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Biomedical subjects

R Orman

Publications and source records attributed to R Orman.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Hemispheric differences in protein kinase C betaII levels in the rat amygdala: baseline asymmetry and lateralized changes associated with cue and context in a classical fear conditioning paradigm.

The amygdala is critically important for fear learning, and specific kinases have been implicated as contributors to the mechanisms that underlie learning. We examined levels of protein kinase C betaII (PKC betaII) in the left and right lateral and basolateral nuclei (LA/BLA) of the amygdala from animals that were classically fear conditioned with tones as cues and footshocks. Groups consisted of animals that received neither tones nor shocks, paired tones and shocks, or unpaired tones and shocks. At 1 h after conditioning, some animals from each group were used for biochemical measurements of PKC betaII levels and other animals were given probe trials to assess freezing behavior to cue and context. The levels of PKC betaII were greater in the left hemisphere in animals receiving neither tones nor shocks and animals receiving paired tones and shocks. PKC betaII levels were greater in the right hemisphere of animals receiving randomly presented tones and shocks. Freezing times to cue were long (>80% of probe trial time) in both the paired tone/shock and randomly unpaired tone/shock groups. Freezing times to context were long in the unpaired tone/shock group, but not the paired tone/shock group. Correlational analyses showed that freezing times to context, but not cue, precisely predicted the right/left relation of PKC betaII levels in the LA/BLA: the greater the time spent freezing to context, the greater the increase in right hemisphere PKC betaII levels. We conclude that fear conditioning causes hemisphere and input specific increases in PKC betaII in the rat LA/BLA.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2003

Sex differences in anxiety, sensorimotor gating and expression of the alpha4 subunit of the GABAA receptor in the amygdala after progesterone withdrawal.

In a progesterone withdrawal (PWD) model of premenstrual anxiety, we have previously demonstrated that increased hippocampal expression of the alpha4 subunit of the GABAA receptor (GABAA-R) is closely associated with higher anxiety levels in the elevated plus maze. However, several studies indicate that sex differences in regulation of the GABAA-R in specific brain regions may be an important factor in the observed gender differences in mood disorders. Thus, we investigated possible sex differences in GABAA-R subunit expression and anxiety during PWD. To this end, we utilized the acoustic startle response (ASR) to assess anxiety levels in male and female rats undergoing PWD as the ASR is also applicable to the assessment of human anxiety responses. We also investigated GABAA-R alpha4 subunit expression in the amygdala, as the amygdala directly regulates the primary startle circuit. Female rats exhibited a greater ASR during PWD than controls, indicating higher levels of anxiety and arousal. In contrast, male rats undergoing PWD did not demonstrate an increased ASR. The sex differences in the ASR were paralleled by sex differences in the expression of the GABAA-R alpha4 subunit in the amygdala such that alpha4 subunit expression was up-regulated in females during PWD whereas alpha4 levels in males undergoing PWD were not altered relative to controls. These findings might have implications regarding gender differences in human mood disorders and the aetiology of premenstrual anxiety.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1997

Expression of PrP mRNA is regulated by a fragment of MRP8 in human fibroblasts.

Prion protein (PrPc) is expressed in many tissues, both in human and animals. The scrapie isoform of PrPc has been shown to cause neurodegeneration. In other studies it has been demonstrated that overexpression of the PrP gene can result in nonneuronal tissue degradation. Little is known, however, about the normal function of PrPc and prion protein gene regulation. Using cultured periodontal ligament cells as an experimental model, we have demonstrated the stimulation of PrP mRNA expression by MRP8 (migration inhibitory factor-related protein). Additionally, we have shown that PDGF has an opposite effect acting as a suppresser. We propose that a correlation exists between PrPc mRNA expression and cell growth arrest and differentiation.

Antigens, Differentiation↗
PubMed1997

Comparison of in vitro proliferative capacity of human periodontal ligament cells in juvenile and aged donors.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to compare the in vitro proliferative capacity of periodontal ligament (PDL) cells from aged and juvenile donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Flow-cytometric analysis of the cell cycle was used to compare the length of each cell cycle, and the ratio of the cells progressing through the cycles between four PDL cells from juvenile donors and four cells from aged donors. Then, replicative capacity of the PDL cells from three juvenile and three aged donors was compared by serial cultures. Finally, expression of c-fos was compared between cells proliferating and cells which had reached senescent. RESULTS: Flow-cytometric analysis of the cell cycle had revealed that although there were no differences in the length of each phase of the cell cycle, significant differences were found in the ratio of the cells entering from Gap I to DNA synthesis phase of the cell cycle (P < 0.025). Replicative capacity was much longer in two cells from juvenile donors (about 20 population doublings), while all cells from aged donors showed short dividing abilities (less than eight population doublings), hence entered senescent phases shortly. Additionally, no c-fos was detected in cells which had reached senescence upon stimulation with serum. CONCLUSIONS: It is generally believed that aged humans have an impaired wound healing ability. We believe that more fibrotic PDL tissues seen in aged humans might be the reason for this, and suggest that this phenomena might be due to the progressive accumulation of senescent cell populations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Isolation, purification, and partial characterization of an autocrine periodontal ligament cell chemotactic factor.

Periodontal ligament (PDL) cells are believed to play a critically important role in the regeneration of the periodontium. We have suggested that polypeptide growth factors can enhance periodontal regeneration by stimulating PDL cell chemotaxis and mitogenesis. This manuscript describes the identification of a novel chemotactic factor isolated from human PDL cells which we named PDL-CTX. PDL-CTX induces the directed migration of human PDL cells in vitro and was found to be a more potent chemotactic agent than other known growth factors. Additionally, PDL-CTX has no chemotactic effect on gingival fibroblasts or gingival epithelial cells. Both tryptic digestion and boiling abolished PDL-CTX's biological activity. The designed purification method included Mono-S cation exchange, heparin-sepharose affinity, and microbore reverse-phase HPLC. The purified factor has a relative molecular weight of approximately 7000 daltons based on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gel analysis. The amino acid composition and partial amino acid sequence were determined from HPLC-purified material. These were determined to be unique. Further investigation of the biological functions of PDL-CTX on PDL cells and other ligament cells should help improve our understanding of ligament repair.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Mitogenic and chemotactic responses of human periodontal ligament cells to the different isoforms of platelet-derived growth factor.

A major focus of studies that center on regeneration of the periodontium is to determine the efficacy of the use of polypeptide growth factors. Platelet-derived growth factor has been reported to be a possible agent for clinical use. PDGF has various isoforms. Therefore, we decided to study the mitogenic and chemotactic responses of human periodontal ligament (PDL) cells to recombinant human PDGF-AB, AA, and BB. Addition of each isoform of PDGF to in vitro mitogenesis assays induced PDL cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. The maximum mitogenic effect was evident at the concentration of 100 ng/mL. In these assays, PDGF-BB was found to be the most potent mitogen. PDGF-AB elicited an intermediate response, and PDGF-AA was the least effective. The results of chemotaxis assays closely parallel those of the mitogenesis assays. PDGF-BB exhibited the most potent chemotactic effect. The maximal effect was observed at 10 ng/mL. The findings of these experiments indicate that PDGF-BB is more effective than the other isoforms in promoting mitogenesis and chemotaxis of PDL cells in vitro, and may therefore be a suitable ethical pharmaceutical for use in periodontal regeneration procedures.

Becaplermin↗