The isolation, partial purification and preliminary characterization of a growth factor from chick embryo brains

Chicl( brain growth factor (CBGF) is a mitogen isolated from embryonic chick brains thought to have a potential role as a trophic factor involved in nerve dependent amphibian limb regeneration. In addition, CBGF stimulates 3H-thymidine incorporation in chick embryo brain astrocytes in vitro. In this study, cultured chick embryo brain non-neuronal cells were employed in a bioassay to monitor CBGF activity throughout various stages of its pllrification. Cell culture and assay conditions were optimized. Nonneuronal cells grew best on collagen-coated culture dishes in complete medium, were most responsive to a growth stimulus [10% fetal bovine serum (FBS)] at the second and third subcultures, and were healthiest when rendered "quiescent" in medium supplemented with 1% FBS. The most effective bioassay conditions consisted of a minimum 14.5 hour "quiescence" time (24 hours was used), a 6 hour "prestimulation" time, and a 24 hour 3H-thymidine labeling time. Four-day subconfluent primary non-neuronal cells consisted of 6.63% GFAP positive cells; as a result cultures were thought to be mainly composed of astroblasts. CBGF was purified from 18-day chick embryo brains by ultrafiltration through Amicon PM-30 and YM-2 membranes, size exclusion chromatography through a Biogel P6 column, and analytical reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (rp-HPLC). The greatest activity resided in rp-HPLC fraction #7 (10 ng/ml) which was as effective as 10% FBS at stimulating 3H-thymidine incorporation in chick embryo brain nonneuronal cells. Although other researchers report the isolation of a mitogenic fraction consisting of 5'-GMP from the embryonic chick brain, UV absorbance spectra, rp-HPLC elution profiles, and fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectra indicated that CBGF is neither 5'-GMP nor 51-AMP. 2 Moreover, commercially available 5t-GMP was inhibitory to 3H-thymidine incorporation in the chick non-neuronal cells, while Sf-AMP had no effect. Upon treatment with pronase, the biological activity of fraction P6-3 increased; this increase was nearly 30% greater than what would be expected from a simple additive effect of any mitogenic activity of pronase alone together with P6-3 alone. This may suggest the presence of an inhibitor protein. The bioactive component may be a protein protected by a nucleoside/nucleotide or simply a nucleoside/nucleotide acting alone. While the FAB mass spectrum of rp-HPLC fraction #7 did not reveal molecular weight or sequence information, the ion of highest molecular weight was observed at m/z 1610; this is consistent with previous estimations of CBGF's size. 3

Localization of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) in the Brains of Apis mellifera (European Honey Bees)

The purpose of the current research project is to design a successful in-situ hybridization to identify regions within the brains of honeybees where DWV replicates. The localization of the virus in the brains of the bees can draw a connection between CCDand DWV.In conclusion, these results demonstrate that in bees infected with DWV the virus replicates actively in very important regions of the brain, including neuropils that are responsible for vision and olfaction. This means that the virus could adversely affect the vision and olfaction of the honeybees making it difficult for bees to behave normally.

Special Issue: Interactive Educational Media for the Neural and Cognitive Sciences

Understanding the functioning of brains is an extremely challenging endeavour - both for researches as well as for students. Interactive media and tools, like simulations, databases and visualizations or virtual laboratories proved to be not only indispensable in research but also in education to help understanding brain function. Accordingly, a wide range of such media and tools are now available and it is getting increasingly difficult to see an overall picture. Written by researchers, tool developers and experienced academic teachers, this special issue of Brains, Minds & Media covers a broad range of interactive research media and tools with a strong emphasis on their use in neural and cognitive sciences education. The focus lies not only on the tools themselves, but also on the question of how research tools can significantly enhance learning and teaching and how a curricular integration can be achieved. This collection gives a comprehensive overview of existing tools and their usage as well as the underlying educational ideas and thus provides an orientation guide not only for teaching researchers but also for interested teachers and students.

Selective loss of dopaminergic nigro-striatal neurons in brains of Atm-deficient mice

Ataxia-telangiectasia (AT) is a human disease caused by mutations in the ATM gene. The neural phenotype of AT includes progressive cerebellar neurodegeneration, which results in ataxia and eventual motor dysfunction. Surprisingly, mice in which the Atm gene has been inactivated lack distinct behavioral ataxia or pronounced cerebellar degeneration, the hallmarks of the human disease. To determine whether lack of the Atm protein can nonetheless lead to structural abnormalities in the brain, we compared brains from male Atm-deficient mice with male, age-matched controls. Atm-deficient mice exhibited severe degeneration of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive, dopaminergic nigro-striatal neurons, and their terminals in the striatum. This cell loss was accompanied by a large reduction in immunoreactivity for the dopamine transporter in the striatum. A reduction in dopaminergic neurons also was evident in the ventral tegmental area. This effect was selective in that the noradrenergic nucleus locus coeruleus was normal in these mice. Behaviorally, Atm-deficient mice expressed locomotor abnormalities manifested as stride-length asymmetry, which could be corrected by peripheral application of the dopaminergic precursor l-dopa. In addition, these mice were hypersensitive to the dopamine releasing drug d-amphetamine. These results indicate that ATM deficiency can severely affect dopaminergic neurons in the central nervous system and suggest possible strategies for treating this aspect of the disease.

