Biomedical subjects

F Aristizabal

Publications and source records attributed to F Aristizabal.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Rapid change of quantal size in PC-12 cells detected by neural networks.

The basic building block of synaptic transmission-the number of molecules released per vesicle (quantal size (QS)) often changes with stimulation, but there is no agreement about what factors regulate it. To throw more light on this problem spontaneous quantal release was recorded amperometrically in PC-12 cells. Amperometric current spikes, representing single vesicle release, were detected by thresholding and were separated from spurious events on the basis of their amplitude and time course using a pattern recognition system based on the principal component neural network methods. The frequency of current spikes, their amplitude, quantal size, rise time and decay time were typically non-stationary, even in the absence of stimulation. Their running values changed much more than those of memoryless stationary random data with the same probability density distribution. Irrespective of how much the quantal size, rise and decay times varied, their amplitude dependence remained constant, or changed with a very different time course. In conclusion, the quantal size is highly labile in PC-12 cells. The lability does not appear to result from the changes of fusion pore dynamics or the mechanism of release of vesicular content, but because of the preferential release of large vesicles.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2003

Simulation and parameter estimation of dynamics of synaptic depression.

Synaptic release was simulated using a Simulink sequential storage model with three vesicular pools. Modeling was modular and easily extendable to the systems with greater number of vesicular pools, parallel input, or time-varying parameters. Given an input (short or long tetanic trains, patterned or random stimulation) and the storage model, the vesicular release, the replenishment of various vesicular pools, and the vesicular content of all pools could be simulated for the time-invariant and time-varying storage systems. From the input stimuli and either a noiseless or a noisy output, the parameters of such storage systems could also be estimated using the optimization technique that minimizes in the least square sense the error between the observed release and the predicted release. All parameters of the storage model could be evaluated with sufficiently long input-output data pairs. Not surprisingly, the parameters characterizing the processes near the release locus, such as the fractional release and the size of the immediately available pool and its coupling to the small store, as well as the state variables associated with the immediately available pool, such as its vesicular content and replenishment, could be determined with fewer stimuli. The possibility of estimating parameters with random inputs extends the applicability of the method to in vivo synapses with the physiological inputs. The parameter estimation was also possible under the time-variant, but slowly changing, conditions as well as for open systems that are part of larger vesicular storage systems but whose parameters can either not be reliably determined or are of no interest. The quality of parameter estimation was monitored continuously by comparing the observed and predicted output and/or estimated parameters with the true values. Finally, the method was tested experimentally using the rat phrenic-diaphragm neuromuscular junction.

Long-Term Synaptic Depression↗

PubMed2003

Wavelet analysis of nonstationary fluctuations of Monte Carlo-simulated excitatory postsynaptic currents.

Tracking spectral changes of rapidly varying signals is a demanding task. In this study, we explore on Monte Carlo-simulated glutamate-activated AMPA patch and synaptic currents whether a wavelet analysis offers such a possibility. Unlike Fourier methods that determine only the frequency content of a signal, the wavelet analysis determines both the frequency and the time. This is owing to the nature of the basis functions, which are infinite for Fourier transforms (sines and cosines are infinite), but are finite for wavelet analysis (wavelets are localized waves). In agreement with previous reports, the frequency of the stationary patch current fluctuations is higher for larger currents, whereas the mean-variance plots are parabolic. The spectra of the current fluctuations and mean-variance plots are close to the theoretically predicted values. The median frequency of the synaptic and nonstationary patch currents is, however, time dependent, though at the peak of synaptic currents, the median frequency is insensitive to the number of glutamate molecules released. Such time dependence demonstrates that the "composite spectra" of the current fluctuations gathered over the whole duration of synaptic currents cannot be used to assess the mean open time or effective mean open time of AMPA channels. The current (patch or synaptic) versus median frequency plots show hysteresis. The median frequency is thus not a simple reflection of the overall receptor saturation levels and is greater during the rise phase for the same saturation level. The hysteresis is due to the higher occupancy of the doubly bound state during the rise phase and not due to the spatial spread of the saturation disk, which remains remarkably constant. Albeit time dependent, the variance of the synaptic and nonstationary patch currents can be accurately determined. Nevertheless the evaluation of the number of AMPA channels and their single current from the mean-variance plots of patch or synaptic currents is not highly accurate owing to the varying number of the activatable AMPA channels caused by desensitization. The spatial nonuniformity of open, bound, and desensitized AMPA channels, and the time dependence and spatial nonuniformity of the glutamate concentration in the synaptic cleft, further reduce the accuracy of estimates of the number of AMPA channels from synaptic currents. In conclusion, wavelet analysis of nonstationary fluctuations of patch and synaptic currents expands our ability to determine accurately the variance and frequency of current fluctuations, demonstrates the limits of applicability of techniques currently used to evaluate the single channel current and number of AMPA channels, and offers new insights into the mechanisms involved in the generation of unitary quantal events at excitatory central synapses.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2003

Characterizing T-cell receptor gamma-variable gene in Aotus nancymaae owl monkey peripheral blood.

Gammadelta T lymphocytes have a heterodimeric complex formed by the association of gamma and delta chains as receptor. Proliferation of this lymphocyte population has been observed, when infection by several pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Plasmodium spp. occurs. The New World Monkey Aotus nancymaae has become a very good experimental model for the immunological and physiopathological study of these infectious agents. The A. nancymaae gamma-variable region was characterized from peripheral blood samples by using cDNA and genomic DNA polymerase chain reaction amplification, DNA sequencing, and dot-blot hybridization techniques. Seventeen different T-cell receptor gamma-variable (TCRGV) sequences were obtained. These sequences were distributed among TCRGV subsets 1, 2, or 3, according to human subset classification. Although no subset 4 amplification was obtained, this subset was detected by dot-blot hybridization. The presence of these 4 subsets resembles the behavior displayed by 'gammadelta-low species' (humans and mice), where high diversity among these lymphocytes can be observed. Homologies greater than 70% were found with respect to humans. Sequence convergence between human and A. nancymaae subsets 1 and 3 highlights Aotus as a promising model for studying these lymphocyte functions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2001

New solvent-producing Clostridium sp. strains, hydrolyzing a wide range of polysaccharides, are closely related to Clostridium butyricum.

Thirteen new Clostridium strains, previously isolated from soil and found to produce high amounts of solvents from glucose, hydrolyzed a great variety of alpha- and beta-glycans, including raw starch, xylan, pectin, inulin and cellulose. The sequences of the PCR-amplified DNA fragments containing the variable 3' part of one of the 16S rRNA genes were 99.5% identical. The macrorestriction pattern of two endonucleolytic digests of chromosomal DNA in the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) confirmed their high homogeneity on the DNA level. The complete 16S rRNA gene sequence of three selected strains was 99.8% identical to the 16S rRNA gene sequence from Clostridium butyricum and separates them from C. acetobutylicum. To the closely related four species of solventogenic clostridia a new group of strains has to be added, which has a great potential for the direct fermentation of biomass.

Biomass↗