Biomedical subjects

Hongbo Yu

Publications and source records attributed to Hongbo Yu.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Slab-like functional architecture of higher order cortical area 21a showing oblique effect of orientation preference in the cat.

Optical imaging based on intrinsic signals is a powerful tool for in vivo studying functional organization of various cortices. Here, the functional architecture of orientation-sensitive neurons in higher order extrastriate cortical area 21a was investigated in cats using optical imaging combined with electrophysiological methods. It is found that neurons in area 21 with similar preferred orientations were functionally organized into a slab-like columnar structure orthogonal to the cortical surface, and the orientation columns were distributed more densely than those in area 17. The responsiveness and activated areas of optical maps visually elicited by the horizontal and vertical gratings were always larger than those by oblique gratings in areas 21a and 17. This neural oblique effect shown in orientation maps was more significant in area 21a than that in area 17. The findings suggest a neuronal mechanism in the higher order extrastriate cortex involving the visual perceptive process of the superiority of cardinal contours.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Gene expression changes and molecular pathways mediating activity-dependent plasticity in visual cortex.

Two key models for examining activity-dependent development of primary visual cortex (V1) involve either reduction of activity in both eyes via dark-rearing (DR) or imbalance of activity between the two eyes via monocular deprivation (MD). Combining DNA microarray analysis with computational approaches, RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and physiological imaging, we find that DR leads to (i) upregulation of genes subserving synaptic transmission and electrical activity, consistent with a coordinated response of cortical neurons to reduction of visual drive, and (ii) downregulation of parvalbumin expression, implicating parvalbumin-expressing interneurons as underlying the delay in cortical maturation after DR. MD partially activates homeostatic mechanisms but differentially upregulates molecular pathways related to growth factors and neuronal degeneration, consistent with reorganization of connections after MD. Expression of a binding protein of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) is highly upregulated after MD, and exogenous application of IGF1 prevents the physiological effects of MD on ocular dominance plasticity examined in vivo.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Mutation analysis of the FOXL2 gene in Chinese patients with blepharophimosis-ptosis-epicanthus inversus syndrome.

Blepharophimosis-ptosis-epicanthus inversus syndrome (BPES) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by blepharophimosis, ptosis and epicanthus inversus. Based on the presence and absence of premature ovarian failure, two clinical types have been distinguished. Both types of BPES have been mapped to chromosome 3q23 and are mostly due to mutations of a forkhead transcription factor FOXL2 gene which locates at this region. We screened for FOXL2 mutations in Chinese patients with BPES. A novel mutation (g.901-930dup30) which could result in an expansion of the polyalanine tract was found in two BPES type II families and one sporadic case. In addition, a new g.952delC mutation was identified in two patients from a BPES family of undetermined type. The previously reported g.892C>T (p.Q219X) was also found in 12 patients from a large BPES family of type I. No mutations were detected in three other BPES families and three sporadic cases. So we speculate that in a fraction of the BPES patients the genetic defect may represent a change in gene dosage or a rearrangement outside the transcription unit of FOXL2.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

The coordinated mapping of visual space and response features in visual cortex.

Whether general principles can explain the layouts of cortical maps remains unresolved. In primary visual cortex of ferret, the relationships between the maps of visual space and response features are predicted by a "dimension-reduction" model. The representation of visual space is anisotropic, with the elevation and azimuth axes having different magnification. This anisotropy is reflected in the orientation, ocular dominance, and spatial frequency domains, which are elongated such that their directions of rapid change, or high-gradient axes, are orthogonal to the high-gradient axis of the visual map. The feature maps are also strongly interdependent-their high-gradient regions avoid one another and intersect orthogonally where essential, so that overlap is minimized. Our results demonstrate a clear influence of the visual map on each feature map. In turn, the local representation of visual space is smooth, as predicted when many features are mapped within a cortical area.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Non-dominant eye responses in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat: an intracellular study.

