Long-term memory for sensitization of the gill- and siphon-withdrawal reflexes in Aplysia californica requires RNA and protein synthesis. These long-term behavioral changes are accompanied by long-term facilitation of the synaptic connections between the gill and siphon sensory and motor neurons, which are similarly dependent on transcription and translation. In addition to showing an increase ...

Previous reports strongly suggest that, in addition to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, rabies virus can use other, as-yet-unidentified receptors. We found that laboratory cell lines susceptible to rabies virus infection express the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) (CD56) on their surface, whereas resistant cells do not, supporting the idea that NCAM could be a rabies virus receptor. W...

The neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM is capable of mediating cell-cell adhesion via homophilic interactions. In this study, three strategies have been combined to identify regions of NCAM that participate directly in NCAM-NCAM binding: analysis of domain deletion mutations, mapping of epitopes of monoclonal antibodies, and use of synthetic peptides to inhibit NCAM activity. Studies on L cells...

DM-GRASP is an immunoglobulin superfamily cell adhesion molecule that is expressed in both the developing nervous and immune system. Specific populations of neurons respond to DM-GRASP substrates appears to require homophilic interactions between DM-GRASP molecules. We were interested in determining whether DM-GRASP interacts heterophilically with other ligands as well. We have found that eleve...

Intercellular adhesion molecules can be classified as Ca2+ dependent or Ca2+ independent. This classification has significant functional implications regarding cellular interactions. The best characterized Ca2(+)-dependent adhesion molecules, such as L-CAM or E-cadherin, belong to the family of closely related cell surface molecules called cadherins. On the other hand, those immunoglobulin supe...

We investigated whether the L2/HNK-1 carbohydrate epitope, expressed by two unusual glycolipids and several neural adhesion molecules, including L1, neural cell adhesion molecule, J1, and the myelin-associated glycoprotein, is involved in adhesion. Monoclonal L2 antibodies, the L2/HNK-1-reactive, sulfate-3-glucuronyl residue carrying glycolipids (L2 glycolipid) and a tetrasaccharide derived fro...