Behavioral alterations associated with apoptosis and down-regulation of presenilin 1 in the brains of p53-deficient mice

Presenilin 1 (PS1) expression is repressed by the p53 tumor suppressor. As shown herein, wild-type PS1 is an effective antiapoptotic molecule capable of significantly inhibiting p53-dependent and p53-independent cell death. We analyzed, at the functional and molecular levels, the brains of p53 knockout mice. Surprisingly, we found that lack of p53 expression induces apoptotic brain lesions, accompanied by learning deficiency and behavioral alterations. p53-deficient mice show an unexpected overexpression of p21waf1 with subsequent down-regulation of PS1 in their brains. This process is progressive and age-dependent. These data indicate that the p53 pathway, besides affecting tumor suppression, may play a major role in regulating neurobehavioral function and cell survival in the brain.

Opposite roles of apolipoprotein E in normal brains and in Alzheimer’s disease

We have characterized the interaction between apolipoprotein E (apoE) and amyloid β peptide (Aβ) in the soluble fraction of the cerebral cortex of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and control subjects. Western blot analysis with specific antibodies identified in both groups a complex composed of the full-length apoE and Aβ peptides ending at residues 40 and 42. The apoE–Aβ soluble aggregate is less stable in AD brains than in controls, when treated with the anionic detergent SDS. The complex is present in significantly higher quantity in control than in AD brains, whereas in the insoluble fraction an inverse correlation has previously been reported. Moreover, in the AD subjects the Aβ bound to apoE is more sensitive to protease digestion than is the unbound Aβ. Taken together, our results indicate that in normal brains apoE efficiently binds and sequesters Aβ, preventing its aggregation. In AD, the impaired apoE–Aβ binding leads to the critical accumulation of Aβ, facilitating plaque formation.

Morphological abnormalities in the brains of estrogen receptor β knockout mice

Estrogen receptor β (ERβ) is expressed at high levels in both neurons and glial cells of the central nervous system. The development of ERβ knockout (BERKO) mice has provided a model to study the function of this nuclear receptor in the brain. We have found that the brains of BERKO mice show several morphological abnormalities. There is a regional neuronal hypocellularity in the brain, with a severe neuronal deficit in the somatosensory cortex, especially layers II, III, IV, and V, and a remarkable proliferation of astroglial cells in the limbic system but not in the cortex. These abnormalities are evident as early as 2 mo of age in BERKO mice. As BERKO mice age, the neuronal deficit becomes more pronounced, and, by 2 yr of age, there is degeneration of neuronal cell bodies throughout the brain. This is particularly evident in the substantia nigra. We conclude that ERβ is necessary for neuronal survival and speculate that this gene could have an important influence on the development of degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, as well as those resulting from trauma and stroke in the brain.

Retroviral RNA identified in the cerebrospinal fluids and brains of individuals with schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a serious brain disease of uncertain etiology. A role for retroviruses in the etiopathogenesis of some cases of schizophrenia has been postulated on the basis of clinical and epidemiological observations. We found sequences homologous to retroviral pol genes in the cell-free cerebrospinal fluids (CSFs) of 10 of 35 (29%) individuals with recent-onset schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Retroviral sequences also were identified in the CSFs of 1 of 20 individuals with chronic schizophrenia. However, retroviral sequences were not identified in any of the CSFs obtained from 22 individuals with noninflammatory neurological diseases or from 30 individuals without evidence of neurological or psychiatric diseases (χ2 = 19.25, P < 0.001). The nucleotide sequences identified in the CSFs of the individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were related to those of the human endogenous retroviral (HERV)-W family of endogenous retroviruses and to other retroviruses in the murine leukemia virus genus. Transcription of RNA homologous to members of the HERV-W family of retroviruses also was found to be up-regulated differentially in the frontal cortex regions of brains obtained postmortem from individuals with schizophrenia, as compared with corresponding tissue from individuals without psychiatric diseases. The transcriptional activation of certain retroviral elements within the central nervous system may be associated with the development of schizophrenia in at least some individuals. The further characterization of retroviral elements within the central nervous system of individuals with schizophrenia might lead to improved methods for the diagnosis and management of this disorder.

