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M J Marks

Publications and source records attributed to M J Marks.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Classical genetic analysis of nicotine-induced seizures and nicotinic receptors.

C3H/2lbg mice are more sensitive to nicotine-induced seizures than are DBA/2lbg mice. There are also differences in alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha-BTX) binding in the hippocampus and midbrain of these two strains, with the C3H mice having greater binding. Because alpha-BTX and nicotine appear to bind to nicotinic receptors in the central nervous system, it is possible that there may be a relationship between seizure sensitivity after a nicotine dose and nicotinic receptor concentration. To examine this relationship, a classical cross producing F1, F2 and backcross (F1 X C3H and F1 X DBA) generations from these two strains was utilized. Dose-response curves for nicotine-induced seizures were constructed for both parental strains and all crosses derived from them. Nicotinic receptors were also measured in three brain regions: cortex, midbrain and hippocampus. Both DL-[3H]nicotine and alpha-[125I]BTX were used to measure nicotinic receptors. The pattern of results for the six generations for alpha-BTX binding in the hippocampus paralleled that for seizure sensitivity. These results suggest that strain differences for both seizure sensitivity and receptor concentration in the hippocampus may be due to allelic differences at a single autosomal locus, with dominance for low seizure susceptibility and fewer alpha-BTX receptors.

Animals↗

Quantitation of tolerance development after chronic oxotremorine treatment.

A new procedure was developed to quantitate the tolerance which develops as mice are chronically infused with the muscarinic agonist, oxotremorine. Cumulative dose-response curves were constructed for the effects of oxotremorine on body temperature and rotarod performance by administering sequential injections to individual animals. These dose-response curves compare favorably to those constructed by injecting individual animals with one of several doses. The sequential injection technique was used to assess the magnitude of tolerance development to oxotremorine. A linear relationship between oxotremorine infusion rate (dose) and magnitude of change of the ED50 value for impairment of rotarod performance was observed, with animals receiving an infusion rate of 1.0 mg/kg/hr showing a 24-fold increase in ED50. Dose-response curves for tolerant animals were parallel to those constructed for naive animals. The oxotremorine dose required to decrease body temperature to 35 degrees C (ED35 degrees) was 80-fold greater than control in the group treated with 1.0 mg/kg/hr. The dose-response curves for tolerant animals were not parallel to those seen in naive animals. Time courses of recovery from a challenge dose of oxotremorine suggest little change in metabolism occurred during chronic infusion. Chronic oxotremorine infusion resulted in a decrease in the total number of QNB binding sites. Both high- and low-affinity sites were reduced in number. Since no change in K1 for the muscarinic agonist, carbamylcholine, was observed, it seems unlikely that a change occurs in the affinity of the muscarinic receptor for agonists. Significant change in receptor number was detected only in animals that received higher doses of oxotremorine. Chronic oxotremorine treatment had no effect on choline uptake by synaptosomes prepared from any of five brain regions.

Animals↗

Genetics of nicotine response in four inbred strains of mice.

The effects of nicotine on five behavioral and physiological measures were determined in four inbred mouse strains (BALB, C57BL, DBA and C3H). In addition, the binding characteristics of nicotine and alpha-bungarotoxin, two ligands which appear to label different nicotinic receptors, were measured in seven discrete brain regions, as well as in whole brain. A number of differences in response to nicotine were found among the four inbred strains. Whereas nicotine depressed open-field activity of BALB, C57BL and DBA mice in a dose-dependent manner, low doses of nicotine increased locomotor activity in C3H mice. The doses of nicotine tested reduced Rotarod performance in DBA and C57BL mice but not in C3H and BALB mice. All four strains displayed a dose-dependent decrease in body temperature after nicotine administration. The BALB mice were more sensitive to the drug than were the C3H, whereas the effects on C57BL and DBA mice were intermediate. All four strains showed a transient increase in respiration only after a high (2.0 mg/kg) nicotine dose. No dose of nicotine was found to have an effect on the startle response after auditory stimulation in three of the strains; only the C3H mice exhibited enhanced startle after nicotine was administered. Differences in DL-[ 3H ]nicotine binding among the seven brain regions were noted in each strain, but no differences among strains were observed. The IC50 values for inhibition of this binding by nicotine did not differ among brain regions within any strain or within any region among strains. Similarly, nicotine inhibited alpha-[125I]bungarotoxin binding with equal potency in all brain regions of each of the four strains; however, the binding of this ligand was significantly lower in the midbrain and hippocampus of DBA mice than it was in these regions in the other three strains. Thus, genetic factors influence response to nicotine, but variation in response is not easily explained by differences in brain nicotinic receptors.

