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Whole Experiment (whole + experiment)
Selected AbstractsMatrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 in central nervous system and their modification after vanadium inhalationJOURNAL OF APPLIED TOXICOLOGY, Issue 6 2008L. Colín-Barenque Abstract Vanadium (V) derivatives are well-known environmental pollutants and its toxicity has been related with oxidative stress. Toxicity after vanadium inhalation on the substantia nigra, corpus striatum, hippocampus and ependymal epithelium was reported previously. The purpose of this study was to analyse the role of matrix metalloproteinases 2 (MMP-2) and 9 (MMP-9) in the changes observed in brain tissue after chronic V inhalation. Mice were exposed to vaporized, vanadium pentoxide 0.02 m in deionized water for 1 h twice a week, and killed at 1 h, 1, 2 and 4 weeks after exposure. The brain was removed and the olfactory bulb, prefrontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus were dissected and the MMP content was obtained by zymography. The results showed that MMP-9 increased in all the structures at the end of the exposure, although in the hippocampus this increment was evident after 1 week of exposure. When MMP-2 was analysed in the olfactory bulb and prefrontal cortex it remained unchanged throughout the whole exposure, while in the hippocampus it increased at week 4, while in the striatum MMP-2 increased from the second week only, through the whole experiment. These results demonstrate that V increased MMPs in different structures of the CNS and this change might be associated with the previously reported modifications, such as dendritic spine loss and neuronal cell death. The modifications in MMPs could be related with blood,brain barrier (BBB) disruption which was reported previously. Oxidative stress might also be involved in the activation of these gelatinases as part of the different mechanisms which take place in V toxicity in the CNS. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Influence of maternal infection on offspring immune response in murine larval toxocariasisPARASITE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 7 2003K. Reiterová SUMMARY The impact of Toxocara canis infection on the proportion of CD4+ and CD8+ T splenocytes, the serum concentrations of cytokine IFN-, and IL-5, and the production of Toxocara -specific antibodies were studied in two C57BL6/J mouse groups and their offspring. The mice were infected with 1000 T. canis eggs on the day of mating (early infection) and on day 14 of pregnancy (late infection). Early infection resulted in a significant increase of CD4+ T-cell subtype, however, a decline in CD8+ in comparison with late infection, as well as with non-infected control. The IFN-, serum concentrations decreased in infected mothers after the birth when compared with non-infected mothers, while in the offspring this cytokine was barely or not detectable. In the mothers of both infected groups, the humoral immune response included both parasite-specific IgM and IgG2 antibodies. While IgG1 levels remained constant throughout the whole experiment in mothers with early infection, late-infected mothers became seropositive only 3 weeks after delivery. IgM was not detectable in any offspring. Pups from early-infected mothers had IgG1 antibodies. Conversely, IgG2 was detectable in pups of both experimental infection groups. A significant difference was observed in the amounts of pups/litter of the infected mothers in comparison with the non-infected ones. Only 56% of females after early infection and 79% of those after late infection had a successful pregnancy. However, all mice of the control group produced a litter. The first T. canis larvae were detected in the muscles of the offspring of both groups on day 5 after the birth. These data show the changes in regulatory and cytotoxic immunity mechanisms of the infected mothers and their offspring and the high level of pregnancy loss as a result of larval toxocariasis. [source] A novel transcriptomic approach to identify candidate genes for grain quality traits in wheatPLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL, Issue 5 2009Yongfang Wan Summary A novel methodology is described in which transcriptomics is combined with the measurement of bread-making quality and other agronomic traits for wheat genotypes grown in different environments (wet and cool or hot and dry conditions) to identify transcripts associated with these traits. Seven doubled haploid lines from the Spark × Rialto mapping population were selected to be matched for development and known alleles affecting quality. These were grown in polytunnels with different environments applied 14 days post-anthesis, and the whole experiment was repeated over 2 years. Transcriptomics using the wheat Affymetrix chip was carried out on whole caryopsis samples at two stages during grain filling. Transcript abundance was correlated with the traits for approximately 400 transcripts. About 30 of these were selected as being of most interest, and markers were derived from them and mapped using the population. Expression was identified as being under cis control for 11 of these and under trans control for 18. These transcripts are candidates for involvement in the biological processes which underlie genotypic variation in these traits. [source] Mapping of quantitative trait loci affecting behaviour in swineANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 4 2009G. Reiner Summary Behavioural indices in vertebrates are under genetic control at least to some extent. In spite of significant behavioural problems in farm animals, information on the genetic background of behaviour is sparse. The aim of this study was to map QTL for behavioural indices in swine under healthy conditions and after infection with Sarcocystis miescheriana, as behaviour can be significantly influenced by disease. This well-described parasite model subsequently leads to acute (day 14 p.i.), subclinical (day 28 p.i.) and chronic disease (day 42 p.i.), allowing the study and comparison of the behaviour of pigs under four different states of health or disease. The study was based on a well-described Pietrain/Meishan F2 family that has recently allowed the detection of QTL for disease resistance. We have mapped six genome-wide significant and 24 chromosome-wide significant QTL for six behavioural indices in swine. Six of these QTL (i.e. 20% of total QTL) showed effects on behavioural traits of the healthy pigs (day 0). Some of them (QTL on SSC11 and 18) lost influence on behavioural activities during disease, while the effects of others (QTL on SSC5, SSC8) partly remained during the whole experiment, although with different effects on the distinct behavioural indices. The disease model has been of high relevance to detect effects of gene loci on behavioural indices. Considering the importance of segregating alleles and environmental conditions that allow the identification of the phenotype, we conclude that there are indeed QTL with interesting effects on behavioural indices in swine. [source] | ||||||||||