Antibodies to chicken gizzard myosin, subfragment 1, light chain 20, and light meromyosin were used to visualize myosin in stress fibers of cultured chicken cells. The antibody specificity was tested on purified gizzard proteins and total cell lysates using immunogold silver staining on protein blots. Immunofluorescence on cultured chicken fibroblasts and epithelial cells exhibited a similar st...

Pemphigus vulgaris antigen (PVA) is a member of the desmoglein subfamily of cadherin cell adhesion molecules. Because autoantibodies in this disease cause blisters due to loss of epidermal cell adhesion, and because desmoglein is found in the desmosome cell adhesion junction, we wanted to determine if PVA is also found in desmosomes. By immunofluorescence, PV IgG bound, in a dotted pattern, to ...

The dopamine D3 receptor subtype was identified in rat kidney using both light microscopic immunohistochemistry and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry. Antipeptide polyclonal antisera were directed to both extracellular and intracellular regions of the native D3 receptor. Selectivity of the antipeptide antisera was validated by their ability to recognize native receptor protein expressed ...

Ultracryotomy of fixed specimens in combination with immunogold labeling is widely used for ultrastructural localization of many interesting molecules. Since the introduction of this technique, vast improvements in techniques and machinery have been established and the entire process has been made easier and more accessible. Normally, sections are cut and labeled within 1 day to prevent possibl...

BACKGROUND: Few studies have evaluated the ultrastructure of the superficial skin nerves in urticaria. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe findings in superficial skin nerves in cases of drug-induced acute urticaria. METHODS: Seven patients with drug-induced acute urticaria were included in the study. Skin biopsies were obtained from the urticarial lesion and from the apparen...

A simple, sensitive and cost-effective method for the analysis of the mycotoxin aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has been established based on controlled growth of immunogold. AFB1-BSA conjugate modified magnetic beads were employed as capture probe and anti-AFB1 antibody-coated gold colloids were used as detection probe for the immunological recognition of AFB1, as well as for signal transduction. The immu...

Nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons play an essential role in the central regulation of motor functions. These functions are initiated through the release of dopamine from axon terminals in the striatum or from dendrites in the substantia nigra (SN) and are terminated by the reuptake of dopamine by the sodium- and chloride-dependent dopamine transporter (DAT). DAT also can transport dopamine neu...

Prolonged benzodiazepine treatment leads to tolerance and increases the risk of dependence. Flurazepam (FZP) withdrawal is associated with increased anxiety correlated with increased alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid-type glutamate receptor (AMPAR)-mediated synaptic function and AMPAR binding in CA1 pyramidal neurons. Enhanced AMPAR synaptic strength is also associated wi...