Animals↗

Development of ion metabolism in reaggregated brain cell cultures.

Mouse brain cell reaggregates have been used to study changes in sodium- and potassium-dependent ouabain-sensitive adenosine phosphohydrolase (Na+, K+-ATPase) activity and in 86Rb+ uptake and exit during development. Na+, K+-ATPase activity in these cultures has two ouabain-inhibitable components, both of which increased severalfold between day 3 and day 17 in culture. This increase, however, was less than that in developing brain. Little change in either total or extracellular water or in the equilibrium levels of Na+ and K+ occurred during development. The uptake of 86Rb+ measured a 10-min incubation showed only a modest increase during culture, whereas the exit of 86Rb+ from reaggregates preloaded with the tracer increased approximately fourfold. The exit consisted of both K+-independent and K+-stimulated components and the K+-stimulated fraction contributed most of the developmental change. When uptake rates were corrected for the contribution of the developmental changes in exit, these rates were found to increase as well. The 86Rb+ uptake correlated closely with the activity of the Na+,K+-ATPase during development. The pattern of developmental changes in enzyme activity and 86Rb+ uptake and exit suggest that, while little change in the steady-state levels of the ions occurred, the rates of ion movement increase markedly.

Animals↗

Norepinephrine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and choline reuptake kinetics and the effects of ethanol in long-sleep and short-sleep mice.

The reuptake characteristics of norepinephrine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and choline were investigated in the long-sleep (LS) and short-sleep (SS) mouse lines. Kinetic analysis revealed no significant differences between lines in affinity (Km) or maximal velocity (Vmax) for norepinephrine and GABA measured in cortex and cerebellum or for choline measured in striatum and cortex. In vitro ethanol dose-response curves (0-1.7 M) for these neurotransmitters showed highly significant inhibition of reuptake except for reuptake of choline in cortex. All responses to ethanol were identical in both lines of mice. The magnitude of GABA reuptake inhibition was greater in cortex than in cerebellum. On the other hand, choline reuptake was very sensitive to ethanol in striatum, but was unaffected in cortex. These data suggest some regional specificity in ethanol's solubility. Inhibition of reuptake by ethanol concentrations greater than 0.86 M was determined to be irreversible and not due to hypertonic lysis. Our data are in complete agreement with previously published studies which suggest that ethanol inhibits neurotransmitter reuptake. However, since the LS and SS mice were selected for differential sensitivity to ethanol, and since we found no differences between lines in kinetic parameters or acute responses to in vitro ethanol, it appears that inhibition of neurotransmitter reuptake is not involved in the depressant effects of ethanol.

Animals↗

Characterization of nicotine binding in mouse brain and comparison with the binding of alpha-bungarotoxin and quinuclidinyl benzilate.

The binding of [3H]nicotine to mouse brain has been measured and subsequently compared with the binding of [125I]alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha-BTX) and L-[3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB). The binding of nicotine was saturable, reversible, and stereospecific. The average KD and Bmax were 59 nM and 88 fmoles/mg of protein, respectively. Although the rates of association and dissociation of nicotine were temperature-dependent, the incubation temperature had no effect on either KD or Bmax. When measured at 20 degrees or 37 degrees, nicotine appeared to bind to a single class of binding sites, but a second, very low-affinity, binding site was observed at 4 degrees. Nicotine binding was unaffected by the addition of NaCl, KCl, CaCl2, or MgSO4 to the incubation medium. Nicotinic cholinergic agonists were potent inhibitors of nicotine binding; however, nicotinic antagonists were poor inhibitors. The regional distribution of binding was not uniform: midbrain and striatum contained the highest number of receptors, whereas cerebellum had the fewest. Differences in site densities, regional distribution, inhibitor potencies, and thermal denaturation indicated that nicotine binding was not the same as either QNB or alpha-BTX binding, and therefore that receptors for nicotine may represent a unique population of cholinergic receptors.

Animals↗

Genetic influences on cholinergic drug response.

