Energy and glucose homeostasis are regulated by central serotonin 2C receptors. These receptors are attractive pharmacological targets for the treatment of obesity; however, the identity of the serotonin 2C receptor-expressing neurons that mediate the effects of serotonin and serotonin 2C receptor agonists on energy and glucose homeostasis are unknown. Here, we show that mice lacking serotonin ...

Epilepsy is a syndrome of episodic brain dysfunction characterized by recurrent unpredictable, spontaneous seizures. Cerebellar dysfunction is a recognized complication of temporal lobe epilepsy and it is associated with seizure generation, motor deficits and memory impairment. Serotonin is known to exert a modulatory action on cerebellar function through 5HT(2C) receptors. 5-HT(2C) receptors a...

Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) is a leading cause of diarrhea in puppies in several parts of the world. In this study CPV-2 was detected and recovered from puppies showing clinical disease from Montevideo, Uruguay. Samples were processed and used to infect CRFK and MDCK cells in order to isolate the virus. Out of twelve, two samples were positive for CPV-2. A genomic region of 583 bp was ampl...

Two novel alternatively spliced isoforms of the human two-pore-domain potassium channel TREK-2 were isolated from cDNA libraries of human kidney and fetal brain. The cDNAs of 2438 base pairs (bp) (TREK-2b) and 2559 bp (TREK-2c) encode proteins of 508 amino acids each. RT-PCR showed that TREK-2b is strongly expressed in kidney (primarily in the proximal tubule) and pancreas, whereas TREK-2c is a...

To gain insight into early embryo development, we used microarray technology to compare gene expression profiles in metaphase II oocytes and one- (1C), two- (2C) and four-cell (4C) embryos. Differences in spot intensities were normalised and grouped using Avadis Prophetic software platform (version 3.3; Strand Genomics, Bangalore, India) and categories were based on the PANTHER and Gene Ontolog...

Signaling from the TCR involves the protein tyrosine kinase p59fyn (Fyn). Previous studies have shown that T cell development occurs normally in Fyn-/- mice. In this study, we investigated the requirement for Fyn in the development and function of T cells expressing either the transgenic 2C TCR, with high affinity for its Ag ligand, or the transgenic H-Y TCR, representative of a low affinity TC...

Although increased circulating tumor antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells can be achieved by vaccination or adoptive transfer, tumor progression nonetheless often occurs through resistance to effector function. To develop a model for identifying mechanisms of resistance to antigen-specific CTLs, poorly immunogenic B16-F10 melanoma was transduced to express the K(b)-binding peptide SIYRYYGL as a gree...

RNA editing is a post-transcriptional modification of pre-mRNA that results in increased diversity in transcriptomes and proteomes. It occurs in a wide variety of eukaryotic organisms and in some viruses. One of the most common forms of pre-mRNA editing is A-to-I editing, in which adenosine is deaminated to inosine, which is read as guanosine during translation. This phenomenon has been observe...

The combination of depression and anorexia may influence morbidity and progressive physical disability in the elderly. Gender differences exist in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation following stress exposure. The objective of this study was to investigate gender differences in feeding behavior under novelty stress in aged mice. Food intake measurement, immunohistochemical assessment...

BACKGROUND Current therapies for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have low cure rates or significant side effects. It has been reported that complexes composed of interleukin (IL)-2 and stimulating anti-IL-2 antibody (IL-2C) suppress malignant melanoma growth. We investigated whether it could have similar effects on RCC. METHODS A syngeneic RCC model was established by subcutaneously injec...