Edwardshoffmann1477
This review critically evaluates a panel of ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels and synaptic proteins upregulated in GBM, and the evidence for their potential roles in the pathological disease progress. Evidence suggests combinations of therapies could be more effective than single agents alone. Natural plant products used in traditional medicines for the treatment of glioblastoma contain flavonoids, terpenoids, polyphenols, epigallocatechin gallate, quinones, and saponins, which might serendipitously include agents that modulate some classes of signaling compounds highlighted in this review. New therapeutic strategies are likely to exploit evidence-based combinations of selected agents, each at a low dose, to create new cancer cell-specific therapeutics. Copyright © 2020 Yool and Ramesh.Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a severe cerebrovascular disease with a high incidence, mortality and disability rate. Danhong injection (DHI) is beneficial for ischemic stroke, but is prohibited for ICH due to risk of bleeding. The present study aims to explore the potential therapeutic time window and molecular mechanism of DHI in a collagenase-induced ICH model in aged rats. DHI administration after ICH could significantly improve body weight and neurological deficits, and reduce the hematoma volume and brain water content when compared to the vehicle control. Furthermore, the protective effect of DHI administration on days 1-3 after ICH was superior to those on days 3-5 or 7-9 after ICH. DHI remarkably increased the Peroxiredoxin 1 (Prx1) expression in astrocytes and reduced the expression of inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-β (IL-1β) after ICH. The immediate treatment of Prx1 inhibiter chelerythrine (Che) after ICH abolished the protective effect of DHI. Furthermore, the Che treatment reduced the expression of Prx1 in astrocytes, but increased the expression of TNF-α and IL-1β after ICH. DHI treatment could not reverse these changes. Therefore, the earlier DHI is administered, the better the neuroprotective effect. DHI exerts antioxidative and anti-inflammatory function by increasing Prx1 in astrocytes. These present results may change the established understanding of DHI, and reveal a novel treatment approach for ICH. Copyright © 2020 Wang, Yu, Sun, Liu, Hu, Liu, Peng, Wang, Cheng, Sr, Qin and Lu.Asiatic acid is a triterpenoid compound extracted from a medicinal plant Centella asiatica. It has been used as a highly efficient compound for the treatment of cancer and hyperlipidemia, as well as possessing potential antiinflammatory properties. However, its effects on bone metabolism and osteoporosis haven't been reported. The purpose of our research were to reveal the biomolecular effects of asiatic acid on osteoclasts, and its underlying molecular mechanisms regulating its effects on receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL)-induced signaling pathways. We found that asiatic acid inhibited multinucleated tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAcP)-positive osteoclast differentiation and osteoclast induced bone loss. Real time PCR showed that asiatic acid reduced the expression of down-cascade target genes including Ctsk, Nfatc1, Calcr, and Atp6v0d2. check details Western blot and luciferase reporter gene assays revealed that asiatic acid inhibits RANKL mediated NF-κB and NFATc1 signalings. Further, in vivo study demonstrated asiatic acid attenuates estrogen deficiency-induced bone loss in ovariectomized mice. MicroCT and histology analyses revealed that osteoclast numbers were significantly suppressed in asiatic acid treated groups. Furthermore, serum levels of TRAcP and CTX-1 were downregulated in treated groups. Taken together, our data show that asiatic acid can inhibit osteoclastic formation and reduce OVX-induced bone resorption through RANKL-activated NF-κB or NFATc1 signaling, suggesting that asiatic acid may be a potential and effective natural compound for the therapy of excessive RANKL-related osteolytic diseases. Copyright © 2020 Hong, Zhou, Han, Sun, Chen, He, Tickner, Chen, Shi and Xu.Parkinson's disease (PD) etiology is attributed to aging and the progressive neurodegeneration of dopamine (DA) neurons of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). GPR37 is an orphan G-protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) that is linked to the juvenile form of PD. In addition, misfolded GPR37 has been found in Lewy bodies. However, properly folded GPR37 found at the cell membrane appears to exert neuroprotection. In the present study we investigated the role of GPR37 in motor deficits due to aging or toxin-induced experimental parkinsonism. Elderly GPR37 knock out (KO) mice displayed hypolocomotion and worse fine movement performance compared to their WT counterparts. Striatal slice electrophysiology reveiled that GPR37 KO mice show profound decrease in long term potentiation (LTP) formation which is accompanied by an alteration in glutamate receptor subunit content. link2 GPR37 KO animals exposed to intrastriatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) show poorer score in the behavioral cylinder test and more loss of the DA transporter (DAT) in striatum. The GPR37 KO striata exhibit a significant increase in GABA which is aggravated after DA depletion. Our data indicate that GPR37 KO mice have DA neuron deficit, enhanced striatal GABA levels and deficient corticostriatal LTP. They also respond stronger to 6-OHDA-induced neurotoxicity. Taken together, the data indicate that properly functional GPR37 may counteract aging processes and parkinsonism. Copyright © 2020 Zhang, Mantas, Fridjonsdottir, Andrén, Chergui and Svenningsson.Long-term synaptic plasticity is widely believed to underlie learning and memory in the brain. Whether plasticity is primarily expressed pre- or postsynaptically has been the subject of considerable debate for many decades. More recently, it is