METABOLISM OF TESTOSTERONE IN THE ANTERIOR PITUITARY GLAND AND THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE EUROPEAN STARLING (STURNUS VULGARIS)

1977 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. MASSA ◽  
L. CRESTI ◽  
L. MARTINI

The metabolism of testosterone was studied in vitro in anterior pituitary, hypothalamic and hyperstriatal tissues taken from male European starlings in the autumn. In all the tissues studied, testosterone was converted into 5α-androstan-17β-ol-3-one (5α-DHT), 5β-androstan-17β-ol-3-one (5β-DHT), 5β-androstane-3α,17β-diol (5β-THT), 5β-androstane-3,-17-dione and androst-4-ene-3,17-dione. The 5α-DHT was produced in significantly greater amounts by the pituitary gland than by the hypothalamus and hyperstriatum. The amount of 5α-DHT produced, however, was very low in comparison with the amounts of 5β-reduced metabolites. The amount of 5β-reductase was also higher in the pituitary gland than in the two nervous tissues. The ratios between the production of 5β-DHT, 5β-THT and 5β-androstane-3,17-dione were, however, different in the three tissues: 5β-DHT was produced in the greatest quantities by the hyperstriatum, while the production of 5β-THT, 5β-androstane-3,17-dione and androst-4-ene-3,17-dione was greatest in pituitary tissue. The role of 5α- and 5β-reduced metabolites in the pituitary gland and in the brain of birds is unknown, but some possibilities arising from the present results are discussed.

2000 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 1523-1631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc E. Freeman ◽  
Béla Kanyicska ◽  
Anna Lerant ◽  
György Nagy

Prolactin is a protein hormone of the anterior pituitary gland that was originally named for its ability to promote lactation in response to the suckling stimulus of hungry young mammals. We now know that prolactin is not as simple as originally described. Indeed, chemically, prolactin appears in a multiplicity of posttranslational forms ranging from size variants to chemical modifications such as phosphorylation or glycosylation. It is not only synthesized in the pituitary gland, as originally described, but also within the central nervous system, the immune system, the uterus and its associated tissues of conception, and even the mammary gland itself. Moreover, its biological actions are not limited solely to reproduction because it has been shown to control a variety of behaviors and even play a role in homeostasis. Prolactin-releasing stimuli not only include the nursing stimulus, but light, audition, olfaction, and stress can serve a stimulatory role. Finally, although it is well known that dopamine of hypothalamic origin provides inhibitory control over the secretion of prolactin, other factors within the brain, pituitary gland, and peripheral organs have been shown to inhibit or stimulate prolactin secretion as well. It is the purpose of this review to provide a comprehensive survey of our current understanding of prolactin's function and its regulation and to expose some of the controversies still existing.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Ficiarà ◽  
Shoeb Anwar Ansari ◽  
Monica Argenziano ◽  
Luigi Cangemi ◽  
Chiara Monge ◽  
...  

Magnetic Oxygen-Loaded Nanobubbles (MOLNBs), manufactured by adding Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) on the surface of polymeric nanobubbles, are investigated as theranostic carriers for delivering oxygen and chemotherapy to brain tumors. Physicochemical and cyto-toxicological properties and in vitro internalization by human brain microvascular endothelial cells as well as the motion of MOLNBs in a static magnetic field were investigated. MOLNBs are safe oxygen-loaded vectors able to overcome the brain membranes and drivable through the Central Nervous System (CNS) to deliver their cargoes to specific sites of interest. In addition, MOLNBs are monitorable either via Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or Ultrasound (US) sonography. MOLNBs can find application in targeting brain tumors since they can enhance conventional radiotherapy and deliver chemotherapy being driven by ad hoc tailored magnetic fields under MRI and/or US monitoring.


Psychiatry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 125-134
Author(s):  
E. F. Vasilyeva ◽  
O. S. Brusov

