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J Fryer

Publications and source records attributed to J Fryer.

62 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Drug abuse and alcoholism teaching in U.S. medical and osteopathic schools.

This is a report of the principal findings of a survey of drug abuse and alcoholism teaching in U.S. medical and osteopathic schools. It was found that required teaching activities during all four years of medical school averaged 25.7 hours, with a range of 0 to 126. The proportion of the total required hours devoted to substance abuse was 0.0 to 3.1 percent, with a mean of 0.6 percent. Schools also differed widely in the number and type of electives offered in drug abuse and alcoholism, as well as in number of clinical assignments available. Findings in osteopathic schools were generally similar. Two factors which were significantly related to the number of required hours were the presence of a career teacher in the addictions and the size of the school.

Alcoholism↗

Cortisol inhibits the ACTH-releasing activity of urotensin I, CRF and sauvagine observed with superfused goldfish pituitary cells.

The structurally homologous peptides urotensin I, ovine CRF and sauvagine stimulate the release of immunoreactive ACTH from a superfused dispersed goldfish anterior pituitary cell column. The addition of cortisol to the superfusion buffer resulted, following a latent period, in a decrease in basal release of ACTH from the pituitary cell column and a diminution in the ACTH-releasing activities of urotensin I, CRF and sauvagine. The removal of cortisol from the superfusion buffer resulted in a slow recovery of basal ACTH release and a recovery of the ACTH-releasing activities of urotensin I, CRF and sauvagine. These results are supportive of the view that urotensin I, or a urotensin I-like peptide, serves as a physiological regulator of ACTH release in teleost fishes.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Immunosuppression is not required for reactivation of latent murine cytomegalovirus.

We have shown, for the first time, that TNF induces expression of MCMV IE RNA in the lungs of latently infected mice in the absence of immunosuppression. These initial data suggest that TNF may play an important role in the reactivation of latent MCMV, in the absence of immunosuppression, and provide a provocative insight into the mechanisms of CMV reactivation. Studies are in progress to determine whether genes associated with later stages of the viral life cycle are induced by TNF and whether infectious virus is produced.

Animals↗

Purification and characterization of astrocyte-secreted apolipoprotein E and J-containing lipoproteins from wild-type and human apoE transgenic mice.

The varepsilon4 allele of apolipoprotein E (apoE) is a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). In order to gain a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which apoE and possibly other apolipoproteins produced in the central nervous system (CNS) influence AD pathogenesis, we have purified and characterized the two most abundant apolipoproteins produced in the CNS, apoE and apoJ. We purified apoE and apoJ from primary cultures of mouse astrocytes, which were derived from transgenic mice expressing human apoE isoforms in the absence of mouse apoE. Utilizing antibody affinity columns, we were able to purify both human apoE3 and apoE4, as well as mouse apoJ-containing lipoproteins. Astrocyte-secreted human apoE was present in high density-like lipoproteins of three predominant sizes ranging from 8 to 15 nm in diameter. Mouse apoJ was in particles between 10 and 17 nm in diameter with a peak size range of approximately 11 nm. ApoE and apoJ were in distinct lipoproteins. Utilization of quick-freeze, deep-etch electron microscopy revealed the apoE particles were discs while the apoJ particles were smaller and more irregular in appearance. The lipid composition of apoE particles was very different from those containing apoJ. ApoE-particles contained a similar mass of apoE and lipid, with cholesterol and phospholipid being about equal in mass per particle. ApoJ-particles were relatively lipid poor (three parts protein, one part lipid), with phospholipids being much more abundant than cholesterol. Detailed characterization of phospholipid composition by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analysis revealed ethanolamine glycerophospholipids to be the most abundant phospholipid present in both apoE and apoJ particles. Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid from apoE3 and apoE4 transgenic mice revealed that human and mouse apoE were in particles the same size as those secreted by astrocytes. Further use of physiological preparations of CNS-derived lipoproteins may allow for a detailed understanding of the role of these molecules in the normal brain and in diseases such as AD.

Animals↗