Feline defensive rage is a form of aggression occurring in nature in response to a threatening condition and is elicited under laboratory conditions by electrical stimulation of the medial ...hypothalamus or midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG). Since it has recently been shown that cytokines can modulate neurotransmitter release, the present study was designed to determine the effects of administration of interleukin 2 (IL-2) into the PAG upon defensive rage elicited from the medial hypothalamus. Microinjections of relatively low doses of IL-2 into the dorsal PAG significantly facilitated defensive rage behavior elicited from the medial hypothalamus. The specificity of this phenomenon was supported by the following findings: (1) IL-2 induced effects were dose- and time-dependent, (2) the facilitative effects of IL-2 could be completely blocked by pre-treatment of the injection site with either anti-IL-2 or anti-IL-2 receptor antibody and (3) IL-2 administration into the PAG showed no effect upon another form of aggression, namely predatory attack, elicited from the lateral hypothalamus. The findings further demonstrated that the effects of IL-2 were mediated by an NK
1 receptor mechanism since pre-treatment of the PAG with an NK
1 receptor antagonist completely blocked the facilitating effects of IL-2. Immunocytochemical observations supported these findings by demonstrating an extensive pattern of labeling of IL-2Rα in the dorsal PAG. The present study thus demonstrates that IL-2 in the dorsal PAG potentiates defensive rage behavior and is mediated through an NK
1 receptor mechanism.
The midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG) is the area promoting emotional motor responses, reproductive behaviors and analgesia. Recent studies suggest that neurons in the PAG may be crucial for ...regulating the micturition reflex in both experimental animals and humans. We examined single neuronal activities in the PAG and the adjacent area in response to isovolumetric spontaneous micturition reflexes in 20 supracollicular decerebrated cats. In total, 84 neurons were recorded in the PAG that were related to urinary storage/micturition cycles. Of the neurons recorded, the most common were tonic storage neurons (43%), followed by tonic micturition neurons (29%), phasic storage neurons (15%) and phasic micturition neurons (13%). In addition to the tonic/phasic as well as storage/micturition classification, the neurons showed diverse discharge patterns: augmenting, constant and decrementing, with the constant discharge pattern being most common. Of the 16 neurons located within the PAG that had similar discharge patterns to those just ventral to the PAG, the micturition neurons were distributed in a broader area, whereas the storage neurons seemed to be concentrated in the middle part of the PAG (P0-1, Horsley-Clarke coordinate). High-frequency stimulation (HFS; 0.2-ms duration, 100 Hz) applied in the PAG elicited inhibition of the micturition reflex. Effective amplitude of the electrical stimulation for evoking inhibitory responses was less than 50 μA. In conclusion, the results of the present study showed that HFS of the PAG inhibited the micturition reflex and there were micturition-related neuronal firings in the PAG in cats, suggesting that the PAG is involved in neural control of micturition.
Photoacid generators (PAGs) have been widely used as a key component in the development of chemically amplified photoresist. In this study, a PAG with good thermal stability and an ...electron-withdrawing group was applied to AFM anodization lithography. Specifically, triarylsulfonium salts (TAS) such as a diphenyl(4-tert-butoxycarbomethoxyphenyl)-sulfonium triflate (DTCPS-Tf) and triphenyl-sulfonium triflate (TPS-Tf) were used successfully to fabricate anodized nanostructures by AFM anodization lithography. In addition, the effect of electron-withdrawing materials and optimized lithographic conditions were studied through a systematic alteration of lithographic factors such as applied voltage, lithographic speed, and humidity.
The Eocene clastics of the NW part of the island of Pag overlie carbonate platform deposits and are dominantly sandy. Besides minor components, they include cross-laminated and cross-bedded ...sandstones produced by marine tractive flows, mostly directed toward E, and ESE, and dominantly massive sandstones probably deposited by gravity flows. The area was situated close to sand-rich sources and river mouth(s). Possible settings include a delta-related shallow-marine area, and a sea strait. Structural deformation intervened very early in the history of a complex outer dinaric foreland realm and governed its subsequent evolution, in contrast to a simple foreland trough envisaged before.
PAG and Quencher Effects on DBARC Performance Padmanaban, Murirathna; Kudo, Takanori; Chakrapani, Srinivasan ...
Journal of Photopolymer Science and Technology,
01/2011, Letnik:
24, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Odprti dostop
Photosensitive Developable Bottom Anti-Reflective Coatings (DBARC) in the simplest form can be considered as a dyed photoresist. They need to function as a BARC material to address the issues due to ...the reflectivity from substrates and also be completely soluble in the developer after exposure, bake and develop steps of the photoresist. Hence, DBARCs possess the characteristics of both BARCs and photoresist materials. It is well known and very well documented that photoacid generators (PAGs) and quenchers play key roles in the chemically amplified resist formulations. Quantum efficiency, acid strength and diffusion length of the PAGs influence the resist sensitivity, resolution, exposure latitude, depth-of-focus, I-D bias, line-width roughness (LWR), line-edge roughness (LER), shelf-life, delay time and environmental stability of the photoresist. Similar to PAGs, quenchers also have direct impact on the resist performance mentioned above and they work in tandem. In photosensitive DBARCs as well PAGs and quenchers play crucial roles. In addition, the critical concentration of photogenerated acid needs to be maintained in the exposed areas of DBARC and photoresist for optimal performance. Since the photoresist and the DBARC polymers could have different cleave reaction activation energies, selection of PAGs and quenchers which does not easily intermix with photoresist is important to maintain the resist performance. Conversely, acid diffused or intermixed from the photoresist can also impact the DBARC performance. In this paper, effects of PAG and quencher type and amount, resist bakes and DBARC bakes on the photosensitive DBARC profiles are presented.
