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PubMed2003

A differential involvement of the shell and core subterritories of the nucleus accumbens of rats in memory processes.

The role of the core and the shell subterritories of the nucleus accumbens in conditioned freezing and spatial learning was investigated by means of selective N-methyl-D-aspartate lesions. Shell-lesioned rats showed reduced conditioned freezing to context and a tendency toward reduced freezing to the discrete stimulus compared with controls. However, lesions of the core did not modify the freezing response either to the context or to the discrete stimuli. Although spatial memory, as assessed by a water-maze paradigm, was not disrupted by the lesions, in a 4-arm baited, 4-arm unbaited radial-arm maze paradigm, the shell-lesioned rats showed selective deficits in working memory, but not in reference memory. In contrast, core-lesioned rats showed no memory deficits.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Facilitation of appetitive pavlovian conditioning by d-amphetamine in the shell, but not the core, of the nucleus accumbens.

The effects of postsession d-amphetamine within subregions of the ventral and dorsal striatum on appetitive Pavlovian learning were assessed. Rats acquired a conditioned approach response on presentation of a stimulus predictive of 10% sucrose solution (unconditioned stimulus [US]), but not during equally frequent presentations of a stimulus uncorrelated with the US. In Experiment 1, postsession d-amphetamine infusions enhanced acquisition of conditioned responding, with no effect on control measures. In Experiment 2, rats received postsession d-amphetamine in the accumbens shell or core. Shell infusions facilitated conditioning; core infusions did not. In Experiment 3, dorsomedial striatal infusions of d-amphetamine also were ineffective. In sum, dopaminergic activation within the shell, but not the core, of the nucleus accumbens facilitates the acquisition of a Pavlovian association.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation increases the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens shell of morphine-sensitized rats during abstinence.

Recent studies in rodents have shown that withdrawal from chronic drug abuse is associated with a significant decrease in dopamine (DA) release in mesolimbic structures, especially in the shell region of the nucleus accumbens. Since the DA system is known to play an important role in reward processes, a withdrawal-associated impairment in mesolimbic DA-mediated transmission could possibly implicate reward deficit and thus enhance vulnerability to drug craving and relapse. We have previously demonstrated that acute repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has a modulatory effect on DA release in several areas of the rat brain, including dorsal striatum, hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens shell. In the present study, we investigated the possible use of rTMS as a tool in re-establishing the dysregulated DA secretion observed during withdrawal in morphine-sensitized male Sprague-Dawley rats. Using intracerebral microdialysis, we monitored the effects of acute rTMS (20 Hz) on the intra-accumbal release-patterns of DA in freely moving animals that were subjected to a morphine sensitization scheme for a period of 8 days. We provide first evidence that acute rTMS (20 Hz) is able to increase DA concentration in the shell region of the nucleus accumbens in both control animals and morphine-sensitized rats during abstinence. The DA release in morphine-sensitized rats was significantly higher than in controls. rTMS, therefore, might gain a potential therapeutic role in the treatment of dysphoric and anhedonic states during drug withdrawal in humans.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

The effect of clozapine on extracellular dopamine levels in the shell subregion of the rat nucleus accumbens is reversed following chronic administration: comparison with a selective 5-HT(2C) receptor antagonist.

