PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M R Micheli

Publications and source records attributed to M R Micheli.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

Modulation of BDNF and TrkB expression in rat hippocampus in response to acute neurotoxicity by diethyldithiocarbamate.

In this study, we examined the expression profile of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor TrkB in adult rat hippocampus following acute administration of diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC), a neurotoxic compound which was previously shown to induce microglia activation and cell death. Semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis detected significant variations of BDNF mRNA levels in whole hippocampus homogenates, with a peak at 24h after DDTC injection. Increased BDNF protein expression was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry in various hippocampal subfields. The most relevant increase was observed in the hilus of the dentate gyrus where BDNF levels at 120h were found to be almost four times those of basal levels. Full-length TrkB (TrkB.FL) encoding mRNA was also shown to undergo an earlier increase in the hippocampus of DDTC-treated rats. TrkB immunostaining with an antibody binding both full-length and truncated (TrkB.T) isoforms was found to increase at 120h in the hippocampal CA2 and CA3 regions. These results demonstrate that DDTC modulates the expression of BDNF and its receptor in the adult rat hippocampus and suggest a possible involvement of this neurotrophin in the protective response to DDTC-induced neuronal damage.

Animals↗

BDNF and trkB mRNAs oscillate in rat brain during the light-dark cycle.

In this study, we investigated whether in basal conditions the different functional states occurring during a 24-h cycle are reflected by the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor, trkB, in rat cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Using semiquantitative RT-PCR assay, the levels of both BDNF and trkB mRNAs were found to undergo significant variation in a 24-h period. The strongest variation was detected in the hippocampus, where the ratio between maximum and minimum levels was about 3.5 and 17.5 for BDNF and trkB, respectively. These findings provide the first evidence that, in the absence of any experimental manipulation, the expression of a neurotrophin and its receptor undergoes diurnal oscillation, possibly related to the physiological variations of the activity level.

Animals↗

Bacteriophage T4 gene 28.

The complete nucleotide sequence of bacteriophage T4D gene 28 has been determined. Gene 28 product is a structural component of the viral baseplate for which an enzymatic activity has also been proposed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Molecular biology of hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis B virus association.

The involvement of the hepatitis B virus in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma was initially suggested on the basis of epidemiological studies. In recent years several kinds of experimental evidence have supported this hypothesis; however, the role played by hepatitis B virus in hepatocarcinogenesis still needs to be elucidated. Several groups of researchers are presently involved in establishing whether hepatitis B virus makes a specific genetic contribution to carcinogenesis or predisposes to neoplastic transformation by causing chronic inflammation and cell regeneration. A comprehensive examination of the data available in the literature suggests that the two hypotheses may not be mutually exclusive.

Animals↗

Symmetric transcription of bacteriophage T4 base plate genes.

Dot-blot and Northern-blot experiments, using strand-specific RNA probes, show that part of the bacteriophage T4 DNA that codes for six of the base plate structural genes (gp 51, 27, 28, 29, 48 and 54), is transcribed in vivo from both DNA strands. The r DNA strand transcripts contain sequences which are translated into structural proteins. Antisense l strand RNA is about 100 fold less abundant than RNA molecules transcribed from the r DNA strand.

Blotting, Northern↗

Properties of transposon SCTn1 of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

Chloramphenicol resistance (Cmlr) of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) behaves like a transposon locus, not being localisable in any region of the map and yet being transferable in crosses at a rate comparable to that of chromosomal markers. It can also be transposed onto a plasmid (SCP1) and back to the chromosome. Some traits, such as arginino-succinate synthase production (ArgG), aerial mycelium formation (AmyA), resistance to tetracycline and to rifamycin C appear to be joined to Cml in three processes: co-mutation, i.e. simultaneous loss, post-mutation, i.e. spontaneous loss at high frequency in subclones from Cmls strains, co-transfer, i.e. joint transfer with the cml locus in crosses or during infection by the aggregate SCP1::SCTn1 plasmid. All these processes have been consistently observed with special attention to the argG locus.

Chloramphenicol↗

A jumping gene in streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

The difficulty in mapping the gene for chloramphenicol resistance (cmlR) in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) stock strains is possibly due to its location on different sites of the chromosome in various mixed subclones. Fresh isolates from CmlR strains show single unequivocal locations of cmlR. The same holds for CmlR strains derived as revertants from CmlS variants. The two best established sites for cmlR are one between cysA and metA, the other at right of argA, possibly in the right empty arc of the map (Fig. 2). The cmlR gene was assumed to be on a transposon (SCTn1), together with a gene for arginine-succinate synthase (argG), a gene for chromosome transfer (tra) and a gene for aereal mycelium formation (amy). In a CmlR revertant, the cmlR gene appears disjoined from argG (Fig. 5), thus showing the ability of SCTnl to be split and partially transposed. The possible wide occurrence of transposons in the genus Streptomyces is discussed.

Chloramphenicol↗