Methyl-β-cyclodextrin and filipin are cholesterol-binding reagents often used interchangeably to investigate functional requirements for lipid rafts in receptor-mediated signal transduction. ...Recently, contradictory results were reported by two groups using these reagents in different model systems to investigate the role of lipid rafts in BCR signaling. We confirm here that BCR-mediated calcium release is inhibited by filipin and enhanced by cyclodextrin. The inhibitory effect of filipin could not be attributed to raft disruption, however, because its ability to release raft-associated proteins into the detergent-soluble phase of cell lysates was less than that of cyclodextrin. In contrast, we found that filipin profoundly inhibited phosphorylation of the raft-associated adaptor protein Cbp/PAG, whereas the effect of cyclodextrin was minor. Thus, filipin and cyclodextrin modify cholesterol-rich microdomains through different mechanisms with different consequences on receptor signaling. In addition, the enhanced calcium release observed under conditions of maximum raft disruption suggests that rafts have a role in negatively regulating BCR signals.
This review presents a broad overview of chorionic glycoproteins encoded by the Pregnancy-Associated Glycoprotein (PAG) gene family and also serves to illustrate how the recent discovery of the PAG ...family has contributed to our general knowledge of genome evolution, placental transcription and placental protein expression. The complex and large PAG family is restricted to the Artiodactyla order, although single PAG-like genes have also been identified in species outside the Artiodactyla. The PAGs are members of the aspartic proteinase (AP) superfamily. Unexpectedly, however, some members of the PAG family possess amino acid substitutions within and around the active site that likely render them unable to act as proteinases. This paper summarises the available information regarding biodiversity of PAG gene expression based on cDNA cloning, mRNA localisation studies and the structural organisation of the PAG genes with a particular emphasis on PAG promoters. It also compares available data regarding PAG protein purifications, sequencing and their N-glycodiversity. Finally, it discusses the scientific relevance, possible functional roles of the PAGs and describes possible profitable applications related to the detection of PAG proteins in the blood of pregnant domestic and wild species.
Abstract This paper describes the cellular immuno-localisation of the PAG family in synepitheliochorial (cotyledonary) placenta of the European bison (Eb). Uteri were harvested from pregnant wild Eb ...( n = 4; 45–150 days post coitum – dpc); and additionally from cattle (30, 45 dpc) and pigs (42 dpc) – both domestic species were used as positive controls for cellular PAG immunodetection. Placentas were sectioned, fixed, dehydrated and subjected to double fluorescent immunohistochemistry (dF-IHC) with the use of Alexa 488 fluorochrom (A488) and propidium iodide (PI). Native positive EbPAG signals were detected by heterologous (ht; cross-species) dF-IHC with primary rabbit anti-PAG polyclonals against native or recombinant porcine PAG antigens (anti-pPAG); then visualised with secondary anti-rabbit goat immunoglobulins – conjugated to A488. Our htdF-IHC indicated an unequivocal localisation to the mono- and bi-nuclear trophectoderm (chorionic epithelium) cells expressing the PAGs (A488 – green) among all placental cells, in which PI (red) stained nuclei. This is the first paper reporting the EbPAG family expression examined by htdF-IHC at the feto-maternal interface in wild Pecoran species. The cross-reactivity of anti-pPAG polyclonals with the EbPAGs suggests that shared epitopes are present in these molecules. It seems that the EbPAG family, which is robustly expressed in mono- and bi-nucleated trophectoderm cells, is associated with events taking place during placenta development. Our study also provided a proficient ht-system to identify various PAGs that could be useful as prenatal protein markers for pregnancy diagnoses, which is essential for effective reproductive management of endangered mammals.
Rough and tumble (R&T) play is an intrinsic behavior in most mammals. However, unlike sex and aggression, play has not been well characterized in terms of neuronal circuitry. We employed in situ ...hybridization to explore the differences of c-fos mRNA activation in juvenile rats that had been allowed R&T play for a total of 30 min before sacrifice contrasted to animals with comparable histories that had received no play. Densitometric estimates of c-fos gene activation revealed that the deep and dorsolateral tectum, inferior colliculus, dorsal periaquaductal gray, ventromedial hypothalamus, dorsal and ventral striatum, and somatosensory cortex were significantly more activated in animals that had played than those that had not. Prior play dominance and amount of social experience had no clear effects on the levels of c-fos gene expression. This provides a variety of new hypotheses concerning the role of various brain areas in the elaboration of R&T play behavior, but the important role of other types of motor arousal in the differential effects were not evaluated in this study.
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