UNLABELLED: While binocularity has been established as an important characteristic of cat visual cortical neurons, neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) are commonly believed to be monocular. To test whether binocularity exists at the level of the LGNd, postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) of 101 cells were intracellularly recorded in eight normal and eight monocularly deprived cats while presenting stimuli to either the dominant or non-dominant eyes. The results showed that: (1) About 92% of neurons (45 out of 49) responded to a flashing spot presented to the non-dominant eye. In contrast to the dominant eye responses, the non-dominant eye PSPs usually exhibited the same polarization tendency (hyperpolarization or depolarization) to flashing spot stimuli of light increment or decrement, and most of them were inhibitory (hyperpolarization, 35 out of 45, 78%). (2) The response field (RF) of the non-dominant eye overlapped that of the dominant eye. (3) For most binocular cells, peak-to-peak amplitudes of non-dominant eye PSPs were about half the size (46%) of those of the dominant eye. The peak latencies and half-peak latencies of non-dominant eye PSPs were significantly longer than those of the dominant eye (mean differences were 5.4 ms and 5.6 ms respectively). (4) Most of the binocular cells responded well to contrast reversing gratings presented to the non-dominant eye, and the responses were clearly spatial-frequency tuned. No null phase could be found for non-dominant eye PSPs, no matter the neuron was classified as X or Y type according to dominant eye elicited responses. Some of the cells responded well to drifting gratings presented to the non-dominant eye. (5) We also recorded 52 cells in monocularly deprived cats, and found that 49 cells (94%) showed significant responses to flashing spots presented to the non-dominant eye, a similar percentage to that found in normal cats (92%). CONCLUSION: as strongly monocular neurons, most of LGNd cells could also be driven by the non-dominant eye. The responses evoked by non-dominant eye stimulation differ greatly from those evoked by dominant eye stimulation, and remain intact even without visual experience. These observations suggest an important role of the perigeniculate nucleus in providing binocular inputs to LGNd cells.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2003

Risks of blood transfusion and their prevention.

As a result of significant progress in reducing the risks of transfusion-transmitted viral infections, bacterial contamination of platelet components (1:2,000) and sepsis (1:50,000) are now the most frequent infectious complications of blood transfusions. Sepsis from bacterial contamination of red cell components is less frequent (1:500,000), because red blood cells, unlike platelet components, can be stored at refrigerated temperatures (1 degrees C-4 degrees C). Current risks for transfusion-transmitted viral diseases (per blood component transfused) are: human immunodeficiency virus, 1:2,135,000; hepatitis C virus, 1:1,935,000; hepatitis B virus, 1:205,000; and human T-lymphotropic viruses, 1:2,993,000. Transfusion-transmitted babesiosis has increased morbidity and mortality for splenectomized patients. Immunocompromised recipients are at increased risk of developing Chagas disease from blood contaminated by Trypanosoma cruzi. Reports of transfusion-related acute lunge injury and transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease increase each year as physicians become increasingly aware of their varied clinical presentations. While strategies for preventing infections complications focus primarily on blood donor services, individual physicians can reduce risks to their patients by maintaining conservative "triggers" for transfusions, prescribing pharmacologic agents to reduce bleeding (antifibrinolytic drugs, serine protease inhibitors, fibrin sealants), and using epoetin alpha to reduce transfusion of red cells in selected patients.

Blood Group Incompatibility↗

PubMed2002

Inositol pyrophosphates are required for DNA hyperrecombination in protein kinase c1 mutant yeast.

Diphosphoinositol pentakisphosphate (InsP(7)) and bis-diphosphoinositol tetrakisphosphate (InsP(8)) contain energetic pyrophosphate groups, occur throughout animal and plant kingdoms, and are synthesized by a recently cloned family of inositol hexakisphosphate kinases (InsP(6)Ks). We report that these inositol pyrophosphates mediate homologous DNA recombination in yeast S. cerevisae. Hyperrecombination, caused by altered protein kinase C1 (PKC1), is lost in yeast with deletion of yeast InsP(6)K (yInsP(6)K) and can be restored selectively by catalytically active yeast or mammalian InsP(6)Ks. Inositol pyrophosphates are required for two forms of hyperrecombination that differ in mechanism, suggesting some generalities for actions of inositol pyrophosphates in recombination.

Amino Acid Sequence↗