Giant Axons and Synergic Contractions in Branchiomma Vesiculosum

1951 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. COLIN NICOL

Synergic contractions following giant axon stimulation in Branchiomma vesiculosum have been investigated by the graphic method of recording. Isotonic and isometric levers were used, and electrical stimuli from condenser discharges were applied to the surface of the animal. Single muscle twitches occur at stimulation frequencies up to 2 per sec., above which clonus, and finally tetanus result. At high rates of stimulation fatigue rapidly sets in; this fatigue is reversible. Data for the time course of contractions are presented. Maximal tension develops about 255 msec. after the beginning of contraction, and relaxation occupies about 1.8 sec. Maximal tension developed isometrically under stimulation at different frequencies (12 per min. to 13 per sec.) was measured. Maximal tension is developed initially, and there is no evidence for facilitation. Extension of the animal and of strips of the body wall under tension are described. The results are discussed in terms of the habits of the animal, and compared with similar studies of other invertebrates.

1985 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Kerfoot ◽  
G. O. Mackie ◽  
R. W. Meech ◽  
A. Roberts ◽  
C. L. Singla

In the jellyfish Aglantha digitale escape swimming is mediated by the nearly synchronous activity of eight giant motor axons which make direct synaptic contact with contractile myoepithelial cells on the under-surface of the body wall. The delay in transmission at these synapses was 0.7 +/− 0.1 ms (+/− S.D.;N = 6) at 12 degrees C as measured from intracellular records. Transmission depended on the presence of Ca2+ in the bathing medium. It was not blocked by increasing the level of Mg2+ to 127 mmol l-1. The myoepithelium is a thin sheet of electrically coupled cells and injection of current at one point was found to depolarize the surrounding cells. The potential change declined with distance from the current source as expected for two-dimensional current spread. The two-dimensional space constant (lambda) was 770 micron for current flow in the circular direction and 177 micron for radial flow. The internal resistance of the epithelium (178–201 omega cm) and the membrane time constant (5–10 ms) were direction independent. No propagated epithelial action potentials were observed. Spontaneous miniature synaptic potentials of similar amplitude and rise-time were recorded intracellularly at distances of up to 1 mm from the motor giant axon. Ultrastructural evidence confirms that neuro-myoepithelial synapses also occur away from the giant axons. It is likely that synaptic sites are widespread in the myoepithelium, probably associated with the lateral motor neurones as well as the giant axons. Local stimulation of lateral motor neurones generally produced contraction in distinct fields. We suppose that stimulation of a single motor giant axon excites a whole population of lateral motor neurones and hence a broad area of the myoepithelium.


1996 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
J J Rosenthal ◽  
R G Vickery ◽  
W F Gilly

We have cloned the cDNA for a squid Kvl potassium channel (SqKv1A). SqKv1A mRNA is selectively expressed in giant fiber lobe (GFL) neurons, the somata of the giant axons. Western blots detect two forms of SqKv1A in both GFL neuron and giant axon samples. Functional properties of SqKv1A currents expressed in Xenopus oocytes are very similar to macroscopic currents in GFL neurons and giant axons. Macroscopic K currents in GFL neuron cell bodies, giant axons, and in Xenopus oocytes expressing SqKv1A, activate rapidly and inactivate incompletely over a time course of several hundred ms. Oocytes injected with SqKv1A cRNA express channels of two conductance classes, estimated to be 13 and 20 pS in an internal solution containing 470 mM K. SqKv1A is thus a good candidate for the "20 pS" K channel that accounts for the majority of rapidly activating K conductance in both GFL neuron cell bodies and the giant axon.


1986 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 433-444
Author(s):  
TAKASHIRO HIGUCHI ◽  
HIROYUKI NAKAMURA ◽  
KATSUHIKO SAWAUCHI ◽  
HIROSHI OKUMURA

1. Body contraction in the sabellid worm, Pseudopotamilla occelata, during the rapid withdrawal reflex occurred only in the anterior half of the body. End-to-end shortening was never observed. The longitudinal muscles are well-developed in the anterior half, and poorly developed in the posterior half. 2. Conduction of action potentials along the giant axons was blocked at the midbody, and was responsible for the anteriorly restricted body contraction. 3. Electrophysiological and histological studies excluded the possibility that conduction block resulted from a safety factor attributable to the special geometry of the axons. 4. Current injection across the giant axon membrane in the region of the conduction block indicated that changes in the properties of the membrane were responsible for the conduction block.


2001 ◽  
Vol 40 (01) ◽  
pp. 31-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Wellner ◽  
E. Voth ◽  
H. Schicha ◽  
K. Weber

