Olanzapine is one of the most widely prescribed atypical antipsychotic drugs in the treatment of schizophrenia. Besides its well-known side effect on weight gain, it may also impair human parental behavior. In this study, we took a preclinical approach to examine the behavioral effects of olanzapine on rat maternal behavior and investigated the associated neural basis using the c-Fos immunohist...

Pneumocystis carinii is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes life-threatening pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals. Infants appear to be particularly susceptible to Pneumocystis pulmonary infections. We have previously demonstrated that there is approximately a 3-week delay in the clearance of Pneumocystis organisms from pup mouse lungs compared to that in adults. We have further ...

Protein degradation via prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein (Pup) tagging is conserved in bacteria belonging to the phyla Actinobacteria and Nitrospira. The physiological role of this novel proteolytic pathway is not yet clear, although in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the world's most threatening bacterial pathogen, Pup tagging is important for virulence. PafA, the Pup ligase, couples ATP hydroly...

In this study, three lines of evidence suggest a role for α(2)-adrenoreceptors in rat pup odor-preference learning: olfactory bulb infusions of the α(2)-antagonist, yohimbine, prevents learning; the α(2)-agonist, clonidine, paired with odor, induces learning; and subthreshold clonidine paired with subthreshold β-adrenoceptor activation also recruits learning. Increased mitral cell layer pCREB o...

Superior cervical ganglion neurons (SCGN) are often used to investigate neurotransmitter release mechanisms. In this study, we optimized the dissociation and culture conditions of rat SCGN cultures for dual patch clamp recordings. Two weeks in vitro are sufficient to achieve a significant CNTF-induced cholinergic switch and to develop mature and healthy neuronal profiles suited for detailed pat...

Reducing youth access to tobacco products has been advocated as one public health strategy to address the problem of youth tobacco use (1,2). Enactment and enforcement of laws prohibiting the possession, use, and purchase of tobacco by minors represent one approach to restricting youth tobacco access and decreasing public smoking among youth. Youth possession, use, and purchase (PUP) laws curre...