Neonatal spinal injury induces de novo projections of primary afferents to the lumbosacral intermediolateral nucleus in rats

In recent years, it has become clear that brief, repeated presentations of hypoxia [i.e., acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH)] can boost the efficacy of more traditional therapeutic strategies in certain cases of neurologic dysfunction. This hypothesis derives from a series of studies in animal models and human subjects performed over the past 35 yr. In 1980, Millhorn et al. (Millhorn DE, Eldridge FL, Waldrop TG. Respir Physiol 41: 87-103, 1980) showed that electrical stimulation of carotid chemoafferent neurons produced a persistent, serotonin-dependent increase in phrenic motor output that outlasts the stimulus for more than 90 min (i.e., a “respiratory memory”). AIH elicits similar phrenic “long-term facilitation” (LTF) by a mechanism that requires cervical spinal serotonin receptor activation and de novo protein synthesis. From 2003 to present, a series of studies demonstrated that AIH can induce neuroplasticity in the injured spinal cord, causing functional recovery of breathing capacity after cervical spinal injury. Subsequently, it was demonstrated that repeated AIH (rAIH) can induce recovery of limb function, and the functional benefits of rAIH are greatest when paired with task-specific training. Since uncontrolled and/or prolonged intermittent hypoxia can elicit pathophysiology, a challenge of intermittent hypoxia research is to ensure that therapeutic protocols are well below the threshold for pathogenesis. This is possible since many low dose rAIH protocols have induced functional benefits without evidence of pathology. We propose that carefully controlled rAIH is a safe and noninvasive modality that can be paired with other neurorehabilitative strategies including traditional activity-based physical therapy or cell-based therapies such as intraspinal transplantation of neural progenitors.

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The Morphology of the Rat Kidney Following Folic Acid Administration

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100067996 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 200-201

Author(s):

Aline Byrnes ◽

Elsa E. Ramos ◽

Minoru Suzuki ◽

E.D. Mayfield

Keyword(s):

Folic Acid ◽

De Novo ◽

Specific Activity ◽

Rat Kidney ◽

Present Report ◽

Intracellular Localization ◽

Male Rats ◽

Renal Hypertrophy ◽

Electron Microscopic ◽

Biochemical Alterations

Renal hypertrophy was induced in 100 g male rats by the injection of 250 mg folic acid (FA) dissolved in 0.3 M NaHCO3/kg body weight (i.v.). Preliminary studies of the biochemical alterations in ribonucleic acid (RNA) metabolism of the renal tissue have been reported recently (1). They are: RNA content and concentration, orotic acid-c14 incorporation into RNA and acid soluble nucleotide pool, intracellular localization of the newly synthesized RNA, and the specific activity of enzymes of the de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis pathway. The present report describes the light and electron microscopic observations in these animals. For light microscopy, kidney slices were fixed in formalin, embedded, sectioned, and stained with H & E and PAS.

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Early ossicle growth in the regenerating disc of a brittle star

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100169559 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 364-365

Author(s):

M. Shlepr ◽

R. L. Turner

Keyword(s):

Cell Membrane ◽

Light Microscopy ◽

De Novo ◽

Current Model ◽

Syncytium Formation ◽

Brittle Star ◽

Intracellular Location ◽

Limited Volume ◽

Tissue Calcification

Calcification in the echinoderms occurs within a limited-volume cavity enclosed by cytoplasmic extensions of the mineral depositing cells, the sclerocytes. The current model of this process maintains that the sheath formed from these cytoplasmic extensions is syncytial. Prior studies indicate that syncytium formation might be dependent on sclerocyte density and not required for calcification. This model further envisions that ossicles formed de novo nucleate and grow intracellularly until the ossicle effectively outgrows the vacuole. Continued ossicle growth occurs within the sheath but external to the cell membrane. The initial intracellular location has been confirmed only for elements of the echinoid tooth.The regenerating aboral disc integument of ophiophragmus filograneus was used to test the current echinoderm calcification model. This tissue is free of calcite fragments, thus avoiding questions of cellular engulfment, and ossicles are formed de novo. The tissue calcification pattern was followed by light microscopy in both living and fixed preparations.

