Two new phenylpropanoid glycosides named cuneataside E (1) and cuneataside F (2), were isolated from the aerial parts of Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don, whose structures were E and Z isomer, respectively. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of comprehensive spectroscopic analysis (UV, IR, HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR). In in vitro bioassays at 10 μmol/L, compound 1 showed moderate...

current medical journals will remember that in May 1903, Major W. B. Leishman, r.a.m.c., reported the discovery of parasitic bodies, which he suggested were possibly the remains of trijvanosomata, in films taken post-mortem from the spleen of a soldier who had died from a fever apparently contracted in Dum Dum. In July 1903, Captain Donovan, I.M.S., announced that he had found similar bodies in...

Using whole cell patch-clamp technique and immunocytochemistry on adult dorsal unpaired median (DUM) neurons isolated from the cockroach Periplaneta americana CNS, we reported the characterization of a native mGluR, sharing pharmacological properties with vertebrate metabotropic glutamate receptor III (mGluRIII) that regulated voltage-dependent sodium current (I(Na)). The global I(Na) was disso...

Small conductance calcium activated potassium channels (SK) are crucial in the regulation of cell firing frequency in the nervous system and other tissues. In the present work, a novel SK channel blocker, designated BmSKTx1, was purified from the scorpion Buthus martensi Karsh venom. The sequence of the N-terminal 22 amino acid residues was determined by Edman degradation. Using this sequence i...

We measured neutral endopeptidase (NEP) activity in serum from non-smoking healthy Japanese and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients without neurological or inflammatory diseases. The serum NEP activity (sNEP) of 25 males and 25 females, aged 20 to 65 years, ranged from 0.003 to 1.62 pmole/min/microliter. There was no significant difference in sNEP activity between the sexes (male: 0.40 +...

Insect flight is one of the most intense and energy-demanding physiological activities. High carbohydrate oxidation rates are necessary for take-off, but, to spare the limited carbohydrate reserves, long-distance flyers, such as locusts, soon switch to lipid as the main fuel. We demonstrate that before a flight, locust muscles are metabolically poised for take-off by the release of octopamine f...

In the central nervous system of both vertebrates and invertebrates inhibitory neurotransmission is mainly achieved through activation of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors. Extensive studies have established the structural and pharmacological properties of vertebrate GABA receptors. Although the vast majority of insect GABA-sensitive responses share some properties with vertebrate GABAA ...

Dum and Strick (J. Neurophysiol. 2003; 89, 634-639) proposed a division of the cerebellar dentate nucleus into a "motor" and "non-motor" area based on anatomical data in the monkey. We asked the question whether motor and non-motor domains of the dentate can be found in humans using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Therefore dentate activation was compared in motor and cognitive ta...