Apolipoprotein E fragments present in Alzheimer's disease brains induce neurofibrillary tangle-like intracellular inclusions in neurons

Human apolipoprotein (apo) E4, a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), occurs in amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in AD brains; however, its role in the pathogenesis of these lesions is unclear. Here we demonstrate that carboxyl-terminal-truncated forms of apoE, which occur in AD brains and cultured neurons, induce intracellular NFT-like inclusions in neurons. These cytosolic inclusions were composed of phosphorylated tau, phosphorylated neurofilaments of high molecular weight, and truncated apoE. Truncated apoE4, especially apoE4(Δ272–299), induced inclusions in up to 75% of transfected neuronal cells, but not in transfected nonneuronal cells. ApoE4 was more susceptible to truncation than apoE3 and resulted in much greater intracellular inclusion formation. These results suggest that apoE4 preferentially undergoes intracellular processing, creating a bioactive fragment that interacts with cytoskeletal components and induces NFT-like inclusions containing phosphorylated tau and phosphorylated neurofilaments of high molecular weight in neurons.

Differential expression of the GABA transporters GAT-1 and GAT-3 in brains of rats, cats, monkeys and humans

The homeostasis of GABA is critical to normal brain function. Extracellular levels of GABA are regulated mainly by plasmalemmal gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporters. Whereas the expression of GABA transporters has been extensively studied in rodents, validation of this data in other species, including humans, has been limited. As this information is crucial for our understanding of therapeutic options in human diseases such as epilepsy, we have compared, by immunocytochemistry, the distributions of the GABA transporters GAT-1 and GAT-3 in rats, cats, monkeys and humans. We demonstrate subtle differences between the results reported in the literature and our results, such as the predominance of GAT-1 labelling in neurons rather than astrocytes in the rat cortex. We note that the optimal localisation of GAT-1 in cats, monkeys and humans requires the use of an antibody against the human sequence carboxyl terminal region of GAT-1 rather than against the slightly different rat sequence. We demonstrate that GAT-3 is localised mainly to astrocytes in hindbrain and midbrain regions of rat brains. However, in species such as cats, monkeys and humans, additional strong immunolabelling of oligodendrocytes has also been observed. We suggest that differences in GAT distribution, especially the expression of GAT-3 by oligodendrocytes in humans, must be accommodated in extrapolating rodent models of GABA homeostasis to humans.

Genes and gene expression in the brains of human alcoholics

Chronic alcohol misuse by human subjects leads to neuronal loss in regions such as the superior frontal cortex (SFC). Propensity to alcoholism is associated with several genes. γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor expression differs between alcoholics and controls, whereas glutamate receptor differences are muted. We determined whether genotype differentiated the regional presentation of GABAA and glutamate-NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate) receptors in SFC. Autopsy tissue was obtained from alcoholics without comorbid disease, alcoholics with liver cirrhosis, and matched controls. ADH1C, DRD2B, EAAT2, and APOE genotypes modulated GABAA-β subunit protein expression in SFC toward a less-effective form of the receptor. Most genotypes did not divide alcoholics and controls on glutamate-NMDA receptor pharmacology, although gender and cirrhosis did. Genotype may affect amino acid transmission locally to influence neuronal vulnerability.

Genomic and proteomic analysis of synaptic protein expression in the brains of human alcoholics

Alcoholism results in changes in the human brain which reinforce the cycle of craving and dependency, and these changes are manifest in the pattern of expression of mRNA and proteins in key cells and brain areas. Long-term alcohol abuse also results in damage to selected regions of the cortex. We have used cDNA microarrays to show that less than 1% of mRNA transcripts differ signifi cantly between cases and controls in the susceptible area and that the expression profi le of a subset of these transcripts is suffi cient to distinguish alcohol abusers from controls. In addition, we have utilized a 2D gel proteomics based approach to determine the identity of proteins in the superior frontal cortex (SFC) of the human brain that show differential expression in controls and long term alcohol abusers. Overall, 182 proteins differed by the criterion of > 2-fold between case and control samples. Of these, 139 showed signifi cantly lower expression in alcoholics, 35 showed signifi cantly higher expression, and 8 were new or had disappeared. To date 63 proteins have been identifi ed. The expression of one family of proteins, the synucleins, has been further characterized using Real Time PCR and Western Blotting. The expression of alpha-synuclein mRNA was signifi cantly lower in the SFC of alcoholics compared with the same area in controls (P = 0.01) whereas no such difference in expression was found in the motor cortex. The expression of beta- and gamma- synuclein were not signifi cantly different between alcoholics and controls. In contrast, the pattern of alphasynuclein protein expression differs from that of the corresponding RNA transcript. Because of the key role of synaptic proteins in the pathogenesis of alcoholism, we are developing 2-D DIGE based techniques to quantify expression changes in synaptosomes prepared from the SFC of controls and alcoholics.