The clinical onset of both the therapeutic and side effects of antipsychotic drugs can take days/weeks to develop. Therefore, it is likely that adaptive changes in neurotransmission of key systems may only manifest upon chronic administration. Thus, using in vivo microdialysis we have evaluated the acute and chronic (21 days) effects of the atypical antipsychotic clozapine on nucleus accumbens (NAcc) dopamine (DA) output in the rat. Clozapine (10 mg/kg p.o.) produced an acute 60% increase in extracellular levels of DA in the shell but not the core subregion of the NAcc. This clozapine-induced effect was also apparent on day 8 (59% increase) of chronic administration. However, on day 22 (following 21 days chronic administration), clozapine-induced a significant decrease in extracellular DA levels (44% decrease). Since clozapine possesses significant affinity for the 5-HT(2C) receptor these clozapine-induced effects were compared to those of SB-243213, a selective 5-HT(2C) receptor antagonist. SB-243213 (10 mg/kg p.o.) had no effect on NAcc DA levels either acutely or following 21 days chronic administration. These data demonstrate that the atypical neuroleptic clozapine is more effective at eliciting changes in the shell vs the core subregion of the NAcc. In contrast, chronic treatment produces a time-dependent reduction in clozapine-induced DA efflux in the shell subregion. This selective temporal change in dopaminergic neurotransmission may be associated with the delayed therapeutic onset of antipsychotic activity. However, since SB-243213 had no effect on DA levels in the NAcc, it is likely that 5-HT(2C) receptor antagonism alone is not the mechanism by which clozapine exerts is actions.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Administration of the D2 dopamine receptor antagonist sulpiride into the shell, but not the core, of the nucleus accumbens attenuates cocaine priming-induced reinstatement of drug seeking.

Enhanced dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens plays an important role in cocaine priming-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. However, the contribution of each dopamine receptor subtype to this behavior remains unclear. The present experiments were designed to assess the role of D2-like dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens core and shell subregions in cocaine priming-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. Rats were trained to lever press for cocaine using a fixed ratio (FR) 5 schedule of reinforcement. After approximately 18 days of cocaine self-administration, the animals underwent an extinction phase during which cocaine was replaced with saline. Daily extinction sessions were conducted until responding was less than 10% of the response rate maintained by cocaine self-administration. Following the extinction phase, priming-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior was assessed. A range of doses of antagonists selective for D2- (sulpiride, 0.2 or 2.0 microg), D3- (U99194A, 3.9 or 7.8 microg), or D4- (L-750,667, 5.5 or 11 microg) dopamine receptors were microinjected into either the nucleus accumbens core, shell or lateral septum prior to a priming injection of cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.). Following administration into the shell, but not core or lateral septum, sulpiride dose-dependently attenuated reinstatement induced by a cocaine priming injection. In contrast, U99194A and L-750,667 failed to influence cocaine seeking at any of the doses tested in either accumbal subregion. Collectively, these findings indicate that activation of D2 dopamine receptors mediates cocaine priming-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking in a region-specific manner within the nucleus accumbens.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2005

Activation of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell attenuates context-induced relapse to heroin seeking.

Using a rat relapse model, we previously reported that re-exposing rats to a drug-associated context, following extinction of operant responding in a different context, reinstates heroin seeking. In an initial pharmacological characterization, we found that the mGluR2/3 agonist LY379268, which acts centrally to reduce evoked glutamate release, attenuates context-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking when injected systemically or into the ventral tegmental area, the cell body region of the mesolimbic dopamine system. Here, we tested whether injections of LY379268 into the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a terminal region of the mesolimbic dopamine system, would also attenuate context-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking. Rats were trained to self-administer heroin; drug infusions were paired with a discrete tone-light cue. Subsequently, lever pressing was extinguished in the presence of the discrete cue in a context that differed from the drug self-administration context in terms of visual, auditory, tactile, and circadian cues. After extinction of responding, LY379268 was injected to different groups of rats into the NAc core or shell or into the caudate-putamen, a terminal region of the nigrastriatal dopamine system. Injections of LY379268 into the NAc shell (0.3 or 1.0 microg) dose-dependently attenuated context-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking. Injections of 1.0 microg of LY379268 into the NAc core had no effect, while a higher dose (3.0 microg) decreased this reinstatement. Injections of LY379268 (3.0 microg) 1.5 mm dorsal from the NAc core into the caudate-putamen were ineffective. Results suggest an important role of glutamate transmission in the NAc shell in context-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1971

Structural proteins in the egg-shell of the oriental garden cricket, Gryllus mitratus.

