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Biomedical subjects

D Boivin

Publications and source records attributed to D Boivin.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Tyrosine protein kinase activity in renal brush-border membranes.

Tyrosine protein kinase (TPK) activity was detected in rat renal brush-border membranes (BBM) using poly(Glu80Na,Tyr20) as a substrate. Maximal TPK activity required prior detergent dispersion of the membranes with 0.05% Triton X-100 and the presence of vanadate, a potent inhibitor of phosphotyrosine protein phosphatases, in the phosphorylation medium. Optimal conditions for measurement of TPK activity were 10 mM of MgCl2 and MnCl2, at 30 degrees C and pH 7.0. TPK activity was inhibited by genistein, with a IC50 value of 15 microM, while no inhibition was observed in the presence of 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methyl-piperazine dihydrochloride (H7), an inhibitor of serine-threonine kinases. TPK activity was enriched 4-fold in the BBM fraction relative to cortex homogenate. It was co-enriched with BBM enzyme markers, but not with those of the basolateral membrane (BLM). The endogenous substrates of TPK in brush-border and basolateral membranes were determined by Western blot analysis using an antiphosphotyrosine monoclonal antibody (PY20). Various phosphotyrosine-containing proteins were found in the BBM (31, 34, 46, 50, 53, 72, 90, 118 and 170 kDa) and in the BLM (37, 48, 50, 53, 72, 90, 130 and 170 kDa). Addition of exogenous insulin receptor to BBM and BLM increased the phosphorylation of most of the substrates. Solubilization of the TPK activity from BBM with 0.5% CHAPS and subsequent gel filtration on Superdex 75 yielded two peaks of tyrosine protein kinase activity with apparent molecular masses of 49 and 66 kDa. These results provide evidence for a non-receptor TPK activity associated with the renal tubular luminal membrane.

Animals

Interhemispheric EEG coherence before and after partial callosotomy.

Measures of interhemispheric EEG coherence during REM and NREM sleep reflect the functional connectivity of the right and left hemispheres mediated by the corpus callosum. Surface recordings of interhemispheric coherence in two patients reflected fairly accurately the degree of anatomical section produced by partial callosotomy. With further development, EEG coherence may prove useful as a noninvasive method for assessing interhemispheric integration under different physiological and experimental conditions.

Adult

Object exploration in staggerer mutant mice.

Staggerer mutant mice, which lose Purkinje and granule cells in the cerebellum, were found to explore for a longer period of time than normal mice a novel object placed in a familiar environment. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of general motor activity. These results are discussed in regard to a role for the cerebellum in behavioral inhibition and emotion.

Animals

Nosology and diagnosis of alcoholism. Issues and perspectives in subtyping (DSM III) simple alcoholism and alcoholism associated with other psychopathologies.

The presence of psychopathological syndromes in alcoholic in-patients was assessed using the NIMH-Diagnosis. The most stricking finding of this study was the high percentage of additional psychopathological syndromes associated to alcoholism. Based on this finding, a tentative classification of alcoholism is proposed. The urgent need for a comprehensive diagnostic scheme for alcoholism is underlined.

Alcoholism

Spontaneous alternation and habituation in a t-maze in nervous mutant mice.

Nervous mutant mice have a selective degeneration of Purkinje cells and deep cerebellar nuclei. In comparison with littermate controls, nervous mutant mice did not alternate spontaneously in a successive trial procedure (six consecutive trials per day) and did not habituate in a restricted part of a t-maze in a 4-min session. These data indicate that the cerebellum may have a role in spatial learning.

Animals

Clinical sub-groups of multiple sclerosis in relation to HLA: DR alleles as possible markers of disease progression.

We have examined the distribution of HLA antigens in 70 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients divided in three groups defined according to clinical criteria: benign MS, severe MS, cerebellar MS. We have found a significant association between severe MS and HLA-DR2, and between benign MS of more than 15 years of evolution and HLA-DR3. We review previous work along the same line and conclude that the association of HLA antigens with "clinical subgroups of MS" could indicate a genetically based heterogeneity of the disease and offer help in establishing a prognosis.

Cerebellar Diseases