Background: at present, the important role of the monocyte-macrophage link of immunity in the pathogenesis of mental diseases has been determined. In the first and second parts of our review, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of activation of monocytes/macrophages, which secreting proinflammatory CD16 receptors, cytokines, chemokines and receptors to them, in the development of systemic immune inflammation in the pathogenesis of somatic diseases and mental disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder (BAD) and depression were analyzed. The association of high levels of proinflammatory activity of monocytes/macrophages in patients with mental disorders with somatic comorbidity, including immune system diseases, is shown. It is known that proinflammatory monocytes of peripheral blood, as a result of violation of the integrity of the hematoencephalic barrier can migrate to the central nervous system and activate the resident brain cells — microglia, causing its activation. Activation of microglia can lead to the development of neuroinammation and neurodegenerative processes in the brain and, as a result, to cognitive disorders. The aim of review: to analyze the results of the main scientific studies concerning the role of cellular and molecular mechanisms of peripheral blood monocytes interaction with microglial cells and platelets in the development of neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of mental disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Material and methods: keywords “mental disorders, AD, proinflammatory monocytes, microglia, neuroinflammation, cytokines, chemokines, cell adhesion molecules, platelets, microvesicles” were used to search for articles of domestic and foreign authors published over the past 30 years in the databases PubMed, eLibrary, Science Direct and EMBASE. Conclusion: this review analyzes the results of studies which show that monocytes/macrophages and microglia have similar gene expression profiles in schizophrenia, BAD, depression, and AD and also perform similar functions: phagocytosis and inflammatory responses. Monocytes recruited to the central nervous system stimulate the increased production of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), chemokines, for example, MCP-1 (Monocyte chemotactic protein-1) by microglial cells. This promotes the recruitment of microglial cells to the sites of neuronal damage, and also enhances the formation of the brain protein beta-amyloid (Aβ). The results of modern studies are presented, indicating that platelets are involved in systemic inflammatory reactions, where they interact with monocytes to form monocyte-platelet aggregates (MTA), which induce the activation of monocytes with a pro inflammatory phenotype. In the last decade, it has been established that activated platelets and other cells of the immune system, including monocytes, detached microvesicles (MV) from the membrane. It has been shown that MV are involved as messengers in the transport of biologically active lipids, cytokines, complement, and other molecules that can cause exacerbation of systemic inflammatory reactions. The presented review allows us to expand our knowledge about the cellular and molecular aspects of the interaction of monocytes/macrophages with microglial cells and platelets in the development of neuroinflammation and cognitive decline in the pathogenesis of mental diseases and in AD, and also helps in the search for specific biomarkers of the clinical severity of mental disorder in patients and the prospects for their response to treatment.


Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 2340
Author(s):  
Hannah E. Henson ◽  
Michael R. Taylor

The spliceosome consists of accessory proteins and small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) that remove introns from RNA. As splicing defects are associated with degenerative conditions, a better understanding of spliceosome formation and function is essential. We provide insight into the role of a spliceosome protein U4/U6.U5 tri-snRNP-associated protein 1, or Squamous cell carcinoma antigen recognized by T-cells (Sart1). Sart1 recruits the U4.U6/U5 tri-snRNP complex to nuclear RNA. The complex then associates with U1 and U2 snRNPs to form the spliceosome. A forward genetic screen identifying defects in choroid plexus development and whole-exome sequencing (WES) identified a point mutation in exon 12 of sart1 in Danio rerio (zebrafish). This mutation caused an up-regulation of sart1. Using RNA-Seq analysis, we identified additional upregulated genes, including those involved in apoptosis. We also observed increased activated caspase 3 in the brain and eye and down-regulation of vision-related genes. Although splicing occurs in numerous cells types, sart1 expression in zebrafish was restricted to the brain. By identifying sart1 expression in the brain and cell death within the central nervous system (CNS), we provide additional insights into the role of sart1 in specific tissues. We also characterized sart1’s involvement in cell death and vision-related pathways.


1939 ◽  
Vol 85 (357) ◽  
pp. 619-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Reiss

[In the physiology of the central nervous system, the hypothalamus has of recent years obtained a position of much enhanced importance. There is reason to believe that it has a determining influence on cortical function and evidence is not wanting that some psychotic conditions are associated with hypothalmic disturbance. It may well be that many forms of mental disorder are conditioned by a lesion of the hypothalamus. This close anatomical and physiological relationship between this area of the brain and the pituitary we think, therefore, cannot be over-emphasized. Dr. Max Reiss was asked by the Research Bureau to present a review of our present knowledge of the anterior pituitary, on which he is a recognized authority.]