1. The egg-shell of the oriental garden cricket, Gryllus mitratus, contained at least two different types of structural protein in an approximate ratio of 5:1. The major fraction was extracted in a solvent containing dithiothreitol, EDTA and 8m-urea, and was purified to apparent homogeneity as judged by free-boundary electrophoresis and ultracentrifugation. This was designated SH-fraction and its S-carboxymethyl derivative (CM-fraction) was also prepared. The minor fraction, insoluble in the solvent, was designated insoluble residue. 2. The major fraction was a phosphoprotein, rich in serine (29.8mol% of the total amino acids) and phosphate (nearly equimolar to serine), and O-phosphoserine was identified in its partial acid hydrolysate. The content of cystine was rather low (0.9mol%) in spite of the importance of this amino acid residue in the native form of the protein. The insoluble residue contained only a small amount of phosphorus, and its amino acid composition was clearly different from the major fraction. 3. CM-fraction, a fibrous protein with an average molecular weight of 57500, behaved as a typical polyanion owing to the high content of phosphate. SH-fraction and CM-fraction were precipitable from their aqueous solutions by the addition of bivalent metal cations, and the precipitation of CM-fraction by Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) was studied in detail. 4. When SH-fraction was exposed to air, intermolecular disulphide linkages were formed, yielding a net-like gel that changed its volume with changes in Ca(2+), Mg(2+) and Na(+). 5. The possible role of this protein fraction in maintaining the integrity of the egg-shell, and a comparison of its composition and properties with other egg-shell proteins and other phosphoproteins, are discussed.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1995

Selective increase in dopamine utilization in the shell subdivision of the nucleus accumbens by the benzodiazepine inverse agonist FG 7142.

We examined the effects of the benzodiazepine inverse agonist FG 7142 on dopamine metabolism in the core and shell subdivisions of the nucleus accumbens. FG 7142 (15 mg/kg i.p.) or vehicle was administered to adult male rats 30 min before they were killed. Selected brain regions, including samples from the whole nucleus accumbens as well as core and shell subdivisions, were collected and assayed for tissue concentrations of dopamine and its major metabolite, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid. Consistent with previous reports, FG 7142 administration increased dopamine utilization in the medial prefrontal cortex but not the whole nucleus accumbens. Examination of subdivisions revealed that FG 7142 produced increased dopamine utilization in the shell subdivision of the nucleus accumbens. No effect of FG 7142 on dopamine utilization in the core region of the nucleus accumbens was observed. These data are discussed in terms of in vivo microdialysis studies reporting increased dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens after FG 7142 administration.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗
PubMed2002

Prestorage WBC filtration of RBC units with soft-shell filters: filtration performance and impact on RBCs during storage for 42 days.

BACKGROUND: The introduction of universal WBC filtration of RBCs prior to storage is currently under consideration in many countries, as it is thought to minimize the incidence of transfusion-associated adverse effects. Centrifugation of blood containers with newly developed soft-shell WBC filters is more convenient, and so of great interest. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Two different quadruple blood pack systems with integrated soft-shell WBC filters were compared (Sepacell OptiPure RC, Baxter Biotech, vs. LCR 5, Maco Pharma). Buffy coat-depleted RBC units were investigated from whole-blood donations that were held for 2 to 3 hours before centrifugation and subsequent filtration at 22 degrees C (Group 1, OptiPure RC, 450 mL; Group 2, LCR 5, 450 mL; Group 3, OptiPure RC, 500 mL; Group 4, LCR 5, 500, mL, n = 12 per group). Filtration performance was analyzed, and the impact of WBC filtration on hemolysis rate, Hb content, pH, supernatant potassium, ATP, and 2,3 DPG was investigated weekly during storage for 42 days. RESULTS: Filtration reduced the WBC count by 4.4 to 5.1 log. Mean +/- SD Hb content was 44.7 +/- 3.0, 41.2 +/- 3.3, 53.1 +/- 5.0, and 51.5 +/- 6.3 g per unit, respectively, with a corresponding mean RBC recovery after filtration of 71.0 +/- 3.0, 68.3 +/- 3.3, 76.6 +/- 1.7, and 68.9 +/- 4.5 percent. WBC filtration resulted in a significant reduction of Hct (0.10-0.14) in all four groups. Investigation of all RBC storage variables revealed acceptable values throughout the storage for 42 days. CONCLUSION: WBC filtration with two newly developed soft-shell filters showed acceptable WBC-reduction efficacy without any difference between filter types in buffy coat-depleted RBCs from 450- and 500-mL whole-blood donations. However, the application of both filters resulted in an unacceptably low RBC recovery after filtration, which was particularly evident with the LCR5 filter. Our findings raise concern that WBC reduction with these filters may result in the production of RBCs with an inappropriately low Hb concentration.

