriers per CuO2. We can explore the whole doping diagram of the CuO2 plane while changing only a single electric parameter, the gate voltage.     

Novel neurotrophic factor CDNF protects and rescues midbrain dopamine neurons in vivo

In Parkinson's disease, brain dopamine neurons degenerate most prominently in the substantia nigra. Neurotrophic factors promote survival, differentiation and maintenance of neurons in developing and adult vertebrate nervous system. The most potent neurotrophic factor for dopamine neurons described so far is the glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). Here we have identified a conserved dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) as a trophic factor for dopamine neurons. CDNF, together with its previously described vertebrate and invertebrate homologue the mesencephalic-astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor, is a secreted protein with eight conserved cysteine residues, predicting a unique protein fold and defining a new, evolutionarily conserved protein family. CDNF (Armetl1) is expressed in several tissues of mouse and human, including the mouse embryonic and postnatal brain. In vivo, CDNF prevented the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in a rat experimental model of Parkinson's disease. A single injection of CDNF before 6-OHDA delivery into the striatum significantly reduced amphetamine-induced ipsilateral turning behaviour and almost completely rescued dopaminergic tyrosine-hydroxylase-positive cells in the substantia nigra. When administered four weeks after 6-OHDA, intrastriatal injection of CDNF was able to restore the dopaminergic function and prevent the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra. Thus, CDNF was at least as efficient as GDNF in both experimental settings. Our results suggest that CDNF might be beneficial for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.