Three mouse strains were tested for oxotremorine effects on open-field activity and body temperature. Open-field activity was depressed less severely in C3H mice than in C57BL, which were less affected than DBA. While no differences in the hypothermic effects of oxotremorine were observed 15 min after injection, the time courses of the drug effect on body temperature indicated that C3H were less affected than C57BL or DBA. No differences in the activities of acetylcholinesterase of choline acetyltransferase were found among the three strains in cortex, cerebellum, hindbrain (pons-medulla), or total midbrain. While no differences in muscarinic receptor levels were found in the four large brain areas, finer dissection of the midbrain revealed small differences in total receptor number in striatum, hippocampus, and remaining midbrain areas. C3H mice exhibited greater QNB binding than C57BL and DBA mice in striatum; DBA mice exhibited greater QNB binding in hippocampus than C57BL (C3H mice were not different from either strain); and C57BL had less QNB binding than the other two strains in midbrain. All of these differences were small (20% or less). No differences in KD were observed. The inhibition of receptor binding by either oxotremorine or nicotine was the same in all strains, but the IC50 for oxotremorine varied from region to region. While behavioral differences in the effects of oxotremorine are clear, there is no obvious biochemical explanation for these differences.

Acetylcholinesterase↗

Cholinergic adaptations to chronic oxotremorine infusion.

The development of tolerance to cholinergic agonists such as oxotremorine is a well established phenomenon. The hypothesis that such tolerance may be explained by a decrease in the number of affinity of muscarinic receptors was tested by chronically treating C3H mice with oxotremorine. Chronic treatment was achieved by continuously infusing oxotremorine via an indwelling i.v. catheter. Doses ranged from 0.03 to 1.0 mg/kg/hr. Clear tolerance was observed in that symptoms such as salivation, lacrimation and muscle tremor decreased or disappeared during the infusion period. Similarly, chronically treated animals exhibited minimal hypothermia or impairment of rotarod performance when challenged with an oxotremorine dose which significantly depressed both of these measures in naive animals. The activities of the enzymes, acetylcholinesterase and choline acetyltransferase, as well as the binding of [3H]-3-quinuclidinyl benzilate in seven brain regions, were assessed. Chronic oxotremorine treatment failed to alter acetyltransferase activity in any of the brain regions. Choline acetyltransferase activity was only marginally decreased in several brain regions. A significant decrease in maximal [3H]-3-quinudidinyl binding was observed in six of the regions examined. No alteration in [3H]-3-quinuclidinyl affinity was detected. Tolerance to oxotremorine was detected at doses which failed to alter choline acetyltransferase activity or receptor number. These data support the observations of others who noted that chronic muscarinic stimulation results in a decrease in muscarinic receptors, but suggest the importance of mechanisms other than decreased receptor number in early stages of tolerance development.

Acetylcholinesterase↗

Sulfatide synthesis by neural cell lines.

Several neural cell lines were examined for their ability to synthesize sulfatide and 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide phosphohydrolase, biochemical components characteristic of myelin. The mouse glioma G26 and the rat schwannoma TRM6B actively produced sulfatide, while the rat glioma C6 was inactive, supporting the probable oligodendroglial origin of the G26. In contrast, the C6 cell line had a high level of 2'-3'-cyclic nucleotide phosphohydrolase activity, while TRM6B showed 30% and the G26 75% lower activities. Thus, these two activities appear to be independently regulated.

2',3'-Cyclic-Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases↗

Acute and subacute toxicology and safety evaluation of triphenyl tin hydroxide (Vancide KS).

The acute oral LD50 in Sprague-Dawley rats was determined to be 171 mg/kg (100-295) for males and 268 mg/kg (205-344) for females. 2. A 1 ppm dietary supplement of Vancide KS for 90 days did not induce any abnormalities in weanling Sprague-Dawley rats. The parameters evaluated were serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), hematocrit, differential white blood cell count, food consumption, and weight gain, along with histologic studies of the myocardium, spleen, liver, kidney, stomach, and small intestine. A 500 ppm diet was lethal. Weanling and older rats subjected to 1000 and 10,000 ppm diets died within 5 days. 3. Vancide KS induced no acute dermal toxicity, nor did it exhibit percutaneous absorption in New Zealand strain albino rabbits. 4. Vancide KS induced no chronic dermal toxicity in New Zealand strain albino rabbits. 5. Vancide KS was not shown to be teratogenic. It exhibited an antifertility action, especially in Sprague-Dawley rats dosed on day 1 through day 7 of timed-pregnancy. 6. Vancide KS was shown to be an eye irritant which induces corneal opacity. 7. Acute oral toxicity studies in Sprague-Dawley rats indicate that Vancide KS should be classified as a toxic substance as defined in the regulations under the Federal Hazardous Labeling Act. 8. The intravenous administration of 25 mg/kg of Vancide KS to New Zealand strain albino rabbits induced death preceded by topic convulsions. 9. Vancide KS did not induce skin sensitization in male adult guinea pigs.

Administration, Oral↗