2,3-Diphosphoglycerate↗
PubMed1982

A study of ultrastructure of egg shell of Schistosoma japonicum. I. Transmission electron microscopic observation of S. japonicum egg.

Ultrathin sections of egg shell of S. Japonicum were observed. The micropores and network of microcanals were first reported in egg shell of S. japonicum. Both the micropores and microcanals are lined by a membrane being continous with the inner layer of egg shell and filled with materials coming from inside of the egg. As in the egg of S. mansoni, the possibility of micropores and microcanals that may play an important role as natural channels in secreting materials such as soluble antigens and histolytic enzymes... etc., is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Structure of anchoring villi and the trophoblastic shell in the human, baboon and macaque placenta.

Anchoring villi of first trimester placentae of the macaque, baboon and human were examined by light and electron microscopy. The anchoring villi of the baboon and macaque are similar in having more elongated cell columns than those of the human and in having more extracellular matrix between cytotrophoblast cells. These species also have a thicker and more uniform trophoblastic shell. The generative region of cytotrophoblast cells adjacent to the villous mesenchyme is similar in all three species, with the aspect of the core abutting this area being lined by a thickened basal lamina. Similarly, migratory cytotrophoblast cells form extracellular matrix in all three species, but matrix-rich regions of the anchoring villi and shell are more extensive in the non-human primates. The extracellular matrix and especially the material resembling fibrillin may serve to strengthen the villi, particularly the elongated villi of the non-human primate, and also may prevent maternal cells migrating into the trophoblastic shell. The baboon and macaque cytotrophoblast cells that form this matrix tend to be linked by gap and desmosomal junctions and are in contiguous arrays, whereas those in the human that are blocked from reaching normal decidua form abundant extracellular matrix but have no gap junctions. Whether the lack of extensive invasion of the endometrium by baboon and macaque cytotrophoblast cells is related to the increased amount of extracellular matrix, their greater distance from the mesenchymal core, or their intercellular linkages is not known. The investigation of isolated villi from the macaque or baboon, as has been extensively carried out in the human, might help to determine whether the cytotrophoblast cells are intrinsically different or are responding to different environmental cues.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Dissociation of modular total hip arthroplasty at the femoral head-neck interface after loosening of the acetabular shell following hip dislocation.

Modular component dissociation is a potential problem of current modular total hip arthroplasty (THA) systems. We describe a case of dissociation of the modular THA at the femoral head-neck interface after loosening of the acetabular shell during closed reduction for posterior dislocation of THA. The causes of this dissociation and acetabular shell loosening are discussed. Successful treatment was provided with surgical revision of the acetabular and the femoral head components. The present case serves as a graphic reminder that the acetabular shell overhanging the acetabular bone must be avoided when implanting modular THA components.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed2005

Analysis of conducting-system frequency response data for an interfacial amorphous phase of copper-core oxide-shell nanocomposites.

Complex electrical-conductivity experimental data sets for the interfacial amorphous phase in copper-core-copper-oxide-shell nanostructured composites have been analyzed using two Kohlrausch-related frequency response models recently developed for analysis of the dispersive electrical response of conductive materials. Such analysis has been carried out for both the precursor (herein referred to as the reference) glass as well as the glass in which the core-shell nanostructure was developed after suitable heat treatment. Complex nonlinear-least-squares data fitting at each temperature employed composite Kohlrausch models that included electrode effects. Because of the lack of sufficient high-frequency data, it was necessary to use fixed, rather than free, values of the shape parameter beta1 of the model. On the basis of topological considerations, its values were set at 13 and 23 for the reference glass and the core-shell structured glass, respectively. The activation energies of resistivity for the reference and the treated glasses were found to have values of about 2 and 0.4 eV, respectively, indicating two different mechanisms of electrical conduction. A blocking-electrode measurement on the reference glass indicated the presence of an electronic as well as an ionic component of the electrical conductivity, with the ionic part dominating at the temperatures for which the present analyses were carried out.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Shell and subshell periodic structures of icosahedral nickel nanoclusters.