1973 ◽  
Vol 138 (3) ◽  
pp. 740-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. B. Knotts ◽  
M. L. Cook ◽  
J. G. Stevens

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 induces a long-standing latent infection in the central nervous system of mice and rabbits. The infection was extablished in the brain stems of rabbits after corneal inoculation of the virus, and in the spinal cords of mice after rear footpad infection. In these animals, infectious virus could not be recovered by direct isolation from tissues; it was detected only after the tissues were maintained as organ cultures in vitro.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1542
Author(s):  
Felix Neumaier ◽  
Boris D. Zlatopolskiy ◽  
Bernd Neumaier

Delivery of most drugs into the central nervous system (CNS) is restricted by the blood–brain barrier (BBB), which remains a significant bottleneck for development of novel CNS-targeted therapeutics or molecular tracers for neuroimaging. Consistent failure to reliably predict drug efficiency based on single measures for the rate or extent of brain penetration has led to the emergence of a more holistic framework that integrates data from various in vivo, in situ and in vitro assays to obtain a comprehensive description of drug delivery to and distribution within the brain. Coupled with ongoing development of suitable in vitro BBB models, this integrated approach promises to reduce the incidence of costly late-stage failures in CNS drug development, and could help to overcome some of the technical, economic and ethical issues associated with in vivo studies in animal models. Here, we provide an overview of BBB structure and function in vivo, and a summary of the pharmacokinetic parameters that can be used to determine and predict the rate and extent of drug penetration into the brain. We also review different in vitro models with regard to their inherent shortcomings and potential usefulness for development of fast-acting drugs or neurotracers labeled with short-lived radionuclides. In this regard, a special focus has been set on those systems that are sufficiently well established to be used in laboratories without significant bioengineering expertise.


1937 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 523-532
Author(s):  
L. S. Stern

Evaluation of the results obtained in the study of the effect of cerebrospinal fluid on various physiological systems is complicated by the fact that the composition of the cerebrospinal fluid depends to a large extent on the state of the blood-brain barrier, and thus reflects not only a certain physiological state of the central nervous system. There is no doubt that the metabolic products of the brain, secreted into the cerebrospinal fluid, exert their effect not only on the activity of various parts of the brain and on the coordination of their functions, but due to the rapid transition of these substances from the cerebrospinal fluid into the general circulation, they also affect as a humoral a factor on the function of other physiological systems, as it was revealed in a number of experiments carried out in recent years in our laboratories. For example, it turned out that under various influences (direct irritation of the central nervous system in experimental epilepsy, irritation of the sensory nerves associated with severe pain, traumatic shock, toxemic or chemical shock, as well as starvation, prolonged insomnia, etc.) - substances appear in the cerebrospinal fluid that affect the state and activity of the cardiovascular system, the tone of smooth muscles, the excitability of the central nervous system, etc. These are the results of the work of our employees: Zeitlin, Weiss, Harles, Voskresensky, Gromakovskaya , Bazarova, Gotsman, Komarova and others. Work in this direction continues at the present time.


Development ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 128 (10) ◽  
pp. 1757-1769 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Olivier ◽  
I. Cobos ◽  
E.M. Perez Villegas ◽  
N. Spassky ◽  
B. Zalc ◽  
...  

Oligodendrocytes are the myelin-forming cells in the central nervous system. In the brain, oligodendrocyte precursors arise in multiple restricted foci, distributed along the caudorostral axis of the ventricular neuroepithelium. In chick embryonic hind-, mid- and caudal forebrain, oligodendrocytes have a basoventral origin, while in the rostral fore-brain oligodendrocytes emerge from alar territories (Perez Villegas, E. M., Olivier, C., Spassky, N., Poncet, C., Cochard, P., Zalc, B., Thomas, J. L. and Martinez, S. (1999) Dev. Biol. 216, 98–113). To investigate the respective territories colonized by oligodendrocyte progenitor cells that originate from either the basoventral or alar foci, we have created a series of quail-chick chimeras. Homotopic chimeras demonstrate clearly that, during embryonic development, oligodendrocyte progenitors that emerge from the alar anterior entopeduncular area migrate tangentially to invade the entire telencephalon, whereas those from the basal rhombomeric foci show a restricted rostrocaudal distribution and colonize only their rhombomere of origin. Heterotopic chimeras indicate that differences in the migratory properties of oligodendroglial cells do not depend on their basoventral or alar ventricular origin. Irrespective of their origin (basal or alar), oligodendrocytes migrate only short distances in the hindbrain and long distances in the prosencephalon. Furthermore, we provide evidence that, in the developing chick brain, all telencephalic oligodendrocytes originate from the anterior entopeduncular area and that the prominent role of anterior entopeduncular area in telencephalic oligodendrogenesis is conserved between birds and mammals.


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