Neuronal characterization

Lowenstein, D.H., Chan, P.H., Miles, M.F. (1991). The stress protein response in cultured neurons Characterization and evidence for a protective role in excitotoxicity. Neuron 7, 1053-1060. 

Cepeda C, Chandler SH, Shumate LW, Levine MS (1995) Persistent Na+ conductance in medium-sized neostriatal neurons characterization using infrared videomicroscopy and whole cell patch-clamp recordings. J Neurophysiol 74 1343—1348. 

S. Ajmani, J.A. Hughes, 3p [N-(NM, N -dimethylaminoethane)-carbamoyl] cholesterol (DC-chol)-mediated gene delivery to primary rat neurons characterization and mechanism. Neurochemical Research 24 (1999) 699-703. 

ALS is a disorder of the motor neurons and the cortical neurons that provide their input. The disorder is characterized by rapidly progressive weakness and muscle atrophy. Most affected patients die of respiratory compromise and pneumonia after 2 to 3 years. There is prominent loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem although the oculomotor neurons are spared. Large pyramidal motor neurons in layer V of motor cortex, which are the origin of the descending corticospinal tracts, are also lost. 

Primary generalized seizures are also heterogeneous with respect to their clinical features. Such seizures can impose as absence epilepsy, which is characterized by a brief interruption of consciousness due to highly synchronized neuronal activity involving thalamocortical networks without increases in neuronal firing rate. On the other hand, tonic-clonic convulsions with loss of consciousness are often also primarily generalized. 

The neuropeptides are peptides acting as neurotransmitters. Some form families such as the tachykinin family with substance P, neurokinin A and neurokinin B, which consist of 11 or 12 amino acids and possess the common carboxy-terminal sequence Phe-X-Gly-Leu-Met-CONH2. Substance P is a transmitter of primary afferent nociceptive neurones. The opioid peptide family is characterized by the C-terminal sequence Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-X. Its numerous members are transmitters in many brain neurones. Neuropeptide Y (NPY), with 36 amino acids, is a transmitter (with noradrenaline and ATP) of postganglionic sympathetic neurones. 

Rapid eye movement sleep. Sleep stage characterized by rapid movements of the eyes and asynchronous EEG activity in the theta-frequency (5-10Hz) range. Counterpart is slow wave sleep, characterized by other electrophysiological (synchronized low frequency l-2Hz, large amplitude EEG and neuronal sharp wave-ripple oscillations) and endocrine (growth hormone surge) activities. 

The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases, are fatal neurodegenerative diseases characterized by spongiform changes, astrocytic gliomas, and neuronal loss resulting from the deposition of insoluble protein aggregates in neural cells. They include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, scrapie in... 

Gene knockouts were performed by homologous recombination in mice. The enzymes are characterized as neuronal, inducible (macrophage), and endothelial because these were the sites in which they were first identified. However, all three enzymes have been found in other sites, and the neuronal enzyme is also inducible. Each gene has been cloned, and its chromosomal location in humans has been determined. 

The liver is an organ that shows variable effects from trichloroethylene among species, and this can probably be attributed to interspecies differences in metabolism (see Section 2.4.2.1). Specifically, the apparent difference in susceptibility to trichloroethylene-induced hepatocellular carcinoma between humans and rodents may be due to metabolic differences (see Section 2.4.2.3). Kidney effects are also variable among species. Humans and mice are less sensitive than rats. In rats exposed chronically to trichloroethylene, toxic nephrosis characterized as cytomegaly has been reported (NTP 1988). The kidney effects in rats do not seem to be related to an increase in alpha-2 -globulin (Goldsworthy et al. 1988). Effects on the nervous system appear to be widespread among species, presumably due to interactions between trichloroethylene and neuronal membranes. 

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