Using the modified analytic embedded atom method and molecular dynamics, the binding energies and their second order finite differences (stability functions) of icosahedral Ni clusters with shell and subshell periodicity are studied in detail via atomic evolution. The results exhibit shell and subshell structures of the clusters with atoms from 147 to 250,000, and the atomic numbers corresponding to shell or subshell structures are in good agreement with the experimental magic numbers obtained in time-of-flight mass spectra of threshold photoionization, and Martin's theoretical proposition of progressive formation of atomic umbrellas. Clusters with size from 147 to 561 atoms are energetically investigated via one-by-one atomic evolution and their magic numbers are theoretically proved. For medium-size Ni clusters with 561 to 2057 atoms, the prediction of magic numbers with atomic numbers is performed on the basis of umbrella-like subshell growth in near face-edge-vertex order. The similarity of the energy curves makes it possible to extend the prediction to even larger Ni nanoclusters in hierarchical Mackay icosahedral configurations.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Open-shell localized Hartree-Fock method based on the generalized adiabatic connection Kohn-Sham formalism for a self-consistent treatment of excited states.

An effective exact-exchange Kohn-Sham approach for the treatment of excited electronic states, the generalized adiabatic connection open-shell localized Hartree-Fock (GAC-OSLHF) method is presented. The GAC-OSLHF method is based on the generalized adiabatic connection Kohn-Sham formalism and therefore capable of treating excited electronic states, which are not the energetically lowest of their symmetry. The method is self-interaction free and allows for a fully self-consistent computation of excited valence as well as Rydberg states. Results for atoms and small- and medium-size molecules are presented and compared to restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock (ROHF) and time-dependent density-functional results as well as to experimental data. While GAC-OSLHF and ROHF results are quite close to each other, the GAC-OSLHF method shows a much better convergence behavior. Moreover, the GAC-OSLHF method as a Kohn-Sham method, in contrast to the ROHF approach, represents a framework which allows also for a treatment of correlation besides an exchange by appropriate functionals. In contrast to the common time-dependent density-functional methods, the GAC-OSLHF approach is capable of treating doubly or multiply excited states and can be easily applied to molecules with an open-shell ground state. On the nodal planes of the energetically highest occupied orbital, the local multiplicative GAC-OSLHF exchange potential asymptotically approaches a different, i.e., nonzero, value than in other regions, an asymptotic behavior which is known from exact Kohn-Sham exchange potentials of ground states of molecules.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1996

Variation in ultrastructure of mucoid coat and shell membrane secretion of a dasyurid marsupial.

In the dasyurid marsupial Sminthopsis crassicaudata, the shell membrane of cleaving embryos has a compact granular structure but becomes fibrous around blastocysts. Polyclonal antibodies were raised against the extracellular coats, mucoid and shell membrane, of oocytes and early embryos. Immunogold cytochemistry resulted in labelling of secretory granules in the epithelia of both the ampulla and isthmus of the oviduct, although the secretory granules of these two regions differed in their ultrastructural appearance. Those in the ampulla were heterogeneous with areas of varying electron density, whereas those in the isthmus were electron dense and homogeneous. Shell membrane precursors were found in secretory granules in the epithelia of the uterotubal junction and endometrial glands and were electron lucent.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Extracting subnanometer single shells from ultralong multiwalled carbon nanotubes.

We report a simple but powerful method for engineering multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) by using manipulation by an atomic-force microscope. The successive shell-by-shell extraction process of ultralong MWNTs allows the exposure of the innermost single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), which have diameters as small as approximately 0.4 nm. The inner-shell extraction process changes the electrical characteristics of the MWNTs. Whereas the outer hollowed-out nanotubes show either metallic or semiconducting character, the innermost SWNTs of small diameter exhibit predominantly metallic transport properties.

Journal Article↗