The metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) have many important roles in regulation of neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission. In hippocampal area CA1, activation of mGluRs can reduce both excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission. The conventional view is that the presynaptic effects are mediated by L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (L-AP4)-sensitive, or group III mGluRs (mGlu...

PURPOSE To quantify diadenosine polyphosphate levels in tears of congenital aniridia patients to estimate the ocular surface changes associated with congenital aniridia compared to normal individuals. METHODS Fifteen patients diagnosed with congenital aniridia and a control group of forty volunteers were studied. Tears were collected to quantify the levels of diadenosine polyphosphates Ap4 A ...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND The therapeutic activities of Andrographis paniculata are attributed to four major active diterpenoids: andrographolide (AP1), 14-deoxy-11,12-didehydroandrographolide (AP3), neoandrographolide (AP4), and 14-deoxyandrographolide (AP6). This study aims to quantify the four active diterpenoids in various plant organs of A. paniculata at different growth stages in greenhous...

We examined the role of G-protein coupled receptor kinase-2 (GRK2) in the homologous desensitization of mGlu4 metabotropic glutamate receptors transiently expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. Receptor activation with the agonist l-2-amino-4-phosphonobutanoate (l-AP4) stimulated at least two distinct signaling pathways: inhibition of cAMP formation and activation of the mitogen-a...

In the postantibiotic era, available treatment options for severe bacterial infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus have become limited. Therefore, new and innovative approaches are needed to combat such life-threatening infections. Virulence factor expression in S. aureus is regulated in a cell density-dependent manner using "quorum sensing," which involves generation ...

It is becoming increasingly clear that the activation of specific terminal differentiation genes during neural development is critically dependent upon the establishment of unique combinatorial transcription factor codes within distinct neural cell subtypes. However, it is still unclear to which extent these codes are shared by lineage-unrelated neurons expressing the same terminal differentiat...

Gene expression analysis using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) requires the use of reference gene(s) in the target species. The long yellow daylily, Hemerocallis citrina Baroni. is rich in beneficial secondary metabolites and is considered as a functional vegetable. It is widely cultivated and consumed in East Asian countries. However, reference genes for use in RT-qP...

Staphylococcus aureus is a known major cause of foodborne illnesses, and milk and dairy products are often contaminated by enterotoxigenic strains of this bacterium. In the present study, 122 S. aureus isolates collected from different dairy products were characterised by phenotypic properties, by the distribution of genes encoding staphylococcal enterotoxins (sea, sec, sed, seg, seh, sei, sej,...

A number of transcription factors that are expressed within most, if not all, embryonic neuroblast (NB) lineages participate in neural subtype specification. Some have been extensively studied in several NB lineages (e.g. components of the temporal gene cascade) whereas others only within specific NB lineages. To what extent they function in other lineages remains unknown. Klumpfuss (Klu), the ...

Synapses between hippocampal interneurons are an important potential target for modulatory influences that could affect overall network behavior. We report that the selective group III metabotropic receptor agonist L(+)-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (L-AP4) depresses GABAergic transmission to interneurons more than to pyramidal neurons. The L-AP4-induced depression is accompanied by changes i...