Summary Aim: The influence of physiological and pharmacological amounts of iodine on the uptake of radioiodine in the thyroid was examined in a 4-compartment model. This model allows equations to be derived describing the distribution of tracer iodine as a function of time. The aim of the study was to compare the predictions of the model with experimental data. Methods: Five euthyroid persons received stable iodine (200 μg, 10 mg). 1-123-uptake into the thyroid was measured with the Nal (Tl)-detector of a body counter under physiological conditions and after application of each dose of additional iodine. Actual measurements and predicted values were compared, taking into account the individual iodine supply as estimated from the thyroid uptake under physiological conditions and data from the literature. Results: Thyroid iodine uptake decreased from 80% under physiological conditions to 50% in individuals with very low iodine supply (15 μg/d) (n = 2). The uptake calculated from the model was 36%. Iodine uptake into the thyroid did not decrease in individuals with typical iodine supply, i.e. for Cologne 65-85 μg/d (n = 3). After application of 10 mg of stable iodine, uptake into the thyroid decreased in all individuals to about 5%, in accordance with the model calculations. Conclusion: Comparison of theoretical predictions with the measured values demonstrated that the model tested is well suited for describing the time course of iodine distribution and uptake within the body. It can now be used to study aspects of iodine metabolism relevant to the pharmacological administration of iodine which cannot be investigated experimentally in humans for ethical and technical reasons.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Moerman ◽  
Chris Van Geet ◽  
Hugo Devlieger
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
I. V. Cheretaev ◽  
D. R. Khusainov ◽  
E. N. Chuyan ◽  
M. Yu. Ravaeva ◽  
A. N. Gusev ◽  
...  

The purpose of the review is to summarize current literature data and the results of our own research on the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of acetylsalicylic acid, as well as the physiological mechanisms underlying them. This acid is the most studied reference representative of salicylates, which is convenient to consider the physiological effects characteristic in general for this group of chemical and medicinal products. Acetylsalicylic acid has analgesic properties against thermal pain and pain caused by electrical stimuli, as well as a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect. The realization of these properties depends on the peculiarities of aspirin metabolism in the body, ion and synaptic mechanisms for controlling the functional state of the cell, neurotransmitter systems of the сentral nervous system, and mechanisms of peripheral and сentral analgesia. Analgesic properties of acetylsalicylic acid founded not only in normal, but also in ultra-small doses. Various physical and especially chemical factors significantly change their effects. This increases the interest in studying the analgesic activity of salicylates and their physiological mechanisms, since such studies can serve as a basis for creating new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with low toxicity and high safety for patients, and improve the strategy of their practical use. Currently, the most detailed study of the physiological mechanism of analgesic and anti-inflammatory action of aspirin and its main metabolite – salicylic acid. However, it should be note that despite the abundance of existing data obtained in scientific studies of the effects of aspirin and its practical use, there are a number of unexplained aspects of the action of this drug, the mechanism of which has not yet been deciphered. The continuing interest in the effects and mechanisms of action of this drug and in connection with the expansion of its use evidenced by a consistently high number of scientific publications on aspirin in the most famous foreign and domestic publications. At the same time, the number of publications about aspirin is an order of magnitude higher than about any other drug known to humanity.


Genetics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-498
Author(s):  
J Ahnn ◽  
A Fire

Abstract We have used available chromosomal deficiencies to screen for genetic loci whose zygotic expression is required for formation of body-wall muscle cells during embryogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans. To test for muscle cell differentiation we have assayed for both contractile function and the expression of muscle-specific structural proteins. Monoclonal antibodies directed against two myosin heavy chain isoforms, the products of the unc-54 and myo-3 genes, were used to detect body-wall muscle differentiation. We have screened 77 deficiencies, covering approximately 72% of the genome. Deficiency homozygotes in most cases stain with antibodies to the body-wall muscle myosins and in many cases muscle contractile function is observed. We have identified two regions showing distinct defects in myosin heavy chain gene expression. Embryos homozygous for deficiencies removing the left tip of chromosome V fail to accumulate the myo-3 and unc-54 products, but express antigens characteristic of hypodermal, pharyngeal and neural development. Embryos lacking a large region on chromosome III accumulate the unc-54 product but not the myo-3 product. We conclude that there exist only a small number of loci whose zygotic expression is uniquely required for adoption of a muscle cell fate.


1985 ◽  
Vol 260 (22) ◽  
pp. 12228-12233 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Takahashi ◽  
H Komano ◽  
N Kawaguchi ◽  
N Kitamura ◽  
S Nakanishi ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5648
Author(s):  
Takashi Yurube ◽  
Hiroaki Hirata ◽  
Masaaki Ito ◽  
Yoshiki Terashima ◽  
Yuji Kakiuchi ◽  
...  

The intervertebral disc is the largest avascular low-nutrient organ in the body. Thus, resident cells may utilize autophagy, a stress-response survival mechanism, by self-digesting and recycling damaged components. Our objective was to elucidate the involvement of autophagy in rat experimental disc degeneration. In vitro, the comparison between human and rat disc nucleus pulposus (NP) and annulus fibrosus (AF) cells found increased autophagic flux under serum deprivation rather in humans than in rats and in NP cells than in AF cells of rats (n = 6). In vivo, time-course Western blotting showed more distinct basal autophagy in rat tail disc NP tissues than in AF tissues; however, both decreased under sustained static compression (n = 24). Then, immunohistochemistry displayed abundant autophagy-related protein expression in large vacuolated disc NP notochordal cells of sham rats. Under temporary static compression (n = 18), multi-color immunofluorescence further identified rapidly decreased brachyury-positive notochordal cells with robust expression of autophagic microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) and transiently increased brachyury-negative non-notochordal cells with weaker LC3 expression. Notably, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling-positive apoptotic death was predominant in brachyury-negative non-notochordal cells. Based on the observed notochordal cell autophagy impairment and non-notochordal cell apoptosis induction under unphysiological mechanical loading, further investigation is warranted to clarify possible autophagy-induced protection against notochordal cell disappearance, the earliest sign of disc degeneration, through limiting apoptosis.


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