generally agreed that the locus of plasticity depends on a number of factors, such as developmental stage, induction protocol, and synapse type. Since presynaptic expression alters not just the gain but also the short-term dynamics of a synapse, whereas postsynaptic expression only modifies the gain, the locus has fundamental implications for circuits dynamics and computations in the brain. It therefore remains crucial for our understanding of neuronal circuits to know the locus of expression of long-term plasticity. One classical method for elucidating whether plasticity is pre- or postsynaptically expressed is based on analysis of the coefficient of variation (CV), which serves as a measure of noise levels of synaptic neurotransmission. Here, we provide a practical guide to using CV analysis for the purposes of exploring the locus of expression of long-term plasticity, primarily aimed at beginners in the field. We provide relatively simple intuitive background to an otherwise theoretically complex approach as well as simple mathematical derivations for key parametric relationships. We list important pitfalls of the method, accompanied by accessible computer simulations to better illustrate the problems (downloadable from GitHub), and we provide straightforward solutions for these issues. Copyright © 2020 Brock, Thomazeau, Watanabe, Li and Sjöström.Experience-dependent learning and memory require multiple forms of plasticity at hippocampal and cortical synapses that are regulated by N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDA) and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)-type ionotropic glutamate receptors (NMDAR, AMPAR). These plasticity mechanisms include long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD), which are Hebbian input-specific mechanisms that rapidly increase or decrease AMPAR synaptic strength at specific inputs, and homeostatic plasticity that globally scales-up or -down AMPAR synaptic strength across many or even all inputs. Frequently, these changes in synaptic strength are also accompanied by a change in the subunit composition of AMPARs at the synapse due to the trafficking to and from the synapse of receptors lacking GluA2 subunits. These GluA2-lacking receptors are most often GluA1 homomeric receptors that exhibit higher single-channel conductance and are Ca2+-permeable (CP-AMPAR). This review article will focus on the role of protein phosphorylation in regulation of GluA1 CP-AMPAR recruitment and removal from hippocampal synapses during synaptic plasticity with an emphasis on the crucial role of local signaling by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and the Ca2+calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase 2B/calcineurin (CaN) that is coordinated by the postsynaptic scaffold protein A-kinase anchoring protein 79/150 (AKAP79/150). Copyright © 2020 Purkey and Dell’Acqua.Previously conducted structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies on the neuroanatomical correlates of mathematical abilities and competencies have several methodological limitations. link3 Besides small sample sizes, the majority of these studies have employed voxel-based morphometry (VBM)-a method that, although it is easy to implement, has some major drawbacks. Taking this into account, the current study is the first to investigate in a large sample of typically developed adults the associations between mathematical abilities and variations in brain surface structure by using surface-based morphometry (SBM). SBM is a method that also allows the investigation of brain morphometry by avoiding the pitfalls of VBM. Eighty-nine young adults were tested with a large battery of psychometric tests to measure mathematical competencies in four different areas (1) simple arithmetic; (2) complex arithmetic; (3) higher-order mathematics; and (4) numerical intelligence. Also, we asked participants for their mathematics grades for their final school exams. Inside the MRI scanner, we collected high-resolution T1-weighted anatomical images from each subject. SBM analyses were performed with the computational anatomy toolbox (CAT12) and indices for cortical thickness, for cortical surface complexity, for gyrification, and sulcal depth were calculated. Further analyses revealed associations between (1) the cortical surface complexity of the right superior temporal gyrus and numerical intelligence; (2) the depth of the right central sulcus and adults' ability to solve complex arithmetic problems; and (3) the depth of the left parieto-occipital sulcus and adults' higher-order mathematics competence. Interestingly, no relationships with previously reported brain regions were observed, thus, suggesting the importance of similar research to confirm the role of the brain regions found in this study. Copyright © 2020 Heidekum, Vogel and Grabner.Measures of the brain's automatic electrophysiological responses to sounds represent a potential tool for identifying age- and depression-related neural markers. However, these markers have rarely been studied related to aging and depression within one study. Here, we investigated auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) in the brain that may show different alterations related to aging and depression. We used an oddball condition employing changes in sound intensity to investigate (i) sound intensity dependence; (ii) sensory gating; and (iii) change detection, all within a single paradigm. The ERPs of younger (18-40 years) and older (62-80 years) depressed female participants and age-matched non-depressed participants were measured. Intensity dependence was examined as the difference between N1 responses to repeated high- and low-intensity sounds, sensory gating as N1 responses to rare and repeated sounds, and change detection as indexed by the mismatch negativity (MMN). We found that intensity dependence was greater in older participants than younger ones, indicating effects related to aging but not to depression.