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Arabidopsis 4-COUMAROYL-COA LIGASE 8 contributes to the biosynthesis of the benzenoid ring of coenzyme Q in peroxisomes

Biochemical Journal ◽

10.1042/bcj20190688 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 476 (22) ◽

pp. 3521-3532

Author(s):

Eric Soubeyrand ◽

Megan Kelly ◽

Shea A. Keene ◽

Ann C. Bernert ◽

Scott Latimer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Metabolism ◽

Time Course ◽

Reverse Genetics ◽

De Novo ◽

Coenzyme Q ◽

Control Level ◽

Wild Type ◽

Fluorescent Reporters ◽

Coa Ligase ◽

Peroxisomal Targeting

Plants have evolved the ability to derive the benzenoid moiety of the respiratory cofactor and antioxidant, ubiquinone (coenzyme Q), either from the β-oxidative metabolism of p-coumarate or from the peroxidative cleavage of kaempferol. Here, isotopic feeding assays, gene co-expression analysis and reverse genetics identified Arabidopsis 4-COUMARATE-COA LIGASE 8 (4-CL8; At5g38120) as a contributor to the β-oxidation of p-coumarate for ubiquinone biosynthesis. The enzyme is part of the same clade (V) of acyl-activating enzymes than At4g19010, a p-coumarate CoA ligase known to play a central role in the conversion of p-coumarate into 4-hydroxybenzoate. A 4-cl8 T-DNA knockout displayed a 20% decrease in ubiquinone content compared with wild-type plants, while 4-CL8 overexpression boosted ubiquinone content up to 150% of the control level. Similarly, the isotopic enrichment of ubiquinone's ring was decreased by 28% in the 4-cl8 knockout as compared with wild-type controls when Phe-[Ring-13C6] was fed to the plants. This metabolic blockage could be bypassed via the exogenous supply of 4-hydroxybenzoate, the product of p-coumarate β-oxidation. Arabidopsis 4-CL8 displays a canonical peroxisomal targeting sequence type 1, and confocal microscopy experiments using fused fluorescent reporters demonstrated that this enzyme is imported into peroxisomes. Time course feeding assays using Phe-[Ring-13C6] in a series of Arabidopsis single and double knockouts blocked in the β-oxidative metabolism of p-coumarate (4-cl8; at4g19010; at4g19010 × 4-cl8), flavonol biosynthesis (flavanone-3-hydroxylase), or both (at4g19010 × flavanone-3-hydroxylase) indicated that continuous high light treatments (500 µE m−2 s−1; 24 h) markedly stimulated the de novo biosynthesis of ubiquinone independently of kaempferol catabolism.

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Spine Impairment Evaluation: Sixth Edition Approaches

Guides Newsletter ◽

10.1001/amaguidesnewsletters.2009.janfeb01 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Craig Uejo ◽

Marjorie Eskay-Auerbach ◽

Christopher R. Brigham

Keyword(s):

Functional Status ◽

Spinal Injury ◽

Current Medical ◽

Clinical Testing ◽

Medical Evidence ◽

Sixth Edition ◽

Whole Person ◽

Rating Process ◽

Impairment Ratings ◽

Class Assignment

Abstract Evaluators who use the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), Sixth Edition, should understand the significant changes that have occurred (as well as the Clarifications and Corrections) in impairment ratings for disorders of the cervical spine, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, and pelvis. The new methodology is an expansion of the Diagnosis-related estimates (DRE) method used in the fifth edition, but the criteria for defining impairment are revised, and the impairment value within a class is refined by information related to functional status, physical examination findings, and the results of clinical testing. Because current medical evidence does not support range-of-motion (ROM) measurements of the spine as a reliable indicator of specific pathology or permanent functional status, ROM is no longer used as a basis for defining impairment. The DRE method should standardize and simplify the rating process, improve validity, and provide a more uniform methodology. Table 1 shows examples of spinal injury impairment rating (according to region of the spine and category, with comments about the diagnosis and the resulting class assignment); Table 2 shows examples of spine impairment by region of the spine, class, diagnosis, and associated whole person impairment ratings form the sixth and fifth editions of the AMA Guides.

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