Glutamate is released from synaptic vesicles following formation of a fusion pore, connecting the vesicle interior with the synaptic cleft. Release is proposed to result from either full fusion of the vesicle with the terminal membrane or by 'kiss-and-run,' where release occurs through the fusion pore. 'Kiss-and-run' seems implausible as passive diffusion of glutamate through the pore is too sl...

A problem frequently encountered during the construction of new plasmid vectors is the lack of suitable restriction sites for the insertion of foreign DNA. This problem is particularly common during the cloning of DNA restriction fragments into retroviral and eukaryotic expression vectors, as these vectors are often very large with few cloning sites available. The standard approach is to modify...

Hypothalamic kisspeptin neurons integrate and translate cues from the internal and external environments that regulate gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion and maintain fertility in mammals. However, the intracellular signaling pathways utilized to translate such information into changes in kisspeptin expression, release, and ultimately activation of the kisspeptin-receptive GnRH net...

The goal of this systematic literature review was to establish the effects of manual therapy, chiropractic, or osteopathic treatment of the kinetic imbalance due to suboccipital strain (KISS) syndrome in infants with positional preference, plagiocephaly, and colic. We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for articles on the effects of manual therapy, chiropractic, and osteopathy fo...

Kisspeptins are new actors in the neuroendocrine regulation of reproduction. In vertebrates, the number of kiss genes varies from none to three. Zebrafish have two kiss genes, kiss1 and kiss2, and two kiss receptors (GPR54), kiss1r and kiss2r. To provide detailed information on the organization of the kiss systems in zebrafish, antibodies were raised against the C terminus of zebrafish preproKi...

The kinetics of exo-endocytotic recycling could restrict information transfer at central synapses if neurotransmission were entirely reliant on classical full-collapse fusion. Nonclassical fusion retrieval by kiss-and-run would be kinetically advantageous but remains controversial. We used a hydrophilic quencher, bromophenol blue (BPB), to help detect nonclassical events. Upon stimulation, extr...

Intimate interactions between remotely located individuals are not well supported by conventional communication tools, mainly due to the lack of physical contact. Also, haptic research has not focused on the use of a kiss as a mode of interaction that maintains intimacy in long distance relationships. In this study, we designed and developed a haptic device called Kissenger (Kiss-Messenger) for...

How fusion pore formation during exocytosis affects the subsequent release of vesicle contents remains incompletely understood. It is unclear if the amount released per vesicle is dependent upon the nature of the developing fusion pore and whether full fusion and transient kiss and run exocytosis are regulated by similar mechanisms. We hypothesise that if consistent relationships exist between ...

The kiss of death Cellular suicide is a grave matter, motivating researchers to a thorough exploration of the genetic pathways involved. Of the three main means by which cells die, most in the scientific community are quite familiar with the genetically regulated apoptotic pathway (1). Autophagy, in which the cell literally digests itself, is likewise now also recognized as a form of regulated ...

The programmed cell death (PCD) of neurons is generally thought to be cell autonomous and not to require a death signal from other cells. A recent study by Marín-Teva et al., in this issue of Neuron, brings this theory into question and suggests that neighboring microglia actively participate in the PCD of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum.