Androgen-induced plasticity at a “vocal” neuromuscular synapse

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 32-33
Author(s):  
Darcy B. Kelley ◽  
Martha L. Tobias ◽  
Mark Ellisman
Keyword(s):  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Molecular Basis ◽  
Neuromuscular Synapse ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Intracellular Protein ◽  
Developmental Program ◽  
Androgen Action ◽  
Clawed Frog

Brain and muscle are sexually differentiated tissues in which masculinization is controlled by the secretion of androgens from the testes. Sensitivity to androgen is conferred by the expression of an intracellular protein, the androgen receptor. A central problem of sexual differentiation is thus to understand the cellular and molecular basis of androgen action. We do not understand how hormone occupancy of a receptor translates into an alteration in the developmental program of the target cell. Our studies on sexual differentiation of brain and muscle in Xenopus laevis are designed to explore the molecular basis of androgen induced sexual differentiation by examining how this hormone controls the masculinization of brain and muscle targets.Our approach to this problem has focused on a highly androgen sensitive, sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system: laryngeal muscles and motor neurons of the clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. We have been studying sex differences at a synapse, the laryngeal neuromuscular junction, which mediates sexually dimorphic vocal behavior in Xenopus laevis frogs.

Effects of Exposure to 17α-Ethynylestradiol during Sexual Differentiation on the Transcriptome of the African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis)

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (9) ◽  
pp. 4822-4828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber R. Tompsett ◽  
Steve Wiseman ◽  
Eric Higley ◽  
John P. Giesy ◽  
Markus Hecker
Keyword(s):  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
African Clawed Frog ◽  
Clawed Frog

Effects of 17α-ethynylestradiol on sexual differentiation and development of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis)

2012 ◽  
Vol 156 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 202-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber R. Tompsett ◽  
Steve Wiseman ◽  
Eric Higley ◽  
Sara Pryce ◽  
Hong Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
African Clawed Frog ◽  
Clawed Frog

Expression of carnosine-like immunoreactivity during retinal development in the clawed frog (Xenopus laevis)

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco SassoèPognetto ◽  
Patrizia Panzanelli ◽  
Aldo Fasolo ◽  
Dario Cantino
Keyword(s):  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Retinal Development ◽  
Clawed Frog

scholarly journals Developmental changes of purinergic control of intestinal motor activity during metamorphosis in the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis

2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (5) ◽  
pp. R1916-R1925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Sundqvist
Keyword(s):  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Motor Activity ◽  
Receptor Antagonist ◽  
Circular Muscle ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Disulfonic Acid ◽  
Developmental Phase ◽  
African Clawed Frog ◽  
Low Concentrations ◽  
Clawed Frog

Little is known about the purinergic regulation of intestinal motor activity in amphibians. Purinergic control of intestinal motility is subject to changes during development in mammals. The aim of this study was to investigate purinergic control of intestinal smooth muscle in the amphibian Xenopus laevis and explore possible changes in this system during the developmental phase of metamorphosis. Effects of purinergic compounds on mean force and contraction frequency in intestinal circular muscle strips from prometamorphic, metamorphic, and juvenile animals were investigated. Before metamorphosis, low concentrations of ATP reduced motor activity, whereas the effects were reversed at higher concentrations. ATP-induced relaxation was not inhibited by the P2-receptor antagonist pyridoxalphosphate-6-azophenyl-2′,4′-disulfonic acid (PPADS) but was blocked by the ecto-nucleotidase inhibitor 6- N, N-diethyl-d-β,γ-dibromomethylene ATP ( ARL67256 ), indicating that an ATP-derived metabolite mediated the relaxation response at this stage. Adenosine induced relaxation before, during, and after metamorphosis, which was blocked by the A1-receptor antagonist 1,3-dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine (DPCPX). The stable ATP-analog adenosine 5′-[γ-thio]-triphosphate (ATPγS) and 2-methylthioATP (2-MeSATP) elicited contractions in the circular muscle strips in prometamorphic tadpoles. However, in juvenile froglets, 2-MeSATP caused relaxation, as did ATPγS at low concentrations. The P2Y11/P2X1-receptor antagonist NF157 antagonized the ATPγS-induced relaxation. The P2X-preferring agonist α-β-methyleneadenosine 5′-triphosphate (α-β-MeATP) evoked PPADS-sensitive increases in mean force at all stages investigated. This study demonstrates the existence of an adenosine A1-like receptor mediating relaxation and a P2X-like receptor mediating contraction in the X. laevis gut before, during, and after metamorphosis. Furthermore, the development of a P2Y11-like receptor-mediated relaxation during metamorphosis is shown.

scholarly journals Developmental changes in oxygen consumption regulation in larvae of the South African clawed frog Xenopus laevis

1995 ◽  
Vol 198 (12) ◽  
pp. 2465-2475 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Hastings ◽  
W Burggren
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Lactic Acid ◽  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
South African ◽  
Acute Hypoxia ◽  
Lactate Concentration ◽  
Aerobic Metabolism ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Lactate Levels ◽  
Clawed Frog

Well-developed larval Xenopus laevis (NF stages 58­66) are oxygen regulators, at least during mild hypoxia. When and how they change from oxygen conformers (the presumed condition of the fertilized egg) to oxygen regulators is unknown. Also unknown is how anaerobic metabolic capabilities change during development, especially in response to acute hypoxia, and to what extent, if any, anaerobiosis is used to supplement aerobic metabolism. Consequently, we have investigated resting rates of oxygen consumption (M.O2) and concentrations of whole-body lactate (lactic acid) during development in normoxia and in response to acute hypoxia in Xenopus laevis. M.O2 increased in an episodic, non-linear fashion during development. Resting, normoxic M.O2 increased about tenfold (to approximately 0.20 µmol g-1 h-1) between NF stages 1­39 and 40­44, and then another tenfold between NF stages 45­48 and 49­51 (to approximately 2.0 µmol g-1 h-1), remaining at about 2 µmol g-1 h-1 for the remainder of larval development. M.O2 reached its highest level in newly metamorphosed frogs (nearly 4 µmol g-1 h-1), before decreasing to about 1.0 µmol g-1 h-1 in large adults. X. laevis embryos and larvae up to NF stage 54­57 were oxygen conformers when exposed to variable levels of acute hypoxia. The only exception was NF stage 45­48 (external gills present yet body mass still very small), which showed some capability of oxygen regulation. All larvae older than stage 54­57 and adults were oxygen regulators and had the lowest values of Pcrit (the oxygen partial pressure at which M.O2 begins to decline). Whole-body lactate concentration in normoxia was about 1 µmol g-1 for all larval groups, rising to about 12 µmol g-1 in adults. Concentrations of lactic acid in NF stages 1­51 were unaffected by even severe ambient hypoxia. However, whole-body lactate levels in NF stages 52­66 increased in response to severe hypoxia, indicating that some anaerobic metabolism was being used to supplement diminishing aerobic metabolism. The largest increases in concentration of lactate occurred in late larvae and adults.

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